Flowers

In the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, this 1722 canvas brings Van Huysum's work into one of the world's great imperial collections, built by Catherine the Great and her successors as a deliberate demonstration of Russian cosmopolitan culture. Dutch and Flemish still-life paintings were among the categories most enthusiastically collected by the Russian court, which acquired entire collections en bloc from European dealers and noble estates throughout the eighteenth century. A Van Huysum flower piece of 1722 vintage would have reached the Hermitage through such a bulk acquisition or through a specific diplomatic purchase. The Hermitage's holdings of Dutch still life are among the world's finest, providing a context in which Van Huysum can be seen in relation to predecessors like Willem Claesz. Heda and Jan Davidsz. de Heem, whose work the Russian collections also hold. The 1722 date confirms this as a mature work from Van Huysum's most celebrated decade.

Hermitage conservation records have documented the Van Huysum canvases in their collection as showing a multi-layer build-up characteristic of his working method: lead-white ground, warm ochre imprimatura, cool underpainting defining shadow, warm colour glazes building mid-tone, final saturated glazes, and lead-white highlights. X-radiographs of similar works reveal minimal underdrawing, suggesting Van Huysum worked directly with the brush.