Adriaen Coorte Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Adriaen Coorte Art Value Price Guide

Sep. 19, 2025
ADRIAEN COORTE
Est: CHF80,000 - CHF120,000
ADRIAEN COORTE (circa 1660 probably Middelburg after 1707) Still life with wild strawberries, asparagus, currants, gooseberries and a blue butterfly. 1689. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower centre: A. Coorte. 1689. 33 × 43.6 cm. Provenance: - Collection of Baron Robert Gendebien (1885–1954). - By descent, aristocratic private collection. ------------------------------------------------- ADRIAEN COORTE (um 1660 wohl Middelburg nach 1707) Stillleben mit Walderdbeeren, Spargel, Johannisbeeren, Stachelbeeren und blauem Schmetterling. 1689. Öl auf Leinwand. Unten mittig signiert und datiert: A. Coorte. 1689. 33 × 43,6 cm. Provenienz: - Sammlung Baron Robert Gendebien (1885–1954). - Durch Erbschaft, aristokratische Privatsammlung. Bei diesem qualitätsvollen Stillleben, das sich seit mehreren Generationen in einer aristokratischen Privatsammlung befand, handelt es sich um ein charakteristisches Werk aus der frühen Schaffensphase des niederländischen Stilllebenmalers Adriaen Coorte. Auf einem Steinsims angeordnet, finden sich ein Bündel weisser Spargeln, Walderdbeeren in einer Terrakottaschale sowie ein Johannisbeer- und ein Stachelbeerzweig, die über die Kante der steinernen Platte herausragen und so eine charmante Beziehung zwischen Betrachter und Gemälde erzeugen. Belebt wird die virtuos ausgewogene Komposition durch einen Schmetterling, dessen kräftiges Blau vor dem dunklen Bildhintergrund besonders gut zur Geltung kommt und dem Gemälde zugleich einen interessanten Farbakzent verleiht. Das hier angebotene Stillleben verkörpert die aufs Wesentliche reduzierte und dadurch äusserst wirkmächtige Malerei Coortes, der zweifelsohne zu den originellsten und versiertesten Stilllebenmalern des 17. Jahrhunderts zählt. Über das Leben von Adriaen Coorte ist nur wenig bekannt. Ursprünglich entstammte er wohl aus dem in den südwestlichen Niederlanden gelegenen Middelburg. Die stilistische Nähe seines Frühwerks zu Melchior d’Hondecoeter (1636–1695) lässt vermuten, dass Coorte bei ihm in Amsterdam oder den Haag seine künstlerische Ausbildung genoss. Im 18. Jahrhundert und bis ins späte 19. Jahrhundert hinein, war Coorte und seine Malerei weithin in Vergessenheit geraten. Erst Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts gelangte Coorte wieder in den Fokus von Kunstkennern und Sammlern und als 1903 das Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam ein Stillleben mit Spargel in seine Sammlung aufnahm, wurde der Grundstein für eine genauere kunstwissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung mit dem Werk des niederländischen Meisters gelegt. Im Laufe des 20. Jahrhunderts und insbesondere durch die Forschung und das Engagement des Kunsthistorikers Laurens J. Bol, dem ehemaligen Direktor des Dordrechts Museum und Kurator der wegweisenden Werkschau von 1958, stieg die Bekanntheit von Adriaen Coorte, wobei der Maler heute zu den gefeiertsten niederländischen Künstlern des Goldenen Zeitalters zählt. Coorte war als Maler lediglich von 1683 bis 1707 aktiv und hinterlies daher ein überschaubares Gesamtwerk von etwa siebzig Gemälden. Somit sind seine Stillleben eine besondere Rarität auf dem Kunstmarkt, zumal sich zahlreiche seiner Werke heute in bekannten Museen und Sammlungen befinden. Die Komposition mit Spargel, Erdbeeren, Johannis- und Stachelbeeren etwa greift Coorte im Laufe seiner Schaffensphase mehrfach auf, so beispielsweise in einem 1703 entstandenen Werk, das sich im Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen befindet (Inv.-Nr. 5035) oder in seinem Stillleben mit Früchten und Spargeln in einer Nische von 1685 in der Teresa Heinz Collection, USA. Ein weiteres Meisterwerk mit Spargelbund und Schmetterling von Adriaen Coorte wird im Kunsthaus Zürich ausgestellt (Inv.-Nr. D.2016/0028).
