Melchior d’ Hondecoeter
(Utrecht 1636–1695 Amsterdam)
Game and a thistle on a stone plinth,
oil on canvas, 69 x 59 cm, framed
We are grateful to Fred Meijer for endorsing the attribution of the present painting to Melchior d’ Hondecoeter on the basis of a photograph. He dates it in the 1660s and compares it with a similar painting which has been sold at Sotheby’s, London, 6 December 2007, lot 219.
The Dutch artist Melchior d’Hondecoeter came from a prominent family of painters that included his grandfather, Gillis d’Hondecoeter, his father Gijsbert d’Hondecoeter, and his uncle Jan Baptist Weenix. Melchior apparently became an assistant in his uncle’s studio, and his earliest signed works are very much in the style of Weenix. A highly devout man in his youth, Melchior would often pray aloud, which caused his mother and uncle to doubt whether they ought to have him trained as a minister rather than a painter.
Hondecoeter’s mature style owes much to the influence of the Flemish animal and still-life painter, Frans Snyders, whose work Melchior collected. Indeed, it was Snyder’s style that Hondecoeter borrowed heavily from, notably his compositional formulas that he used consistently from the late 1660s.
Specialist: Dr. Alexander Strasoldo
Dr. Alexander Strasoldo
+43-1-515 60-556
old.masters@dorotheum.com
08.06.2021 - 16:00
- Estimate:
-
EUR 30,000.- to EUR 50,000.-
Melchior d’ Hondecoeter
(Utrecht 1636–1695 Amsterdam)
Game and a thistle on a stone plinth,
oil on canvas, 69 x 59 cm, framed
We are grateful to Fred Meijer for endorsing the attribution of the present painting to Melchior d’ Hondecoeter on the basis of a photograph. He dates it in the 1660s and compares it with a similar painting which has been sold at Sotheby’s, London, 6 December 2007, lot 219.
The Dutch artist Melchior d’Hondecoeter came from a prominent family of painters that included his grandfather, Gillis d’Hondecoeter, his father Gijsbert d’Hondecoeter, and his uncle Jan Baptist Weenix. Melchior apparently became an assistant in his uncle’s studio, and his earliest signed works are very much in the style of Weenix. A highly devout man in his youth, Melchior would often pray aloud, which caused his mother and uncle to doubt whether they ought to have him trained as a minister rather than a painter.
Hondecoeter’s mature style owes much to the influence of the Flemish animal and still-life painter, Frans Snyders, whose work Melchior collected. Indeed, it was Snyder’s style that Hondecoeter borrowed heavily from, notably his compositional formulas that he used consistently from the late 1660s.
Specialist: Dr. Alexander Strasoldo
Dr. Alexander Strasoldo
+43-1-515 60-556
old.masters@dorotheum.com
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| Auction: | Old Master Paintings I |
| Auction type: | Saleroom auction with Live Bidding |
| Date: | 08.06.2021 - 16:00 |
| Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
| Exhibition: | 29.05. - 08.06.2021 |