From the museum website, 3 September 2008
Praised for having ‘come far closer to nature’ than the previous generation of still-life painters by Arnold Houbraken, Jan van Huysum is arguably one of the most famous Dutch painters in art history.
Thanks to some exceptional loans from private collections, this unique display shows Jan Van Huysum’s outstanding flower paintings.
Celebrated as the ‘phoenix of all flower painters’ and praised for having ‘come far closer to nature’ than the previous generation of still-life painters by Arnold Houbraken, Jan van Huysum is one of the most famous Dutch painters in art history. During his lifetime in the 18th century his flower paintings sold for ten times the amount of a Rembrandt!