Description
Coorte worked in Middelburg, a wealthy maritime city in the southern part of the Netherlands that fostered a poetic, scientific, and spiritual examination of the natural world. Gooseberries—a modest, local pleasure—could be picked in the wild, although Dutch gardeners in the 1600s were the first to cultivate them to improve their taste. The strong illumination gives the plant a stark grandeur, despite the small scale, and the dark background emphasizes the fruit's delicate translucency. The dessicated flower petals and waxy leaves contrast with the succulent gooseberries, with their skin on the verge of bursting.
Provenance
Auguste Coster [d. 1907], Brussels (-1907); (Le Roy, Brussels, Coster sale, April 4-6, 1907, lot 69, possibly sold to Max Massot) (1907); Max Massot, Belgium, sold to P. de Boer (-1964); (Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, sold to Mrs. Wulf, The Hague)1 (1964); Mrs. Wulf, The Hague, exchanged with P. de Boer for a marine painting by J. van Diest (1964-1975); (Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, sold to Johnny Oppenheimer) (1975); Johnny Oppenheimer, Tönnersjö, Eldsberga, Sweden, consigned to Charles Roelofsz Gallery, Amsterdam1 (1975-1986); (Charles Roelofsz Gallery, Amsterdam) (1986); (Sam Nijstad, The Hague, and K. Waterman Gallery, Amsterdam, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1986); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1987-)
Accession Number
1987.32
Medium
oil on paper mounted on wood
Dimensions
Framed: 45.5 x 38.5 x 4.5 cm (17 15/16 x 15 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 29.7 x 22.8 cm (11 11/16 x 9 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund