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  • Articles by Sonali

    Exhibition Review: Dutch Flowers


    'Dutch Flowers' in Room 1 at the National Gallery marks the onset of spring; the flowering season. But there’s a discomforting undercurrent to these pretty floral compositions of caterpillars, birds nests, insects, fallen petals and withered stems.

    The twenty two still life paintings come from the National Gallery’s collection, from 1700s to 1800s and developed out of an increasing interest in botany, combined with a demand for pictures of everyday objects. This was a period of economic prosperity for the Dutch Republic known as the Dutch Golden Age, based on sea exploration and trade. As such, these are moral fables expressed in flowers. Motifs like fallen petals are a sobering reminder of the transitoriness of things.

    The display is divided into three parts, starting with a picture by Jan Breughel the Elder entitled Still Life with Chrysanthemums, Narcissi, Roses and Irises (1608-1610) which stands out from the period in terms of its colour scheme and true to life quality.

    Artist Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder worked during the era of tulip mania 1636-37 (an equivalent to our housing bubble). He captures the detail of individual flowers with a scientific precision, but his arrangements are quite traditional and, oddly enough, look rather artificial and kitsch. More eye-catching perhaps are the flower vases (also painted by Bosschaert), made from blue and white china, stone or glass.

    A highlight is a series of paintings from 1670s-1720 which are strikingly innovative for their time. The arrangements are asymmetrical and pared down. Artists such as Jan Davidsz de Heem and Rachel Ruysch reveal their virtuosity by including wild flowers, curving stems of barley and wheat and dramatic lighting to give a sense of depth. This is all offset by a dark background. The effect is an atmosphere both mysterious and subdued.

    Artist Jan Van Huysum dominates the final stage. His painting Hollyhocks and Other Flowers in a Vase (1702) is an exploration of textures, with crepe-like flower petals in muted tones overlapping papery green leaves. But then the rather gentle mood gives way to something quite different. What follows (1720-1789) is over the top, lurid and slightly squeamish.

    These are elaborate compositions featuring overripe flowers and fruit (pineapples, grapes,  pomegranates) and even a mouse. The colour scheme here is more autumnal than spring-like, with yellows and browns. They give an insight into the heady atmosphere of that era (just before the economic crash), and of the patrons with their taste for ostentation.

    Overall the exhibition is uneven but quite compelling. This might be due to the agglomeration of pictures in one room which is an inspired idea, giving us a journey through the era. Or because of its gentle drama of fallen petals and tulips in a state of ‘decay and rupture’, and their continuing resonance. 

     

    'Dutch Flowers' is at the National Gallery until 29 August