56 
House & Garden 
OLD FLOWER PAINTINGS in DECORATION 
The Low Countries Have Produced Innumerable Master Works Appropriate 
for the Enrichment of the House 
PEYTON BOSWELL 
An Italian example from 
the nth Century, the 
heyday of flower paint¬ 
ing. Courtesy P. W. 
French & Co. 
Another nth Century 
Italian painting, with 
pronounced landscape 
background. Courtesy P. 
W. French & Co. 
ART and nature come closest together, per- 
haps, in flower paintings. And just as 
flowers are always loved and are always ap¬ 
propriate, just so have flower paintings a uni¬ 
versality in the decoration of a home that is 
not approached by any other art—not por¬ 
traiture, nor landscape, nor 
sculpture, nor anything else 
that the love of beauty has 
caused genius to create. In 
a dining room, in a morning 
room, in a bedroom they are 
especially appropriate, and 
so high has the artistry of 
certain great masters of the 
past raised this branch of 
art, that they are equally 
sought by the connoisseur 
and find cherished places in 
the private galleries where 
the collector stages his rar¬ 
est treasures. 
A Dutch painting by 
Jan van H u y su m 
(1682-1749), one of 
the best known old 
masters. Lewis & 
Simmons 
European Schools 
The decorative possi¬ 
bilities of a flower 
painting are shown in 
the use of this Flem¬ 
ish example. Mac- 
Bride 
long before anybody would give more than a 
passing glance at a De Heem, a Brueghel, a 
Van Huysum, a Monnoyer or an Oudry. But 
within the last few years appreciation has 
come with a vengeance. Maybe it is because 
of the great interest which the American woman 
has taken in decoration, or 
maybe it is because of the 
growing love of the finest 
in art for its own sake rath¬ 
er than for the sake of the 
great names on the title 
plates; certain it is that 
such a demand has grown 
up for the works of the great 
masters of flower painting, 
and even for the meritorious 
work of their followers, that 
the American dealers have 
been unable to supply it. 
The superlative works of the 
great masters are eagerly 
taken by collectors, while 
the other pictures, whose 
authors are unknown and 
which are merely said to be 
of the “Flemish School,” 
the “Dutch School,” the 
“Early French School” or 
the “Italian School,” are 
much sought by those of 
more modest means who 
want appropriate decora¬ 
tions for their homes. 
Architects, too, who work 
silently with the interior 
decorators, have had their 
part in creating this popu¬ 
larity, and have made the 
rounds of the galleries look¬ 
ing for just the right thing 
for their clients’ purposes. 
Flowers in Decoration 
Of course, flowers have 
been a theme of decoration 
since the record of art be¬ 
gan to be written. The 
lotus of the Nile, conven¬ 
tionalized as was every 
Egyptian motive, was a 
favorite emblem in stone 
when the Pharaohs reigned. 
In the 17 th Century, 
when painting was at its 
highest popular apprecia¬ 
tion in Europe, veritable 
“schools” of flower painters 
flourished, not only in the 
Low Countries, where they 
had their highest develop¬ 
ment, but also in France 
and Italy. This branch of 
painting ranked as high as 
portraiture and landscape. 
Can you imagine a Dutch 
florist (and Dutch florists 
have for centuries been the 
princes of all florists) hav¬ 
ing for his highest ambition 
the production of flowers 
which the great Jan van 
Huysum should consider 
worthy of his brush! 
But in America the popu¬ 
larity of these old flower 
pictures lagged behind both 
portraiture and landscape. 
American collectors were 
eagerly seeking the works 
of the old masters, and pay¬ 
ing high prices therefor, 
