This painting shows a variety of flowers in a decorative light orange vase. The flowers are of a variety of sizes and colors, including bright orange, blue, white, red, and pink, surrounded by green leaves and stems. The vase is positioned centrally at the bottom of the painting, with most of the tall flowers extending upwards to the top of the painting. Some flowers also drip down the sides of the vase or lie on the surface below. The surface and the wall behind the vase are both light brown. The orange vase appears to have shapes either carved or painted on it, but they are hard to identify. The lines in this painting are loose and sketch-like, and the colors have been applied similarly, sometimes bleeding out of the outlines of the flowers.
Read the visual description

This painting shows a variety of flowers in a decorative light orange vase. The flowers are of a variety of sizes and colors, including bright orange, blue, white, red, and pink, surrounded by green leaves and stems. The vase is positioned centrally at the bottom of the painting, with most of the tall flowers extending upwards to the top of the painting. Some flowers also drip down the sides of the vase or lie on the surface below. The surface and the wall behind the vase are both light brown. The orange vase appears to have shapes either carved or painted on it, but they are hard to identify. The lines in this painting are loose and sketch-like, and the colors have been applied similarly, sometimes bleeding out of the outlines of the flowers.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

Bouquet of Spring Flowers in a Terracotta Vase

Jan van Huysum

Date
1720s
Medium
oiled charcoal and watercolor on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 39.6 x 30.7 cm (15 9/16 x 12 1/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
2011.74.1
Credit line
Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund, The Ahmanson Foundation Fund, Linda H. Kaufman Fund, and Mr. and Mrs. Louis Glickfield Fund
Time span
1701 to 1725
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • still life
  • still
Provenance

William Mayor (London, died 1874)(Lugt 2799 and 2639), probably acquired in 1842; with Hogarth, London, in 1875; Léon Suzor, Paris, until 1962; by inheritance to his nephew Didier Suzor, Paris, until 1975; probably by descent until 2010; (Haboldt & Co., Paris); purchased 2011 by NGA.

NGA object ID 155543. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.