catalog text
"STILL LIFE WITH GRAPES AND PLUMS" BY VINCENT CLARE (BRITISH, 1855-1930)
Signed lower right Vincent Clare, in oil on canvas
Item # 903UXY16
An exceptionally well detailed painting by British artist Vincent Clare, it shows his mastery of this small niche for still-life paintings. Note the tightly packed detailing, extraordinary layering of complex colors and minute brush strokes that painstakingly work together to create depth in the scene. The scene details a woven reed basket that has fallen over, from which spill clusters of collected white grapes and around which are piled other gatherings from the garden: ripe plums, red grapes and twigs of green foliage. No element is left untouched by Clare's imagination, with even the soil of the ground richly detailed and textured.
Born in 1855 to artist George Clare, Vincent Clare spent most of his life in Southgate, London. Both Vincent and his brother Oliver followed in the tradition of their father and all three became well known for their still-life and flower paintings. Vincent's work tends to have a higher chroma palette with more pastels and a more vigorous brush stroke than his brother and father. He exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool between 1888 and 1897.
Provenance:
- Previously acquired from Sotheby's, New York, 28 January 2006, lot 295, achieved $ 5700 USD; labels retained verso
Measurements: 14" H x 17" W x 2" D [frame]; 9" H x 12 1/4" W [canvas]
Condition Report:
Early giltwood frame with losses. A few pin-points of inpainting to fruit, reeded edge of basket, far right grapes; touch ups to extreme edges where frame rubs. Trace craquelure. In fine overall condition.