Lot 52: Jacob Fransz. van der Merck ('s-Gravendeel circa 1610 - 1664 Leiden) and Cornelis Jansz. de Heem (Leiden 1631 - 1695 Antwerp) , Still life with an overturned basket on a partly draped table, with grapes, plums, oranges, various flowers, a parrot and

signed lower right C. DE HEEM oil on panel

measurements note 33 3/4 by 47 3/8 in.; 85.7 by 120.4 cm.

Private collection, Westphalia;
Art market, 1961;
Anonymous sale, Paris, Cornette de St.Cyr, April 16, 1986, lot 69.

This elegant still life is unusual in that it was painted by two different and distinct artists - Jacob Fransz. van der Merck and Cornelis de Heem - working at least thirty years apart.

As Fred G. Meijer of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriches Documentatie, The Hague, points out, Van der Merck originally conceived the composition along far more sober lines, probably during the 1640s. By the 1670s or early 1680s, the painting would have seemed somewhat out of date and thus De Heem adapted it to a more modern taste. This he achieved by adding the flowers and the strongly coloured orange and plums to the right; indeed, the addition of the orange may have been added in recognition of the young stadtholder Willem III of the house of Orange. That De Heem was satisfied with his contribution is corroborated by the fact that he subsequently signed the painting, possibly obliterating Van der Merck's original signature in the process. The practice of 'modernising' paintings was not uncommon; Gerrit Willemsz. Heda's Still life with a nautilus cup and an overturned tazza of 1646 that sold London, Sotheby's, December 5, 2007, lot 40, was later adapted by Pieter de Ring who, some ten years later, added the fruit, tablecloth and dark background.