Koller Auctions
Mar. 15, 2022
Adriaen Coorte (c. 1660-1723), flower still life, 1700, oil on canvas, 60 x 66 cm
Est: €2,000 - €4,000
Adriaen Coorte (c. 1660-1723), flower still life, 1700, oil on canvas, 60 x 66 cm Signed and dated 'Coorte 1700' to the left bottom corner.
Carlo Bonte Auctions
Mar. 08, 2016
Adriaen Coorte (1665-1707)-follower, Still life with strawberries and a lea
Est: €500 - €800
Adriaen Coorte (1665-1707)-follower, Still life with strawberries and a leaf; oil on canvas, framed; on the reverse old wax seal. 20x27cm
Deutsch Auktionen
Jan. 29, 2016
ADRIAEN COORTE | Still Life with Sea Shells
Est: $200,000 - $300,000
oil on paper laid down on board
Sotheby's
Apr. 22, 2015
ADRIAEN COORTE | Wild strawberries on a ledge
Est: $800,000 - $1,200,000
oil on paper, laid down on panel
Sotheby's
Mar. 28, 2014
Adriaen Coorte, 1660 - 1723
Est: €5,000 - €10,000
STILLEBEN MIT MEERESMUSCHELN AUF EINER STEINPLATTE Öl auf Papier, auf Holz. 14,3 x 20,5 cm. An der Steinplatte rechts signiert und datiert „1697". Graue Steinplatte, von oben beleuchtet, vor dunklem Hintergrund. Darauf vier Meeresschnecken und ein kleines Grasschneckenhaus. In tonigen Farben, jedoch exakter Feinmalerei mit schönen Lichtwirkungen. (960971)
Hampel Fine Art Auctions
Dec. 07, 2011
Adriaen Coorte (active Middleburg, circa 1683-circa 1707) Three peaches on a stone ledge with a Red Admiral butterfly
Est: £300,000 - £500,000
Three peaches on a stone ledge with a Red Admiral butterfly signed with monogram 'AC' (in ligature, on stone ledge, lower centre) oil on paper, laid down on panel 31.3 x 23.3cm (12 5/16 x 9 3/16in).
Bonhams
Jan. 27, 2011
ADRIAEN COORTE
Est: $200,000 - $300,000
ADRIAEN COORTE MIDDELBURG (?) 1660 (?) - AFTER 1707 STILL LIFE WITH A BUTTERFLY, APRICOTS, CHERRIES, AND A CHESTNUT signed and dated lower right: A: Coorte, i685, oil on canvas 16 by 13 3/4 in.; 40.6 by 34.9
Sotheby's
Dec. 01, 2009
ADRIAEN COORTE
Est: €100,000 - €150,000
STILL LIFE WITH A PEACH AND TWO APRICOTS ON A STONE LEDGE, TOGETHER WITH TWO BUTTERFLIES signed and dated lower right: A , Coorte , i692 ,
Sotheby's
Dec. 01, 2009
ADRIAEN COORTE
Est: €100,000 - €150,000
STILL LIFE OF STRAWBERRIES IN AN EARTHENWARE BOWL, ON A STONE LEDGE signed lower centre: A , Coorte
Sotheby's
Jul. 08, 2009
Adriaen Coorte , Middelburg (?) 1660 (?) - after 1707 still life of a vine twig with grapes, peaches, apricots, medlars, a melon and a halved fig, resting on a stone ledge oil on canvas
Est: £300,000 - £400,000
signed and dated lower right: A : Coorte , i688 oil on canvas
Sotheby's
Jul. 09, 2008
- Adriaen Coorte , Middelburg (?) 1660 (?) - after 1707 A Vanitas Still Life, with a Skull, an Hourglass, an oil lamp, a conch Shell, a closed Book, a Recorder, a Musical Score, together with some scattered Ears of Corn, All upon a Stone Ledge oil on
Est: £200,000 - £300,000
signed and dated lower left: A: C..orte 1686 oil on canvas
Sotheby's
Sep. 20, 2006
Manner of Adriaen Coorte
Est: £800 - £1,200
A peach, grapes on the vine, strawberries and blueberries on a stone ledge oil on copper, oval 9 3/8 x 8 in. (23.8 x 20.3 cm.)
