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11 May
An appetiser by Willem van Aelst
UPCOMING AUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL THE MAGAZINE
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On 11 May, at its sale of Old Masters and 19th century paintings in Cologne, the Lempertz auction house is producing
a particularly mouth-watering sales catalogue. It includes this still life by Willem van Aelst, delectable not so
much for the choice of victuals represented as for the masterly rendering of the materials, subtle in every respect.
Here we can admire the reflection in the nautilus, the transparency of the glass bowl and the different textures of
the fish. Willem van Aelst was the great specialist in the genre during the Golden Age of Dutch painting, and introduced
asymmetry into composition. He served as court painter to Ferdinand II de' Medici during his stay in
Florence. His still-lifes with their theatrical, eminently decorative layout brought him considerable success, and
today his work is found in leading museums from the Louvre to the Getty. To obtain this one, dated 1678, you will
need €250,000/300,000: the high end of the average price for a work by the artist. His main rivals that day will be
Anton Mozart and his "Tower of Babel (same estimate) and Jan van Goyen with "A Castle on Rocks"
(€140,000/160,000). May the best man win! Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
N° 25 I GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
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