Lot 299: Johanna Helena Herolt Graff (Frankfurt 1668-after 1702)

Johanna Helena Herolt Graff (Frankfurt 1668-after 1702)
Flowers with a ladybird, caterpillar, butterfly and other insects
black chalk, watercolor and gum Arabic on vellum
14½ x 11 7/8 in. (36.8 x 30.2 cm.)

Graff was the daugher of the artist Maria Sybilla Merian (1647-1717), accompanying her to Surinam in 1711. Graff depicted the same subject matter as her mother, but with broader handling of the pigment and more miniaturistic treatment of details. This drawing is similar is style and size to a group of drawings by Graff in the Herzog Anton-Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig. This series was possibly commissioned by the Memnonite Agnes Block (1629-1704), an important breeder of rare plants near Utrecht.