Fruit Market near a River
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 41 x 58 cm h x w x d: Ram 61 x 78 x 5 cm
Inventory numberNM 626
Other titlesTitle (sv): Fruktmarknad vid flod Title (en): Fruit Market near a River
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 170: Technical notes: The support consists of a piece of fabric in a dense and even twill weave. The tacking edges have been trimmed to match the outer edges of the current strainer. The painting has been lined. The canvas was prepared with a thick and even application of ground that completely covers the structure of the fabric. The paint layer has been applied thinly and opaquely with impasto in the highlights. The figures are rendered in fine detail. The faces are well modelled. The garments are rendered well with a wealth of fine details. The figures have been painted over the foreground and background. There are numerous architectural details painted with fine, opaque brushstrokes. In places painted outlines for the architecture can be seen, executed in a wet medium. In the foliage to the left there are highlights in zigzag patterns. The trees have partly been painted into reserves left for them but some branches and leaves overlap the sky. The landscape in the background has been painted using a sfumato technique.The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1870, 1872, 1934, 1943 and 1982. Provenance: Gustav III (as Crown prince) no. 59; Gustav III 1792, no. 12 (as Roland Savery); KM 1795, no. 180; KM 1816, no. 195; NM Cat. 1867, p. 65. Bibliography: Sander II, p. 102, no. 12 (as Roland Savery); Göthe 1887, pp. 240–241; Göthe 1893, pp. 295–296; Von Wurzbach II, p. 580; Granberg 1931, p. 17; NM Cat. 1958, p. 182; Thiéry and Meerendre 1987, no. 22, p. 250; NM Cat. 1990, p. 329. This painting, signed “M. Schoevaerdts”, is among those mentioned and acknowledged as one of the artist’s works in the list produced by Thiéry and Meerendres in 1987. In 1761 the work had already been attributed to Schoevaerdts according to Göthe 1893. In this author’s earlier publication in 1887 comparisons are made to a number of works by Schoevaerdts in collections in Brussels (cat. 1882, nos. 435 and 436). There is a companion piece to the Nationalmuseum’s painting, also the work of Schoevaerdts, in a similar format (no. 171). In composition both paintings match each other and depict markets in urban settings. This painting depicts a fruit market close to a river. In the foreground and middle ground of the painting several figures are portrayed, some on horseback, some on foot, standing or sitting. A number of boats are depicted on the river, one with hoisted sails. In the background there is a bridge and behind it the silhouette of a tree in leaf. To the right of the calmly flowing river we see more figures, trees and the buildings of the town. A number of magnificent tall trees and a secular building are depicted on the left in the painting. The attribution to Schoevaerdts is reasonable both from the point of view of the composition and the rendering of the figures. The painting was one of Gustav III’s early acquisitions before it was transferred to the Nationalmuseum’s predecessor, the Royal Museum, where for some time it was attributed to Roland Savery for reasons that are unclear. In recent years a number of works by Schoevaerdts have been sold on the private market, several of them similar in style to this painting and its companion piece (no. 171) in the rendering of the figures, buildings and trees.1 KS 1 For example see River Landscape, New York, Christie’s, 8May 1995, lot 23 and Landscape with Market and City Gate, New York, Christie’s, 5 July 1996, lot 47.[End]
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
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