Olympe Mouette Génin artwork • painting • previously for sale A still life with grapes, a bird's nest and a goldfinch

In the Dutch painting of the 18th century, flower still lifes with bouquets were depicted in the most beautiful phase of their bloom, lavishly and very faithfully, sometimes enlivened with fruit, insects or a bird's nest with eggs and carefully arranged in a vase or terracotta pot on a stone plinth. The flowers depicted were largely non-native specimens painted from nature if the artist could find them at nursery or otherwise taken from botanical textbooks. The expression of matter, the way in which the surface of objects, flowers and fruits was represented, was of great importance. The skill with which shiny glass, precious china or flowers were portrayed as if they could be touched or picked up to a large extent determined the painter's reputation and thus the prices of their paintings.