PARIS.- Christie’s will offer a major work by the Dutch painter Adriaen Coorte during the Maîtres Anciens: Peintures – Dessins – Sculptures auction. Having remained in the same family for over 50 years, the painting’s reappearance on the market is an event in more ways than one. Painted in 1704, it is one of the most important works by an artist whose known body of work is limited to a few dozen paintings, notably at the Louvre, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. On November 21st, the Nature morte au papillon et aux abricots, raisins, grenade et pêche sur un entablement will be offered at an estimated price of €600,000 to €1,000,000.

Little is known about the life of Adriaen Coorte. He was most likely trained in the atelier of Melchior d’Hondecoeter in Amsterdam during the second half of the 16th century, and the influence of the master can be seen in his early paintings. Fallen into oblivion during the 18th and 19th centuries, it was not until 1952-53 that his work came out of the shadows thanks to a major publication by the art historian Laurens J. Bol. The publication of this book, followed by an exhibition of 21 paintings by the artist at the Dordrechts Museum in 1958, led art historians to consider him to be one of the most original and singular of Dutch still-life painters. Since then, there have been several exhibitions dedicated to his work at such museums as the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) in 2003 and the Mauritshuis (The Hague) in 2008.

The still life on sale on November 21st, dated 1704, is typical of his mature works, of which there are no more than 60 paintings, most of which are in museum collections.