Simon Verelst
The Hague 1644 – London between 1710-1717

Still-life of Flowers in a Glass Vase on a Marble Ledge

oil on canvas

31 ¾ × 25 ¼ inches (80.4 × 64 cm.)

PROVENANCE:

Simon Verelst’s mastery of flower-painting lies not merely in his ability to represent the expensive, ornamental flowers of the late seventeenth century, but to make a silent, frozen drama of them, in which the disposition of each stem in its relation to the others appears as significant and as loaded with meaning as the gestures of the actors in a Baroque history painting. Verelst himself was aware that there was something almost necromantic in the lithe tensions he imparted to so simple a subject as a painter, and as a man it affected his perception of himself considerably. Anecdotes concerning his vanity are numerous, although the most indicative is the instance in which he failed to remove his hat before the Lord Chancellor the Earl of Shafestbury since ‘the King coud make a chancellor of whom pleas’d but coud not make a Verelst.’ ¹

Few works are signed by the artist, and dated works are extremely rare. ²The present painting, dated by Fred Meijer to the later part of Verelst’s career in London circa 1705, demonstrates the qualities that had first enchanted Samuel Pepys, a discerning connoisseur of painting, to his work. Pepys records a visit to Verelst’s studio on April 11, 1669, when the painter was newly arrived in London and was a friend of Jan Looten, a minor Dutch painter who had earlier settled in London. Pepys was unimpressed by Looten’s talent, but was directed by him to:

‘a Dutchman newly come over, one Everelst, who took us to his lodging close by and did show us a little flower pott of his doing, the finest thing that I ever think I saw in my life – the drops of dew hanging on the leaves, so as I was forced again and again to put my finger to it to see whether my eyes were deceived or no. He doth ask £70 for it; I had the vanity to bid him £20 – but a better picture I never saw in my whole life, and it is worth going twenty miles too see.’ ³

In the present painting there are dewdrops on the leaves, which, along with the fly that crawls the leaf in the immediate center, would have delighted contemporary observers as a triumph of trompe l’oeil. Along with this perhaps faint aura of the vanitas, a remnant from the heritage of Verelst’s Dutch tradition, are the less quantifiable effect of the floral drama, in which the harmonies of colour and placing, and the way in which the different flowers turn upon each other and almost seem to react, create a complex visual music.

Verelst’s popularity in London and, especially, at the Court, was such that Charles II bought six of his paintings, and Lord Pomfret, an arbiter in artistic matters, bought nine. He also painted portraits of members of the court including the Duke of Buckingham as well as Mary of Modena. Verelst’s excursions into High Life enmeshed him in one of the Court’s great divorce scandals, when in 1691 he appeared as a witness in the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk. The Duchess earnestly hoped that Verelst – who had painted her portrait – would pretend to own a shirt and waistcoat that belonged to her lover Sir John Germaine and which had been found in the Duke’s closet at Windsor. No amount of bribery could persuade him, however, and he proved incorruptible.

Verelst was one of the three painter sons of Pieter Harmensz Vereslt (1618 – 1668), all of whom received their training with their father in The Hague. His brothers, Johannes (1648 – 1700) and Herman (1641/2 – 1700) are known for portrait painting. The Verelsts were something of an artistic dynasty, and Herman’s daughter Maria (1680 – 1744) enjoyed a successful practice as a portraitist in the next century.

We are grateful to Fred G. Meijer for confirming the attribution to Simon Verelst.

¹ George Vertue, “Notebooks II”, Walpole Society, vol. XX, Oxford, 1931-32, p. 132.

² Adriaan van der Willigen & Fred G. Meijer, “Simon Verelst” in A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Painters Working in Oils, 1525-1725, Primavera Press, Leiden, 2003, p. 204.

³ Samuel Pepys, Diary IX, pp. 514 -515.

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