Fruit and Flowers in a Basket
Jan van den Hecke the elder (Oudenarde 1620 – Antwerp 1684)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1640 - 1650
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
600 x 600 mm
Place of origin
Flanders (Belgium from 1830)
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 771236
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Fruit and Flowers in a Basket by Jan van den Hecke the elder (Oudenarde 1620 – Antwerp 1684), 1640-1650. A wicker basket on a wooden bench, overflowing with a variety of fruit, including red and white grapes, cherries and oranges, apples and a few small white flowers (Jasmine?), a vine stem heavy with grapes protrudes and hangs over the edge of the cracked stone tabletop. Jan van den Hecke (1620-1684) worked primarily in Antwerp, though he also made trips to Italy and Brussels. In Antwerp van de Hecke appears to have been greatly influenced by the style of Jan Davidsz de Heem who had settled there by 1636.In his Teutsche Academie published in 1675, Joachim von Sandrart, a contemporary of de Heem, reports that the artist moved to Antwerp because, 'there one can have the rare fruits including all manner of large plums, peaches, apricots, sour oranges, lemons, grapes, and other, in better quality and ripeness, (so as to) to reproduce them from life'. This painting displays rare and precious food items which often intended to Christian values: cherries for example are considered a fruit of Paradise, while grapes symbolize redemption. De Heem had a great influence on the development of Netherlandish painting during the 17th century, especially his large sumptuous still-lifes of the 1640s made a profound impression and many painters tried to imitate his work. His influence was strongest in Utrecht, Leyden and Antwerp where he had many followers. He was highly admired by his contemporaries and is still praised as one of the greatest still-life painters. Jan van den Hecke here uses the blond tonalities and protruding vine both signatures of van Heem and his followers' works. A similar broken branch protruding from the central composition is visible for example in Fruits and pieces of seafood of 1659 now in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier. Although the muddy brown-grey background appears hastily painted, there was evidently careful attention given to details such as the misty bloom on the grapes and the broken branch and curling vine at lower right. [Adapted from V&A description]
Provenance
On loan from V&A
Makers and roles
Jan van den Hecke the elder (Oudenarde 1620 – Antwerp 1684), artist