Still Life with Fruit
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 134 x 99 cm h x w x d: Ram 146,5 x 109 x 7 cm
Inventory numberNM 35
AcqusitionTransferred 1866 from Kongl. Museum (Martelli 1804)
Other titlesTitle (sv): Stilleben med frukter Title (en): Still Life with Fruit
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 10: FORMER INV. NOS.: 441 (M. 1796–97); 462 (F. 1798); 271 (M. 1804); KM 505. TECHNICAL NOTES: The support is a single piece of coarse, densely-woven, plain weave linen fabric. It has been glue-lined in Sweden and mounted on a non-original stretcher. The tacking edges are cropped. The paint-layer is slightly abraded, there are some old retouches. The painting is in fair condition. Documented restorations: Before 1816: Restored at Royal Academy of Fine Arts; 1958: See NM 34; 1987: Varnish; 1994: Retouching. Regeneration of varnish. PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804. EXHIBITED: ÄTbART, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2000–01; ÄTbART (NM touring exhibition), Jönköpings läns museum, Jönköping, 2001; Länsmuseet Västernorrland, Härnösand, 2001; Hallands länsmuseer, Museet i Varberg, Varberg, 2001; Rydals museum, Rydal, 2001; Länsmuseet Gävleborg, Gävle, 2001; Jämtlands läns museum, Östersund, 2001–02; Smålands museum, Växjö, 2002; Blekinge museum, Karlskrona, 2002; Nordens hus, Reykjavik, 2002; Hans Gedda & Mörkrets Mästare, Kungliga Akademien för de fria Konsterna, Stockholm, 2013–14. BIBLIOGRAPHY: NM Cat. 1867, p. 3 (as Bonzi); Sander 1872–76, p. 117, no. 271 (as Bonzi); Göthe 1887, p. 22 (as Bonzi); NM Cat. 1941, p. 7 (as Bonzi); NM Cat. 1958, p. 20 (as Bonzi); NM Cat. 1990, p. 40 (as Bonzi). BIBLIOGRAPHY: NM Cat. 1867, p. 3 (as Bonzi); Sander 1872–76, p. 117, no. 271 (as Bonzi); Göthe 1887, p. 22 (as Bonzi); NM Cat. 1941, p. 7 (as Bonzi); NM Cat. 1958, p. 20 (as Bonzi); NM Cat. 1990, p. 40 (as Bonzi). This painting is the pendant to NM 34 (cat. no. 9). Perhaps even more so than its pendant, it adheres to a typical Bonzi composition, consisting of different planes in the front part of the picture which enable the artist to fill the entire surface of the canvas with fruit.¹ The highlighted edge of the first level, a ledge, is visible along the bottom of the canvas. Along the ledge, fruit is carefully laid out: the shiny pears and apples contrasting with the rough leaves of the corn and the craggy surface of the melon, which is itself sharply contrasted with its soft and pulpy exposed flesh in the opened fruit to the left. An old, dented pot, seemingly of pewter, expertly rendered in meticulous detail to achieve the exact texture of the metal, is placed casually on the right-hand side with its spout pointing to the centre. Twigs and leaves of apples and pears have been preserved as decoration in the background of the first ledge, and in the pot itself different kinds of corn and barley have been placed; dry and brittle, in contrast to the robust surface of the pot and the shining skins of the fruit. On the upper ledge only fruit and vines are displayed, mainly placed together in a basket, which also contains the leaves, stems and twigs of the vine and the apples. Bonzi manages to render the mostly obscured wickerwork of the basket in great detail, once again conveying a sense of realism through his sensitivity to surface textures. As was his wont, the grapes are rendered with great realism, especially the shiny oblong variant forms hung prominently over the top ledge. DP 1 Salerno 1984, pp. 92–97. [slut]
Motif categoryStill life
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword