Lot 203: Pedro de Camprobín (Almagro 1605-1674 Seville)

Peaches, cherries and plums in a glass platter on a wooden ledge; and Peonies, roses and daisies in a glass bowl on a wooden ledge
the latter indistinctly signed (?) and dated (?) (lower right)
oil on canvas
9 3/8 x 12 3/8 in. (23.7 x 31.5 cm.)
a pair (2)

Anonymous sale [The property of a lady of title]; Christie's, London, 12 July 1963, lot 86 and 87 (524 gns. to Singer).
Acquired shortly afterwards by the father of the present owner.

These simple yet elegant canvases were painted by the most prominent still life painter active in Seville in the seventeenth century, Pedro de Camprobín Passano. Trained in Toledo between 1619 and 1624 under Luís Tristán, by 1628, he is recorded in Seville, where he married the daughter of the artist Antonio de Arnos, and in 1630 became a member of the Seville painters' guild. In 1660, along with Murillo, Valdés Leal and other leading artists of the day, Camprobín became a founder member of the Seville Academy.

Evidently familiar with the work of the Sevillian artist Juan, son of Francisco de Zurbarán, his earlier work shows some influence of those two artists. In the 1650s, he developed a more personal style, using fluent brushstrokes, and tending towards understated compositions, in contrast to the often large and usually heavily-laden kitchen still lifes being produced in Madrid at that time.

The decade of the 1660s was the summit of Camprobín's career. The still lifes that he produced during that period 'are unlike any others painted in Spain, and they establish Camprobín as one of the most distinctive masters of still-life painting in Spain' (Jordan and Cherry, op. cit., p. 111). In these years, the artist began to change his technique, 'relying to a much greater extent on the use of glazing to achieve delicacy in modelling' (ibid., p. 114). As Jordan and Cherry point out, this has led to the fragile state of much of his extant oeuvre.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.