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GYSBRECHT THYs, an eminent portrait painter in the style of Van Dyck, painted small landscapes with figures, in which he imitated Poelemburg.

JAN VAN HUYSUM.

JAN VAN HUYSUM holds the highest place among painters of fruit and flowers, not only for the truth in the individual representations, but for their skilful combinations in groups, and the artistic arrangement for picturesque effect. No artist before him, since the revival of painting, ever approached to such refinement of taste in selecting from the inanimate productions of nature the most beautiful in form and colour, and, in the delineation, such skill in preserving their delicate texture and elastic vitality. To form an idea of his compositions, let the amateur imagine an assemblage of the choicest specimens of white, yellow, red, and variegated roses, joined with African marigolds, auriculas, anemonies, tulips, poppies, fleurs de lis, convolvuluses, and others, the pride of the floriculturists of the time, spangled with the fresh dewdrops of morning, arranged in a vase of the most elegant form, placed on a marble table, on which is a bird's nest containing eggs, spotted or tinged according to the species, a sprig of blossoms or a carnation lying near, as if dislodged from the group by accident, a creeping snail, or a sporting butterfly revelling in the sweets, and he will have a notion of the constituent parts; but he must see them grouped to be made fully aware of the master-mind of the artist. Van Huysum generally painted his pictures in pairs; a composition of flowers had a corresponding one of fruit, in which he introduced the same rich variety to please the eye and gratify the taste. Melons, peaches, apricots, grapes, plums, pomegranates, mingled with flowers, placed in artful confusion on a marble table, with a mouse committing depredations, or a small group of nymphs and cupids from the antique for further ornament, is the general composition. Those of both sorts that are painted on a light ground are held in the highest esteem; but this is a matter of taste. He did not entirely confine his pencil to fruit and flower painting; he essayed landscape, and it seems made Glauber his model. His small pictures in that department, are tenderly touched,

and are sufficiently pleasing from their minuteness of detail, but those of a larger size are weak and ineffective. He was fortunate, as an artist, in having his works duly appreciated during his life-time; princes and crowned heads were his patrons, and others of wealth and taste were liberal rewarders of his talents; time has rather increased than diminished their value. He was born at Amsterdam in 1682, and died

in 1749.

About one hundred and twelve of Jan van Huysum's pictures are described in Smith's Catalogue Raisonné, vol. vi. and Supplement, and also a few of his finished drawings, which are considered by some as equally valuable with his pictures, on account of their excessive rarity.

IMITATORS, COPYISTS, AND ANALOGISTS OF JAN

VAN HUYSUM.

JACOB VAN HUYSUM, brother of Jan, copied and imitated his pictures with considerable success. He, however, painted similar subjects from his own designs and compositions, which are very good, and only suffer by comparison with his brother's works, being less tenderly penciled, and not so delicately and highly finished. They are signed J. Van Huysum, as are his father's, but Jan always signed his name in full. There is disagreement among writers respecting the dates of his birth and death; some asserting that he was the elder brother of Jan, others the younger; and his death is placed by one party in 1740, and by another in 1746.

JUSTUS VAN HUYSUM, the father of Jan and Jacob, was himself an excellent painter of fruit and flowers, and instructed both his sons in the art. It is probable that he would have gained celebrity if he had confined his talent to that department only; but he was versatile, and attempted all subjects, and showed himself a respectable artist in all. Some of his pictures are very large, and seem to have been intended for house decorations, not as ornaments for cabinets or galleries; indeed it is asserted that his principal business was that of a house decorator. He was born at Amsterdam in 1659, and died in 1716.

P. FAES, whose history is, at present, not known, painted fruit and flower pieces with a taste and delicacy equal to

any of the imitators of Jan van Huysum, and superior to most of his immediate followers. His compositions are elegantly arranged, tenderly penciled, and sweetly coloured, but are somewhat wanting in force. The amateur will do well to secure a P. Faes, if he cannot obtain a Jan van Huysum. This artist must not be confounded with Sir Peter Loly, whose family name was Faes; the flower painter lived at a much later period.

WYBRAND HENDRIKS, though more of an analogist to Weenix than to Van Huysum, may be mentioned as having painted some pictures of flowers and fruit that have a resemblance to the latter, vigorously penciled, and richly coloured, but not to compare with the great master in delicacy of finishing: they are, however, much esteemed.

PAUL THEODORE VAN BRUSSEL (or Hermann ?) may be placed in the same category as the last so far as fruit and flower painting are concerned. His pictures are to be found in some of the best modern collections.

