LONDON.- Famously secretive about his technique, the 18th-century Dutch master Jan van Huysum was dubbed 'the Phoenix of Flower Painters' by a contemporary in recognition of his unparalleled role in the revival of realism in Dutch painting. Two superlative examples of the genre, showcasing van Huysum's technical virtuosity and sophisticated composition, Fruit and flowers in a wicker basket, 1720s (estimate on request; in the region of £3,000,000) and Flowers in a terracotta vase, 1734 (estimate on request; in the region of £3,000,000), will be leading highlights in Christie's Old Masters Evening Sale on 30 June 2026, during Classic Week in London. These tightly-packed, sumptuous displays – bursting with fruits and a profusion of flowers – were intended to celebrate nature, while also serving as lavish displays of wealth and abundance. When the two paintings last appeared on the market over twenty years ago, they smashed all previous auction records, with Fruit and flowers in a wicker basket setting a new benchmark for the artist—one that still stands today.

Jan van Huysum enjoyed considerable success and during his lifetime, his flower pieces sold for ten times the price of a painting by Rembrandt. Leading European aristocrats and collectors were eager to acquire his work, and these still lifes were no exception: Fruit and flowers in a wicker basket was owned by Maria Carolina Ferdinanda Luisa, duchesse de Berry (1798–1870), one of the most influential female patrons of her time, while Flowers in a terracotta vase passed through two of the most prominent 18th-century Dutch collections, those of Gerret Braamcamp and Jan Jansz. Gildemeester, as well as that of Willem II of the Netherlands (1792–1849), whose wax seal remains on the reverse of the panel. Painted around a decade apart, these two works have been together since the latter half of the 19th century, when Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1808–1879) paired them, commissioning matching gilt wood frames that they still retain. They have hung as pendants ever since, and were later acquired from the Rothschilds by the Bradford-born entrepreneur and mail-order magnate, John Enrico Fattorini (1878–1949).

Andrew Fletcher, Christie's Global Head of the Old Masters Department commented: “The bountiful beauty, technical brilliance and exceptional state of preservation of these masterpieces by Jan van Huysum make them among the most desirable works of their type in private hands. Due to their superlative quality, it is not surprising that, between them, they successively passed through the hands of some of the greatest collectors of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.”

The Artist

Born in Amsterdam into a family of painters, Jan van Huysum received his earliest training from his father, Justus van Huysum, a decorative and still-life artist. While his family favoured a more schematic approach, Jan developed a remarkably detailed and naturalistic style that soon surpassed his predecessors and contemporaries in complexity and finesse. He specialised in elaborate bouquets set against luminous, often Italianate landscapes or marble ledges. His mastery of colour and texture, along with his precise rendering of botanical details, elevated the genre of flower painting to new heights. He is especially noted for his use of vibrant, layered hues, delicate lighting and complex compositions featuring flowers from different seasons — a deliberate artistic invention rather than a botanical reality. These paintings often included symbolic references to transience and decay, in keeping with the vanitas tradition.

Van Huysum's Painting Technique: A Closely Guarded Secret

Jan van Huysum's forensic attention to detail and painstaking use of glazes produced highly finished surfaces. His exquisitely refined painting technique, however, remains something of a mystery. The artist was known for his secrecy, famously refusing to let anyone into his studio for fear that his methods might be discovered.

Fruit and flowers demonstrates exceptional technical skill, from the waxy bloom of plums to the translucence of redcurrants and grapes, and from the delicate petals of the double white poppy to the velvety texture of the red cockscomb. Through this palpable tactility, van Huysum creates a multi-sensory experience in which the fruit appears edible, crystal-clear water droplets glisten, ants crawl and butterflies seemingly hover in space. In Flowers in a terracotta vase, van Huysum's brush masterfully distinguishes between textures in the finch's nest, which teeters at an exaggerated angle, allowing the viewer to appreciate its delicate structure, observed minutely and rendered with fastidious detail – from velvety moss to light, fluffy feathers, interwoven twigs, unruly grass stalks, and the smooth, opaque shells of the pale blue eggs.

The startling accuracy in Jan van Huysum's still lifes largely stems from his practice of painting fruit and flowers from life, which often resulted in delays while he waited for specimens to come into season. In a 1742 letter to Duke Christian Ludwig von Mecklenburg, to whom the artist had to justify significant delays to a painting he had been commissioned, he wrote: “last year I could not get a yellow rose, else it would have been finished.” By 1734, when Flowers in a terracotta vase was painted, van Huysum was well established as the foremost flower painter of his day. Over twenty specimens make up the floral arrangement in this painting, in which van Huysum has been described as attaining 'optimum clarity and harmony'.

Both pictures will be on public view in New York from 9 to 17 May, ahead of travelling to Hong Kong where they will hang from 22 to 27 May, before returning to Christie's headquarters in London for the pre-sale exhibition from 26 to 30 June.