Lot 106: * ISAAK SOREAU FRANKFURT 1604-IN OR AFTER 1645

WILD STRAWBERRIES IN A WAN-LI KRAAK PORCELAIN BOWL WITH A VASE OF FLOWERS AND A BUNCH OF GRAPES, ALL RESTING ON A WOODEN LEDGE

11 1/4 by 15 3/8 in.; 28.5 by 39 cm.

oil on panel

Anonymous sale, Paris, Groupe Gersaint, Clermont Ferrand (Me Aguttes & Vassy), June 30, 1993, lot 2.

Isaak Soreau, born in Hanau, near Frankfurt in 1604, was the son and pupil of Daniel Soreau who had moved to that city shortly after 1599. The artistic community in Hanau introduced a large Flemish influence to the art of Frankfurt and the lower Main region. This artistic confluence is visible in the work of Isaak Soreau whose style is closely linked to the Antwerp tradition of still life painting by artists such as Osias Beert and Jacob van Hulsdonck. Like these artists, Soreau has created a wonderfully elegant composition by placing common objects on a clean wooden table. Each object is meticulously drawn and occupies its own space within the composition. This seemingly simple arrangement creates a sense of harmony and balance.

Like many still-life painters, Soreau re-used many of the same objects in his compositions. For example, a similar small glass vase appears in Sorreau's panel in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, while variations of the Wan-li bowl occur in many other still lifes (see E.Greindl, Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIème siècle, 1983, p.67, cat. 20, illustration 39).