Two Rabbits, Detail from "Animal Piece"
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 35 x 45 cm
Inventory numberNM 903
AcqusitionTransferred 1866 from Kongl. Museum (1792 Gustaf III)
Other titlesTitle (sv): Två kaniner, detalj från "Djurstycke" Title (en): Two Rabbits, Detail from "Animal Piece"
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 56: Technical notes: The painting’s original support consists of a single piece of loosely woven, mediumweight, plain-weave linen with a selvedge at the top edge, later mounted on a pressed wood support. The original tacking edges (ungrounded) are partially preserved on all sides, and broad cusping is present on the left and right sides, suggesting that the painting has retained its original dimensions. Paint is applied thickly in opaque layers over a light brown ground layer, with rich impasto and vigorous brushmarking in the lights, the rabbits’ fur, the sky and clouds, the plant in the left foreground. The fur of the brown rabbit, created by a mass of short staccato and zigzag strokes of grey, brown, black, yellow ochre and white going in different directions, is painted wet-into-wet, over a dark brown underpaint. The coat of the white rabbit is shaded with grey, brown, yellow ochre and reddish orange. There are no pentimenti visible to the naked eye. The painting is in very good condition, with few retouches and hardly any abrasion. A heavily discoloured layer of old varnish is present. The weave structure of the original canvas support has become more apparent as a result of the lining. Retouching covers losses of paint and ground layers along the edges, especially the left and bottom edges. There are scattered retouches in the sky and foreground; one small retouch above the eye of the white rabbit. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1845 and 1935. Provenance: Possibly purchased 1652 in The Netherlands by J. C. Danneux for Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie (inv. 1652/1653, “1 Litet st. med 2 små haareungar”).1 Gustav III 1792, no. 249; KM 1816, no. 555. Bibliography: NM Cat. 1867, p. 65 (as anonymous French master); Sander II, p. 125 no. 249; Göthe 1887, p. 88 (as anonymous French master); Göthe 1893, p. 109; Göthe 1910, p. 123; NM Cat. 1958, p. 227 (as anonymous French master); NM Cat. 1990, p. 138 (as copy after Jan Fyt). In the foreground of this picture, in front of a large column base, a pair of rabbits are shown nibbling on some leaves; in the far distance on the right, are some low-lying mountains. This small animal piece, previously regarded as a copy after Jan Fyt, is here reattributed to David de Coninck,2 an artist who specialized in paintings of live animals as well as still lifes. In his works De Coninck emulated the style of Jan Fyt even more than that of his teacher, Pieter Boel, and because he did not sign many of his works, several of them were later misattributed to the better known Fyt. Scenes with prominent rabbits, often in pairs, appear to have been a favourite motif of De Coninck, as depicted in his many poultry-yard and other outdoor scenes with live animals. They can be found in a signed painting of c. 1660 in Rome (Galleria Nazionale),3 as well as in a great number of unsigned but highly characteristic paintings by the artist. Compare, especially, the almost identical pair in a larger picture of A Cock, a Hen, Rabbits, and Doves in a Landscape, with a Cat, formerly in the Collection Balzer & Co, Schlosspark Hohen- buchau, Schlangenbad-Georgenborn.4 There is no indication that the present painting is a fragment of a larger composition such as this (see Technical Notes). Rather, it seems to be a complete work in its own right. One may compare another rather simple, only slightly larger, composition by the artist, showing A Marmot, Cocks, and Rabbits with a Straw Hat in a Landscape (priv. coll.), which bears the same relationship to a larger painting by the same hand that was on the French art market in 1968.5 CF 1 Possibly identical with the painting in the possession of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, described by Granberg 1930, pp. 63, 207. 2 According to a letter by Fred G. Meijer of the RKD dated 19 October 1990 in the NM curatorial files – as well as by oral communication in the spring of 2005 – this small painting is an autograph work by David de Coninck. 3 Oil on canvas, 97.5 x 132.5, Rome, Galleria Nazionale, inv. no. 903; see the photograph on file at the RKD, The Hague. 4 Oil on canvas, 80 x 104 cm; see the photograph on file at the RKD, The Hague. A copy of this painting, previously owned by Mr. Bengt Boye, Stockholm, was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 11 December 1991, lot 145. 5 Oil on canvas, 50 x 69 cm; see the photograph on file at the RKD, The Hague. The larger composition from which this motif appears to be extracted was sold at Rameau, Blache, Versailles, 10 March 1968, lot 28, with an incorrect attribution to the workshop of Francois Desportes. A series of De Coninck’s works at Burghley House near Stamford also includes two similar simple compositions of the same size as NM 903.[End]
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TechniquePainting
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