Still Life with Fruit, Vegetables and Wild Fowl

between 1628 and 1659

Juan de Espinosa Spanish, 1628-1659

On View

European, Level 2, South Wing

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About the Artwork

Juan de Espinosa’s artful arrangement portrays each element of the makings of a substantial meal with compelling clarity. The vegetables have a humble aspect, seen in the lumpy peel of the cucumbers and the ragged leaves that nearly hide the muted purple eggplants. Lifted above them on a stone step is a glass bowl laden with ripe, beautiful fruit. The skins of the apples and plums are tight and glossy, and the succulent grapes—translucent globes bursting with juice—dangle in bunches over the rim of the bowl to rest on the stone ledge. The two birds—yet to be plucked—are whimsically draped around the pale, green cabbage. Dramatic lighting, in stark contrast to the cast shadows and the impenetrable black background, turns familiar food into wondrous objects. Through invention and astonishing skill, Espinosa demonstrates his mastery of a distinctly Spanish approach to still life. From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title Still Life with Fruit, Vegetables and Wild Fowl

Artwork Date between 1628 and 1659

Artist Juan de Espinosa

Life Dates 1628-1659

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Spanish

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Framed: 34 13/16 × 25 9/16 inches (88.4 × 65 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Museum Purchase, Joseph M. de Grimme Memorial Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2012.13

Markings

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Provenance

(Palais Dorotheum, Vienna, Austria)

2012-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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Published References

Bulletin of the DIA: Notable Acquisitions, 2000–2015 89, no. 1/4 (2015): p. 76 (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Juan de Espinosa, Still Life with Fruit, Vegetables and Wild Fowl, between 1628 and 1659, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Joseph M. de Grimme Memorial Fund, 2012.13.