Lot 5: ARNOLDUS BLOEMERS

ARNOLDUS BLOEMERS DUTCH 1792 - 1844 A STILL LIFE OF ROSES, PEONIES, IRISES AND OTHER FLOWERS IN A TERRACOTTA VASE ON A LEDGE WITH FRUIT AND A BIRD signed with the monogram l.l. oil on canvas 100 by 76 cm.

W.J. Boogaard
Sale London (Sotheby's), 24 November 1976, lot 24
Sale New York (Sotheby's), 23 October 1997, lot 108
Richard Green, London (acquired in the late 1990's)

Arnoldus Bloemers was specialised in painting still lifes with flowers, fruit and game in the style of Jan van Huysum and Jan van Os. As he preferred to paint after real life, he started to grow flowers himself. His style distinguishes itself by a very detailed brushwork and great natural quality. J. Immerzeel writes in his Lexicon of Artists (1855) about Bloemers: ' His work not only pleases the eye because of the loose and pleasant appearance and freshness of colours, but also because of the painstaking manner in which it is executed.'

His work is included in the collection of the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Westfries Museum in Hoorn.

The present lot is an impressive example of one of his opulent still lifes, using many different species. The matching colours of this wonderfully composed bouquet, complemented by the fruit and birds on the ledge, makes this painting an absolute joy to look at.