Christie's
Jul. 05, 2006
ADRIAEN COORTE MIDDELBURG (?) 1660 (?) - AFTER 1707
Est: £80,000 - £120,000
STILL LIFE WITH TWO PEACHES AND A FRITILLARY BUTTERFLY ON A STONE LEDGE measurements note 27 by 18.9 cm.; 10 5/8 by 7 1/2 in. signed with monogram lower right: AC oil on paper, laid on oak panel PROVENANCE Believed to have been in the ownership of a French family from before the First World War until recently. NOTE Adriaen Coorte's works were very little known until the 20th century. He worked in the Zeeland town of Middelburg, but seems not to have been a member of the Guild there,1 and must have sold his works unofficially. That we know virtually nothing of his life contributes to the mysteriousness of his pictures, almost all of which, except a few early works, are startlingly simple still lifes, of ruthlessly pared-down compositions, depicting one or a few objects, often strongly lit, set on a stone ledge, against a dark background. Nothing like them is to be found in Dutch 17th-century painting, and they could not be more out of kilter with Dutch art around 1700, when lavishness and opulence predominated, especially in still-life painting. They are perhaps more reminiscent of still-life painting in Strasbourg and Paris, in the first half of the 17th century, but any resemblance to the works of painters such as Sebastian Stosskopf, Lubin Baugin, Louise Moillon and François Garnier is likely to be purely coincidental, just as any attempt to see Coorte as a precursor of Chardin is without substance. This hitherto unrecorded picture is a welcome addition to Coorte's small oeuvre. Only a handful of his pictures are signed with the monogram used here, and none of these are dated, but the extreme simplicity of the upright composition, with just two peaches set on an unadorned stone ledge with a vertical crack, and a single butterfly above, set against a dark background, is typical of his pictures dating from the decade around 1700. Good examples are the painting of Two Peaches, signed and dated 1696 sold at Christie's in 1974,2 and that of Three Peaches formerly in the W.F. van Beeck Calkoen collection in Amsterdam, which is signed and dated 1705.3 Also very similar in composition is the undated picture of Three Medlars with a Cabbage White Butterfly, signed with the same monogram as here, in the V.d.S. collection in Holland.4 Many of Coorte's later pictures - after the mid-1690s - are painted on paper, laid down on canvas or as here, on panel. The paintings of Two Peaches and Three Medlars with a Cabbage White Butterfly mentioned above share this unusual support. No unsupported paintings on paper by him are known, and many of the panel supports, like the present one, appear to be old, and thus it may be the case that the paintings were laid down on them before leaving the studio. Those laid on panel retain the smooth texture of the oil on paper medium, and as here, the chain lines of the paper give a subtle and gentle grain to parts of the surface, as if painted on a fine linen support. Unfortunately, those laid down on canvas have often acquired the coarser texture of the canvas weave (often a lining canvas). Some at least of these were probably originally glued to panels. 1. He is recorded in the ledgers of the Guild of St. Luke in 1695/6, but never as a member. 2. Sold, London, Christie's, 28 June 1974, lot 77; see L.J. Bol, Adriaen Coorte. A Unique Late Seventeenth Century Dutch Still-Life Painter, Assen/Amsterdam 1977, p. 47, no. 17, reproduced p. 85, plate 11. 3. Idem, pp. 58-9, no. 70, reproduced p. 111, plate 35. 4. Idem, p. 60, no. 75, reproduced p. 115, plate 37.
Sotheby's
Sep. 14, 2005
Manner of Adriaen S. Coorte
Est: £1,500 - £2,000
A peach, grapes on the vine, strawberries and blueberries on a stone ledge oil on copper, oval 9 3/8 x 8 in. (23.8 x 20.3 cm.)
