THE rebuke 'Your eyes were bigger than your stomach' will have been shamingly obvious to all of us at some point. I recently experienced it more or less in reverse. My eyes initially reacted to Le panier des fraises des bois by Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) with distaste, which I then realised was triggered by my stomach–I can no longer eat strawberries, even wild ones, as they are a gout trigger. When I looked at the 15in by 19in still life properly, my aesthetic assessment was quite different.
Unlike many Dutch 17thcentury still lifes (still even, silent lives), 18th-century French natures mortes of this kind do not tell stories or point to morals, the intention is to provoke an emotional response to beauty and harmony. In this one, exhibited in 1761, the pyramid of fruit, however beautifully painted, would probably not do the job without the accompanying glass, carnations, cherries, and peach, which make the composition a triangle within a pentagon, to greater harmonious effect. As it is, this simple-seeming painting could happily be contemplated for hours, even by the gouty.
Last November, Christie's Paris took a record €7.11 million for a Chardin genre painting of a maid filling a bucket from a water cistern; that record was comprehensively trashed by the €24,381,000 (820.6 million) made by Le panier des fraises des a bois with Artcurial and the Turquin dealership on March 24. It came from the descendants of François Marcille (1790–1856), who had built up a massive collection of 18th-century paintings, including 40 Bouchers, 30 Chardin's, and 25 Fragonards, many bought in flea markets as 18thcentury art was still deeply unfashionable after the Revolution. It would be fascinating to know what he paid for this one.
Esta historia es de la edición April 20, 2022 de Country Life UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición April 20, 2022 de Country Life UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
