Hollyhocks and Other Flowers in a Vase, Jan van Huysum

Hollyhocks and Other Flowers in a Vase, Jan van Huysum (1702-20).

Van Huysum was quick to absorb Jan Davidsz. de Heem’s influence, as well as that of Willem van Aelst, Rachel Ruysch’s teacher. There are certainly strong similarities here to Ruysch’s paintings, such as the dark background and dramatic lighting which give elegance and mystery to this composition. An illusion of depth is created by contrasts of light and shadow but also by colour: light flowers like the big hollyhocks are in the front, and dark ones are in the back. This is typical of Van Huysum’s transitional period, before he began placing his arrangements before a light-coloured background.

The textures of the bouquet are meticulously executed, from the veins, ridges and burned edges of the leaves to the crêpe-like petals of the white poppies and hollyhocks. As these flowers bloom at different times of the year, the artist must have painted this picture over a period of time, or after drawings from nature. The realism of this painting is accentuated by the two snails that are crawling here and there.

Jan van Huysum was the last of the distinguished still life painters active in the Northern Netherlands in the 17th and early 18th centuries, and an internationally celebrated artist in his lifetime. Although he specialised in flower still lifes, van Huysum also painted a few landscapes.

His early works are more concentrated in design than his elaborate later paintings, like the Gallery's Flowers in a