Christie's
Apr. 11, 2002
Adriaen Coorte (? Middelburg 1660?-after 1707)
Est: $286,000 - $429,000
A still life of shells on a marble ledge signed and dated 'A. Coorte. 1698' (rt linked, lower right) oil on paper, laid down on panel 111/2 x 8 7/8 in. (29.2 x 22.6 cm.) PROVENANCE Heinrich Moll, Cologne; sale, Heberle, Cologne, 11 November 1886, lot 39, as on panel. Hermann Wirz, Basel; sale, Heberle, Cologne, 20 May 1890, lot 122. Sidney J. van den Bergh, Wassenaar; sale, Christie's, London, 11 April 1975, lot 57 (to Brod). With Alfred Brod, London, Old Master Paintings and Drawings, October 1975, no. 22. With K.J. Mllenmeister, Solingen, 1975. Anonymous Sale; Sotheby's, London, 13 December 1978, lot 13 (to Cramer on behalf of Dreesmann). Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. A-29). LITERATURE A. von Wurzbach, Niederl„ndisches Knstler-Lexikon auf Grund archivalischer Forschungen bearbeitet, I, Vienna/Leipzig, 1906, p. 331. I. Bergstr”m, Natura in posa. La grande stagione della natura morta Europea, Milan, 1977, p. 82, fig. 68. L.J. Bol, Adriaen Coorte. A unique late seventeenth century Dutch still-life painter, Amsterdam, 1977, p. 21, notes 56 and 58, pp. 42 and 51, no. 33, fig. 20. I. Bergstr”m, Stilleben. Die grosse Zeit des europ„ischen Stillebens, Stuttgart/Zurich, 1979, pp. 80-2, fig. 68. EXHIBITION Notre Dame, Indiana, The Snite Museum of Art, A Dutch Treat, 17 October-26 December 1982, no. 3, illustrated. Amsterdam, K & V Waterman, Masters of Middelburg, 3-31 March 1984. NOTES Although not unknown before Laurens Bol's groundbreaking 1977 monograph, Coorte's oeuvre had been largely overlooked in the canon of Dutch still life painting. Bol re-established him as one of the outstanding still life painters of the seventeenth century, a master whose characteristic works are immediately recognisable for their quiet simplicity, a quality that had, as Bol remarked: 'very little intrinsic connection with the work of preceding artists and was not continued or emulated by succeeding generation' ( op. cit., p. 22). Coorte's earliest known works are larger-scale paintings of birds in the style of Melchior de Hondecoeter (for example the Exotic Birds of 1683 in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford). His first still lifes are similarly on a larger scale, composed of elements of which many would recur in subsequent works (such as the Strawberries, gooseberries and asparagus of 1685, measuring 93 x 95 cm., sold in these Rooms, 10 April 1970, lot 67). Gradually, however, he pared down both scale and subject matter, until by the mid-1690s he had established the format for which he is renowned, and of which the present work is a characteristic example. Coorte concentrated on the subtleties of texture and form, rendered here through the slight contrasts between rough and smooth, polished and dull, conical and round. These shapes are lit by a soft, ghostly light that catches the front of the stone slab, cut with an oblique line that is an idiosyncracy of Coorte's work; front and background are connected by gradual changes in tone to created a unified whole. The majority of his paintings, particularly from 1696, are, like the present picture, painted on paper laid down on panel. At least seven dated still lifes of shells are known, all painted between 1696 and 1698. The West Indian Top shell in the rear centre recurs in another work of 1698 (Boston, private collection; exhibited Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, and Cleveland, Museum of Art, Still-Life Paintings from the Netherlands 1550-1720, 1999, no. 74). The larger shells depicted are, from left to right: an African Murex ( hexaplex duplex ; Roding, 1798) from West Africa, a West Indian Top ( Cittarium pica ; Linnaeus, 1758) from the Caribbean, a Marble Cone ( conus marmoreus ; Linnaeus, 1758) from S.E. Africa (also found in Polynesia and Hawaii) and a Tapestry Turban ( turbo petholatus ; Linnaeus, 1758) from the Indian and the Central- and West-Pacific Oceans.
Christie's