(Dutch, 1682-1749)A pair of floral still lifes, one bearing signature lower left on ledge "..Van Hu..um/1726", the other with undecipherable inscription "Hu..", probably French, late 19th/early 20th century after two works held by the Louvre, Paris, oil on canvas, ovals 23-7/8 x 19-3/4 in.; oval gilt wood and composition frames, 28-1/4 x 24-1/2 in.Note: According to Dr. Fred Meijer, "The composition with the basket is a free copy after a painting by Jan van Huijsum in the Musée du Louvre in Paris: https://rkd.nl/explore/images/118212. The other is also based upon a Jan van Huijsum in the collection of the Louvre, but currently on loan to the museum in Dijon: https://rkd.nl/explore/images/117387. This indicates that the paintings are French and that the painter copied them in the Louvre, where they entered from the collection of Louis XVI (so before 1793). The copyist has made them much cooler in tone than van Huijsum’s originals, has changed and added some flowers and, in the one with the vase, changed the type of ledge. I have consulted the literature on French 19th-century flower painters, but not found anything that can be by the same hand. The painter was probably a skilled commercial artist, producing such attractive copies/imitations for decorative purposes, perhaps as late as around 1900."Brunk Auctions would like to thank Dr. Meijer for his expertise and comments., Provenance:
Condition
lined, restretched on old stretchers, crackle, some cupping, retouch; frames resurfaced with some losses