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Attributed to Gerard Van Spaendonck (1746-1822)
“Still-life with peonies, hydrangea, passion flowers, nasturtium, iris and other flowers in a terracotta jug on a plinth”
Oil on canvas
69 x 52 cm.
Of Dutch origin Gerard Van Spaendonck became one of the most important flower painters working in France during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This magnificent still-life compares closely to other of his works, particularly the accurate details of the abundant blooms that owed much to his traditional Dutch heritage and particularly the work of Jan Van Huysum whom he was strongly influenced by. At the same time its decorative and sophisticated style reflects a true understanding of French art, which the artist acquired during his long and celebrated career in Paris. Like many of the greatest flower painters, Van Spaendonck achieved a technical mastery of floral art in all mediums and on every scale, from engraved plates and gouache and watercolour miniatures on paper and vellum to full size Salon oils on canvas. In a number of instances Van Spaendonck included an ornate alabaster or marble urn, which like the more simple terracotta jug portrayed here offered the opportunity to express contrasting textures. Applauded in his day, in 1781 the French critic Diderot described his work ‘of the greatest beauty’ while in more recent years Wilfred Blunt (in “The Art of Botanical Illustration”, 1950) considered his watercolour botanical studies equal to those by his celebrated pupil Pierre-Joseph Redouté.
Van Spaendonck was born in Tilburg on 22nd March 1746 and in 1764 began an apprenticeship under the decorative painter Guillaume-Jacques Herreyns in Antwerp. He then worked in Breda before travelling to Paris in 1769, where in 1774 he was appointed miniature painter to the newly crowned Louis XVI. He also proved particularly popular at Versailles for his skills in miniature painting on small boxes and instructing ladies at Court. In 1780 he was appointed professor of flower painting at the Jardins des Plantes, which eventually became the Musée Nationale d’Histoire Naturale, where in 1793 the post of Professeur d’Iconographie Naturelle was especially created for him. Elected a member of the Académie Royale in 1781, he also began contributing to the Vélins du Roi, a series of botanical studies on vellum. He eventually contributed over 50 such studies and in so doing changed the traditional medium of gouache to watercolour. Van Spaendonck exhibited two flower studies on vellum together with five oils at the 1783 Salon to great critical acclaim. It was also during this same period that he produced a number of designs for the Sèvres Royal Porcelain Factory.
The quality of his work and his fine repute mean that Van Spaendonck received royal commissions such as ‘Basket of Flowers on an Antique Pedestal’ of 1785 (Château de Fontainebleau). 1788 saw his appointment as adviser to the Académie and in 1795 he became a founding member of the Institut de France. Among his most celebrated contributions to floral art were a set of 24 engraved plates entitled ‘Fleurs dessinées d’apres nature’ published between 1799 and 1801. Subsequently in 1804 he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur and the following year was ennobled by Napoleon. During the later part of his career he abandoned oil painting, having made his last Salon contribution in 1796.
Van Spaendonck’s younger brother Cornelis (1756-1840) was also a flower painter, who likewise spent most of his life in Paris and having trained under Gerard was strongly influenced by the elder’s work. Gerard Van Spaendonck’s oeuvre is represented in a number of museums including the Musées du Louvre and Nationale d’Histoire Naturale in Paris as well as at Angers, Bagnères-de-Bigorre and Montpelier, the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge and the Hertogenbosch Noordbrabants Museum.
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