J. LINTHORST is another excellent fruit and flower painter, with the same vigorous execution and rich colouring as the two preceding painters; his works are also held in much esteem, and deservedly so. There are two fine specimens in

the Museum at Amsterdam.

JAN VAN OS, born at Middelharnis, in Holland, in 1744, painted various subjects, but excelled in fruit and flowers; indeed many have not scrupled to place him next to Van Huysum. His compositions are certainly very beautiful in every respect, and it is difficult, on the whole, to dissent from that opinion. Still, to be just, it must be admitted that they have not that refinement of touch that is so fascinating in Van Huysum's pictures; had they possessed that quality, and all of the colours preserved their pristine transparency, he would have no contemporary rival to dispute his right to that position. His works are becoming scarce in commerce, and command high prices when they appear in sales, and are to be found only in the richest collections. He died in 1808.

GEORGE JACOB JAN VAN Os, the son of the preceding, occupies a distinguished place among modern flower painters; two magnificent specimens of his talent are to be seen in the Museum at the Hague.

GERARD VAN SPAENDONCK, born at Tilburgh, in Holland, in 1746, is another distinguished painter of fruit and flowers, of the same class as the preceding. He was an enthusiast in his art, and sought excellence with the most indefatigable industry, never relaxing his endeavours to equal the beauties discoverable in the sweetest and gayest inanimate productions of nature. His penciling is free, his colouring vivid and transparent, and his compositions appear to be the result of a thorough acquaintance with art, yet not trammelled by its rules; nature in sport but harmonious in all her gaiety. He died at Paris in 1822.

CORNELIUS VAN SPAENDONCK, brother of the preceding, was also an excellent fruit and flower painter; but as he was chiefly employed at the Sèvres manufactory, his easel pictures are very rare.

RACHEL RUISCH, OR RUYSCH.

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THIS extraordinary lady may be said to have been gifted with an intuitive genius for the art of painting the minute beauties of nature, and, as far as imitation can go in that pursuit, of almost rivaling in representation the objects she selected as her types. From her infancy she showed her predilection, and at an early age was placed under the direction of William van Aelst, a skilful painter of flowers in detail, a good colourist, and a clean and neat finisher. Her progress was such as soon to surpass her instructor. leaving the school of Van Aelst she commenced a new era in the branch of flower painting; the art had hitherto been confined to the cultivated productions of Holland, of which her predecessors had amply availed themselves, and on which she also practised with unrivaled success. But her genius prompted her to bolder excursions in the realms of nature; she sought for and selected the rarest and finest exotics which were at that time being imported by travellers and merchants from far distant kingdoms, grander in forms and more brilliant in colours than those of the colder climate of her native country. From the conservatories of the wealthy, who were her patrons, she obtained the desired supplies, and arranged them with admirable taste and judgment in groups that gratified the eye by their novelty and splendour, extorted eulogy

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for the artistic combination, and wonder at the exquisite truth of the delineation. To increase the interest excited, she introduced the insects that prey on each particular plant, flower, or fruit, and thus gave a lesson in entomology as well as botany. Like her great contemporary, Van Huysum, she was fond of adding a bird's nest containing eggs to her composition, and was perhaps more profuse than he in variegated butterflies, spotted lizards, beetles, frogs, and snails. Each of these requires microscopic examination to discover its perfection of form and natural beauty. An immensity of labour must have been necessary to produce such illusions, yet none appears; her colours are melting and fluent, her flowers have the soft texture of reality, her insects and reptiles are living and endowed with motion. Would that time had been more lenient, or her vehicle less treacherous; to the regret of every lover of art, a dark and heavy tone has obscured much of the original beauty of her magic pencil, in some on which the greatest care must have been bestowed. This talented woman was born at Amsterdam in 1664, and died in 1750. She was married to Jurian Pool, but always placed her maiden name on her pictures.

Pictures that required so much time and application are necessarily few; Smith's Catalogue Raisonné contains descriptions of only thirty, all he discovered in his researches: two are said to have been the entire labour of seven years. She had no scholars, and to imitate her with success seems to have been hopeless.

WILLIAM VAN DE VELDE, THE YOUNGER.

THIS marine painter, distinguished above all others for his calms and battles at sea, was born at Amsterdam in 1633. He was instructed by his father in the elements of the art, and was afterwards placed with Simon de Vlieger, a masterly painter of sea storms, brisk gales, and vessels at sea or in rivers. Under this able director he made rapid progress, and in variety and execution soon surpassed both his father and master. His talents became known, and his pictures were justly appreciated by his countrymen; the subjects he painted being well understood and most interesting to a people whose wealth and prosperity depended on their commerce by sea,

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