Christiaen van Pol

CHRISTIAEN VAN POL (Berkenrode, Holland, 1752-Paris, 1813)
"Cluster of grapes".
Oil on canvas glued to board.
Signed on the lower right.
With label of the Parisian gallery Foyer on the back.
Measurements: 27 x 35,5 cm; 39 x 47 cm (frame).

This still life by Christiaen van Pol masterfully embodies the technical virtuosity and meticulous realism characteristic of Dutch and French still life painting of the late 18th century. Uracimo of Grapes rests delicately on a marbled gray marble shelf. The grapes, with their smooth, shiny skin, seem almost palpable: their volume is defined by the precise play of glazes, which faithfully reproduce the translucent texture of the ripe fruit. Still joined by a twig with vine leaves, a small fly rests on one of the grapes, an apparently simple element but loaded with meaning. In the symbolic context of the still life, the fly may represent the transience of life, corruption or the inevitability of death (by foreshadowing the rotting of the fruit), reminding the viewer that even the most exuberant beauty is subject to decay. This detail introduces a moral or philosophical dimension, typical of the baroque vanitas tradition, in contrast to the visual sensuality of the fruit. Thus, "Cluster of Grapes" is both a celebration of nature and a meditation on its fragility.

The style of Christiaen van Pol, a disciple of the famous Gérard van Spaendonck, is distinguished by its almost scientific precision and its interest in light and texture. Although he inherits from 17th century Dutch naturalism the attention to detail and sober composition, his palette and finish are in line with French neoclassicism, which is clearer, more polished and balanced. The work thus combines descriptive rigor with a refined elegance, typical of the tastes of the time.

Christiaan van Pol was a genre painter from the north of the Netherlands. He was born in Berkenrode, a small village of about ten Catholic families that is now part of Heemstede. He probably learned to draw in the tavern known as Dorstige Kuil, where artists Simon Fokke, John Greenwood, Jan Punt and others from the Amsterdamse Tekenacademie met during the summer months. He first trained in Antwerp, where he learned "sieraad schilderen", or decorative painting. There he met Gerrit Malleyn and Cornelis van Spaendonck and, through him, Gerard van Spaendonck and Jan Frans van Dael. He then traveled with them to Paris in 1782, where at first he devoted himself to making decorative arabesques and painting miniature floral arrangements on snuff-box lids. He became close friends with Van Dael, with whom he maintained a close relationship for the rest of his life. Like Van Dael, he created oil paintings in the style of Jan van Huysum, of which his best work was exhibited in 1809 and another in 1814. He also made designs for the Gobelin Factory and is considered a disciple of Van Dael because of similarities to his work. Historians Roeland van Eynden and Adriaan van der Willigen devoted six pages of their dictionary of artists to Pol. He spent the last years of his life devoting himself to teaching. Pol died in Paris and Pierre-Louis Dagoty bought many of his still lifes.