Juan Bautista de Espinosa Sold at Auction Prices

JUAN BAUTISTA DE ESPINOSA MADRID CIRCA 1590- 1641 STILL LIFE OF RED AND WHITE GRAPES IN A

JUAN BAUTISTA DE ESPINOSA MADRID CIRCA 1590- 1641 STILL LIFE OF RED AND WHITE GRAPES IN A BLUE-AND-WHITE PORCELAIN BOWL, TOGETHER WITH FIGS AND PEARS, ALL ARRANGED UPON A TABLE DRAPED WITH A CARPET inscribed with inventory number lower right: 130 oil on canvas CATALOGUE NOTE Relatively little is known about the life of Juan de Espinosa, who is documented in Madrid and Toledo between 1628 and 1659. He was probably an orphan of humble origins, being brought up by Eugenia de Lievana, sister of the Madrid silversmith Onofre de Espinosa. He married in 1628, the same year as Antonio Ponce, who was probably of a similar age, and like Ponce appears to have specialised in still lifes in response to the demand for such works following the death of Juan van der Hamen in 1631. Among the artist's more original creations are a group of still lifes of fountains, composed variously of terracotta or shells, yet it is for his studies of fruit, and especially grapes, that he is perhaps best known both today as well as during his lifetime (most of his works cited in old inventories are of grapes). The present work illustrates the artist's interest in the depiction of differing textures and surfaces, most notably in the juxtaposition of three varieties of grapes heaped upon the ceramic bowl, which are rendered with a remarkable subtlety and modelling which seemingly fills the grapes themselves with light. His interest in the depiction of grapes perhaps stems from the influence of Juan Fernandez, called El Labrador, whose work he is known to have copied. The handling of the grapes, vine-stalks and leaves in the present painting can be compared to those in one of the artist's few dated pictures (1646), A Still Life with Grapes, Fruit and a Ceramic Pot, today in the Naseiro Collection, Madrid (see P. Cherry, Arte y Naturaleza, Madrid 1999, reproduced plate LIII). The attribution to Juan de Espinosa has been endorsed by Professor William B. Jordan, following first-hand inspection (written communication to the owner, 2 April 1998); and independently by Dr. Peter Cherry, to whom we are grateful, on the basis of photographs.