Adriaen Coorte | Arty Farty

Adriaen Coorte (c.1665-1707+) was a Dutch painter of still life. He is assumed to have been born and died in Middelburg. He became a pupil of Melchior d'Hondecoeter around 1680 in Amsterdam. Hondecoeter is known for repetitions of certain birds in certain poses, and he apparently took on pupils who were set to work copying these into their compositions.

Coorte signed works after 1683. He painted small and unpretentious still-lifes in a retrograde, close-up style. From 1683 he seems to have returned to Middelburg, where he set up a workshop and signed his small, carefully balanced minimalist still lifes. He often painted on paper that was glued to a wooden panel. About 80 signed works by him have been catalogued, mostly of small arrangements of fruits, vegetables, or shells on a stone slab, lit from above, with the dark background typical of still lifes earlier in the century. 

Strawberries_and_Red_Currants_on_a_Marble_Ledge.jpg (1685)

Strawberries, Asparagus, and Gooseberries in a Niche (1685, PD) Coorte

Stilleven_met_een_vlinder%2C_abrikozen%2C_kersen_en_een_kastanje (1685)

Fruit_on_a_Stone_Table_with_Landscape_Beyond.jpg (1685)

Vanitas Still Life (1686, PD) Coorte

Stilleven_met_rode_aalbesses mispels druiven_en_een_libelle (1686)

Still_life_with_hanging_bunch_of_grapes%2C_two_medlars_and_a_butterfly.jpg (1687)

Vier abrikozen op een stenen plint (1688, PD) Coorte

Grapes%2C_Medlars%2C_Apricots_and_a_Fig.jpg (1688)

Vanitas_still_life_in_a_niche.jpg (1688)

Two peaches and a fritillary butterfly on a stone plinth (1680-1690, PD) Coorte

Peach and two Apricots (1692, PD) Coorte

Strawberries in a stone jar (1693, PD) Coorte

Still life with three peaches on a stone legde and a butterfly (1693-1695, PD) Coorte

Instead of the Chinese or silver vessels favoured by his contemporaries, his tableware is very basic pottery. Archival evidence only exists in Middelburg for his membership in the Guild of St. Luke there from 1695 onwards, when he was fined for selling a painting without being a member of the guild. His works appear frequently in contemporary Middelburg taxation inventories. 

Grapes%2C_Peaches_and_Apricots_on_a_Stone_Plinth.jpg (1695)

Asparagus (1696, PD) Coorte

Strawberries (1696, PD) Coorte

Still life with Hazelnuts (1696, PD) Coorte

Een_bakje_aardbeien_op_een_stenen_plint (1696, PD) Coorte

Perziken_en_abrikozen_op_een_stenen_richel.jpg (1696)

Five_Shells_on_a_Slab_of_Stone (1696)

Two_Large_and_Three_Small_Shells (1696)

A bowl of strawberries with gooseberries on a stone ledge / Still life with a bowl of strawberries and a spray of gooseberries (1696)

Still Life with Shells (1697, PD) Adriaen Coorte

Still Life with Asparagus (1697, PD) Adriaen Coorte

Breakfast_Piece.jpg (1697)

Shell Collection (1698, PD) Coorte

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Shells_-_1698

Asparagus, Gooseberries and Strawberries in a Window, with a view of a Bird in a Tree (1698, PD) Coorte

Still life with asparagus, a spray of gooseberries and a bowl of strawberries (1698, PD) Coorte

Black_Currants.jpg (1698)

Schelpen_op_een_stenen_plint

Pot_of_Strawberries.jpg (1700s)

Strawberries_in_a_Stone_Jar_-_after_1700.jpg

Gooseberries on a Table (1701, PD) Coorte

Still_life_with_a_spray_of_gooseberries.jpg (1702)

Still Life with Five Apricots (1704, PD) Coorte

Wild strawberries in a Wan Li bowl (1704, PD) Coorte

Chestnuts (1705)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Adriaen_Coorte_-_Chestnuts.jpg

Grapes_on_a_Stone_Ledge_1705.jpg

Green_Gooseberries_on_a_Stone_Plinth.jpg (1705)

Drie perziken op een stenen plint (1705, PD) Coorte

Three medlars with a Butterfly (1705, PD) Coorte

Coorte was apparently not well known to his contemporaries outside the small city of Middelburg and, like Vermeer a century before, he was almost entirely forgotten until the 1950s. An exhibition of 35 examples of Coorte's work in 1958 at the Dordrechts Museum, became a sensation in the Netherlands, with the poets Hans Faverey and Ed Leeflang both being inspired by the paintings.