Sale: 474 / Art of the 19th Century, Nov. 23. 2018 in Munich Lot 58

 

58
Johann Wilhelm Preyer
Früchtestillleben, 1882.
Oil on panel
Estimate:
€ 20,000 / $ 21,600
Sold:
€ 37,500 / $ 40,500

(incl. surcharge)
Früchtestillleben. 1882.
Oil on panel.
Weiß 176. Signed and dated in lower right. Verso with several numbers. 23.8 x 32 cm (9.3 x 12.5 in).

Neatly painted and virtuosly executed composition by the Düsseldorf master of still lifes.

PROVENANCE: Lempertz, Cologne, auction on December 12, 1934, lot 137.
Galerie Cohnen, Mönchengladbach (1992, according to Eschenbrücher).
Private collection North Rhine-Westphalia.

EXHIBITION: Johann Wilhem Preyer. Vorgänger - Werk - Nachfolge, Schloss Rheydt, Mönchengladbach August 27 to October 22, 1989 (with exhibition calendar, loan from Galerie Cohnen, Mönchengladbach).

LITERATURE: Ralf Eschenbrücher, Der Stilllebenmaler Johann Wilhelm Preyer, Mönchengladbach 1992, pp. 88 f., 160 (with color illu. on plate IX).

Based on Dutch still life painting of the 17th century, Preyer was able to help this art to a new blossom in a new guise. This fruit still life with blue and white grapes, vine leaves, apricot, peach, greengae, pear and hazelnuts arranged on a white marble plate, offers the viewer a rich sensation. The lateral light incidence and the contrasting gentle color transitions subtly emphasize the volume of the fruits and leaves. The fly in foreground additionally suggests the freshness of the depicted fruit landscape. The images of Preyer's pictures, which celebrated the eating and drinking culture of the affluent bourgeoise, were very well-received by the public in those days. From 1850 on the demand for still lifes by the master became so strong that he began to make only commission works: "Johann Wilhelm Preyer's flower and fruit depictions were in line with contemporary tastes and the general liking for a true natural depictions and harmony in terms of scale, shape and color, plasticity and spatiality. Owing to their masterly exeuction and great craftmanship, his works were widely acknowledged. However, influenced by contemporary aesthetic ideas, his artistic achievement was also effected by contemporary taste" (Catalog raisonné Weiß 2009, p. 30). [FS]



58
Johann Wilhelm Preyer
Früchtestillleben, 1882.
Oil on panel
Estimate:
€ 20,000 / $ 21,600
Sold:
€ 37,500 / $ 40,500

(incl. surcharge)