Period: 17th century
Sold Oil on canvas painting, measuring 117 x 89 cm without frame and 130 x 100 cm with frame, depicting a vase of flowers by the painter Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Younger (Antwerp 1664 – 1730). Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Elder, a famous Flemish flower painter, had other children, but only his namesake descendant, Gaspar Peeter the Younger, earned a place in the history of European art. Grown up in his father's workshop, he dedicated himself to the same pictorial genre but, unlike his father, a hardworking and irreproachable figure, he led a reckless and wasteful life that led him to ruin, so much so that in 1703 all his assets were auctioned off and in 1705, pressed by creditors, he had to flee to Holland with his companion of the moment. Having taken refuge in Amsterdam, he was soon banned from that city too and moved to The Hague where he remained at least until 1723, collaborating with Matteus Terwesten who, like his brother Esaias, had lived in Rome at the end of the previous century. Perhaps because of this working community, which may have influenced his style, many commentators have believed they saw an Italianizing flair in Verbruggen's works and have postulated a trip to the peninsula which, however, is not attested by any historical document. The presence of signatures such as "Gasparo Pedro Verbruggen" seem more a tribute to the legacy of Spanish domination than to Italian culture. Most of his known works are based on the depiction of magniloquent vases filled with flowers in turn surrounded by other flowers arranged in garlands or simply placed at the base; the vases are sometimes placed on square stone shelves or on column bases, inserted in classic architectural contexts, in niches or more rarely against dark backgrounds as in the case we are examining. Despite a very characteristic iconographic continuity, it is possible to identify a youthful phase in Verbruggen's production, still inspired by the seventeenth century, tending to have a neutral background or with few visible elements, based on strong chiaroscuro contrasts and a more clearly eighteenth-century phase, strongly illuminated, with vases inserted in complex architectural structures made of fluted or round columns, plinths and architraves, or even blue skies crossed by white clouds. Even if our painting belongs to the production of the late seventeenth century, some features common to the canvases of the following period cannot escape notice, such as the imposing size of the central vase, the making of the roses, their proposition in pairs and the solid fleshiness of the tulip petals. His abundant production reveals an artist with more layout skills than his father, especially in the mature works when he breaks away from the traditional styles and exalts his compositions by enlarging petals and corollas beyond the limits of nature, abounds in the choice and combinations of colors, inserts fruits and animals; these additional variations denote an adaptation to the decorative taste of the new century. The paintings and art objects published here are my exclusive property and consequently are always available to be viewed in person, by appointment, at my exhibition venues located in Sanremo and Brescia. The work, like all our objects, is sold accompanied by a FIMA photographic certificate of authenticity and lawful provenance; this document identifies the object, adding value to the item. We personally handle and organize the packaging and shipping of works of art with insurance throughout the world. Dr. Riccardo Moneghini Art Historian