Lot 128: Jacobus Linthorst , Amsterdam 1745 - 1815 Still life of a melon, white and black grapes, a peach, pears, plums, walnuts, hazelnuts, raspberries, cherries and white currants with delphinium and marigolds on a marble ledge; Still life of roses, an

a pair, the former signed and dated lower left: J Linthorst 1813 ; the latter signed and dated lower left: J Linthorst. 1813 both oil on panel Quantity: 2

measurements note each: 17 1/4 by 14 in.; 43.9 by 35.4 cm.

Little is known about Jacobus Linthorst's artistic training, but the light palette, opulence and dazzling effects of his works reflect the influence of Jan van Huysum (1682-1749) and Jan Van Os (1744-1808), the dominant Dutch flower painters of the eighteenth century, as well as the paintings of Paul Theodoor van Brussel (1754-1795). Linthorst was born in Amsterdam and appears to have spent all his life in his native town, where he died in 1815. He is recorded as a member of the guild of St Luke in 1789 and was the teacher of the still life painter Jan Evert Morel (1769-1808). This pair of paintings of fruit and flowers shows Linthorst's fondness for dense compositions of overlapping richness. It also demonstrates his delicate, luminous technique: instead of glazing a tinted colour, he uses strong whites with thin strokes of colour 'etched' over the white beneath. The sumptuousness of Linthorst's handling of white and pastel flowers is especially evident here in the roses which dominate the centre of the flower painting. This pair of fruit and flower paintings, both dated 1813, can be compared to a pair in the Broughton Collection, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. They may have been shown at the Tentoonstellingen der Kunstwerken van nog Levende Meesters, te Amsterdam. Linthorst exhibited two fruit still lifes and two flower still lifes in this annual Amsterdam exhibition of Living Masters in 1813 and two pairs of a fruit and flower still life the following year.