Description
J. P. Pichler's engravings after Jan Van Huysum's Paintings
Known to his peers as the "phoenix of all flower painters", Jan Van Huysum's fame is wide and well-known. His stunning still-life paintings won him international acclaim not only during his lifetime, but for all ages since. He was born in Amsterdam in 1682 to Justus van Huysum, a famous painter in his own right. It did not take long for the son to outshine the father, however, and young Jan began to specialize in still life floral paintings. He used excruciating detail, found only in the study of live specimens to set his unique, asymmetric arrangements apart from all other painters. In fact, he once wrote a patron to explain that her painting would be delayed a year because, unable to obtain a real yellow rose, he could not finish the picture. A fierce protection of his methods led Van Huysum to always work alone, never allowing anyone to visit his studio or watch him create his masterpieces. Perhaps this safeguarding succeeded, as no other artist’s work offers the unique beauty found in Van Huysum's works of art.
This pair of detailed mezzotint engravings, made after Van Huysum's works, is by a master of the art, J. P. Pichler. "The Austrian Pichler finished in pure mezzotint many plates of exceptional merit, while his fruit and flower pieces after Van Huysum rival the masterpieces of Earlom after the same painter." (Delaborde, 1882) Pichler was careful even to include the soft appearance of the original paint and the lines of the canvas so essential to the beauty of paintings. Pichler was a student of Johann Jacobe, a great engraver who assisted in a partial revival of the art of mezzotinting in Austria.
The engravings are currently matted using archival materials. One is dated 1803, the other 1806, both printed in Vienna.