17th century Flemish and Dutch paintings

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Aert Schouman
A sulphur-crested cockatoo in a tropical landscape
Watercolour and black chalk on paper : 35 X 24,5 cm
Unsigned
Sold at Sotheby’s London, 3/07/96
For 7.200 £ (+ buyer’s premium) = 8.827 € (+ BP)


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Painting for Sale

In short

This must be one of the smallest paintings known by Schouman.
Schouman was an excellent draughtsman and painter, especially of birds of which he produced excellent true-to-life representations.

He was also a typical gifted artist of the 18th century: he put his sleek stamp on everything from drawings and engravings to easel paintings and entire wall hangings covering an entire salon; he also decorated snuff boxes or even a clock.

About Aert Schouman

Dutch painter
Dordrecht 1710 – 1792 The Hague

Talented, versatile and productive painter, draughtsman and engraver of animal and bird scenes, but also painter of portraits, genre scenes and mythological scenes, of landscapes, town and village views. He also painted entire wall hangings, but also decorated snuffboxes and fans.

Pupil of the Dordrecht portrait and genre scene painter Adriaan van der Burg (1693 – 1733) and of the little-known Rotterdam miniature painter and glass engraver Frans Greenwood (1680 – 1763) who settled in Dordrecht in 1726.

Schouman took his first pupil in 1733 and continued to teach for the remainder of his life.
He held the position of head of the Dordrecht Painter’s Guild of St. Luke from 1742 until 1792.
Circa 1748 he moved to The Hague, although he still regularly returned  to his birthplace, Dordrecht.

Schouman clearly had a profound interest in zoology. He observed the captive exotic birds and other animals in the precursors of our modern zoos, such as the Royal Menagerie of Prince William V in The Hague.  He also studied stuffed and dried specimens the natural history collections. Schouman painted his birds in peaceful, paradise-like Dutch landscapes, although the animals were caged over there.

Schouman was the most important 18th century Dutch draughtsman of birds; he drew 340 different species.

Characteristic of Schouman’s animal paintings and drawings is the combination of an almost scientific accuracy and of a pronounced artistic skill, resulting in the lively and precise, natural rendering of all animals with the right proportions and attitudes. Typical for Schouman is the twisted posture of the birds. 

Why should you buy this painting?

Because it is a beautiful, fully signed gem, set in a nice wooden sculpted frame.

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