Cat and Still Life with Game
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 91 x 78 cm
Inventory numberNM 435
Other titlesTitle (sv): Katt och stilleben med villebråd Title (en): Cat and Still Life with Game
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 88: Provenance: Tessin−Fredrik I−Lovisa Ulrika 1749; Gustav III, 1792, no. 116 (as Jan Fyt); KM 1816, no. 241. exhibited: Tokyo/Fukuoka/Nara 1988, no. 38 (as Jan Fyt) Bibliography: NM Cat. 1867, p. 30; Sander II, p. 112; Göthe 1887, p. 90; Göthe 1893, p. 111; Granberg 1929–1931, II, p. 157, III, p. 21; Greindl 1956, p. 166 (as Jan Fyt); NM Cat. 1958, p. 75 (as Jan Fyt); Greindl 1983, p. 354 no. 280 (as Jan Fyt); NM Cat.1990, p. 137. The spoils of the “noble” hunt – a hare, a partridge, a woodcock, a woodpecker and other small game birds – have been placed next to a large carrying basket in an indoor setting that is probably a pantry. The still life objects rendered in muted tones, principally darker tans, browns, greys and moss green, have been set out on the bare stone floor against a neutral greyish brown wall. The hare is strung up by its tied hind legs and suspended from a nail driven into the wall. The ensemble is being spied by a mischievous domestic cat on the left. This painting is a same-size replica of very good quality – possibly executed with workshop assistance – of a game piece signed in full by Jan Fyt that first appeared on the art market in Maastricht and New York in 2005.1An attribution to Fyt of the present picture was accepted by Greindl (1956; 1983), who was unaware of the recently discovered signed original. Numerous replicas of works by Fyt exist, sometimes completed by assistants and dating a few years later than the original.2 A free copy of the same composition that was on the Dutch art market in 1998 has been attributed to Norbertus van Herp, a little known Antwerp painter of hunting still lifes.3 Fyt’s paintings are easily recognizable by his bristly technique and distinctive manner. He applied these both in comparatively simple compositions such as the present picture, in which he limited himself to just a few choice elements, as well as in large-scale works of truly Baroque opulence. The hare’s fur and the plumage of the partridge, woodcock and other game birds are rendered with Fyt’s characteristic agitated brushwork, although it seems to lack something of the master’s virtuoso touch. The same basic motifs found in this work, the hare strung up by its hind legs, a variety of game birds and a cat (but no carrying basket), are similarly presented in related works by Fyt. For example, a painting that was on the French art market in 1995.4 The present still life is probably a mature work by Fyt; the tonal palette and pronounced chiaroscuro would suggest a dating of the painting perhaps in the late 1640s or 1650s. CF 1 Oil on canvas, 91 x 74 cm, signed “Joannes FYT”, sale, New York, Christie’s, 26 January 2005, lot 59; see a photograph on file at the RKD, The Hague. The painting was shown at TEFAF, Maastricht, in March of 2005 and 2006, by the New York dealership of Adam Williams Fine Art Ltd. 2 See, for example, Greindl 1983, pp. 97–98, nos. 105, 185, 201, figs. 58, 79, 80. 3 Oil on canvas, 93.2 x 75.1 cm, signed “FYT” (false), sale, Amsterdam, Christie’s, 2 September 1998, lot 46; see a photograph on file at the RKD, The Hague. Cf. a similar composition attributed to Fyt’s pupil, Pieter Boel, that was on the art market in Vienna in 2004 (sale, Dorotheum, 10 December 2004, lot 305); see a photograph on file at the RKD, The Hague. 4 Oil on canvas, 84 x 70 cm, sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 13 December 1995, lot 32; see a photograph on file at the RKD, The Hague. Cf. also a similar composition (without a cat; different type of basket) in the Musée de Douai, oil on canvas, 81 x 60 cm, signed; see a photograph on file at the RKD. [End]
Motif categoryStill life
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword