Lot 346: GABRIEL DE LA CORTE MADRID 1648 - 1694

oil on canvas

60 by 80 cm.; 23 3/4 by 31 1/2 in.

Gabriel de la Corte was one of the principal flower painters working in Madrid during the second half of the 17th century. His technique is markedly different from that of his contemporary Bartolomé Pérez and the older Juan de Arellano, for rather than adhering to the tradition of the great Flemish still life painters in their precision of detail, his brushwork is at once more spirited and schematic. Unlike many of his works today, the present still life affords a good appreciation of the artist's style and technique, on account of its fine state of preservation. The artist's employment of a loaded brush to build up layers of impasto on the picture surface has the effect of providing a sense of three-dimenionality and texture to the blooms and other still life elements, which results in a highly decorative overall effect. In this respect the present work can be compared to a pair of paintings by De la Corte in the Abelló Collection, Madrid (see P. Cherry, Arte y Naturaleza, Madrid 1999, reproduced plate CXXXIV, nos. 1 & 2).

Unlike Juan de Arellano and Bartolomé Pérez, De la Corte did not enjoy royal patronage at the court and as a result had to make a living selling his works in the shops of Madrid. According to Palomino he contributed the flower garlands to the work of artists such as Antonio Castrejón and Matías de Torres and a large body of his known oeuvre consists of floral and architectural decoration, probably painted to adorn the grand houses of Madrid (which out of context today perhaps no longer retain their original impact and effect). The composition of the present work is almost certainly inspired by the great paintings of Juan de Arellano (see, for example, lot 345), although the cascading flowers on either side of the wicker basket bears the distinctive hallmark of De la Corte.

The establishment of a clear chronology for De la Corte's work is impeded by the existence of only a small number of signed and dated works. It appears however that his early creations, during the 1660s and 1670s are characterised by a darker tonality, which gives way during the 1680s to a lighter, more colourful palette. It is to this phase during the 1680s that the present work can be tentatively given, and the overall colour scheme and handling can be compared, for example, to the artist's pair of Floral Decorations in the department of Chemistry in the University of Madrid (see the exhibition catalogue, Bodegones y Floreros, Madrid, Museo del Prado, November 1983 - January 1984, p. 126, nos. 99 and 100, reproduced), one of which is signed and dated 1687.

The attribution to Gabriel de la Corte has been confirmed, upon first hand inspection, by Professor William Jordan, who has suggested a date of execution during the 1680s.