Flowers in an Urn Decorated with Putti, on a Plinth - Jan van Huysum

Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection

"Flowers in an Urn Decorated with Putti, on a Plinth" by Jan van Huysum (early 18th century) Pen and black ink and brush and black and brown ink washes, over red chalk, on cream laid paper.

Commentary

"Flowers in an Urn Decorated with Putti, on a Plinth" by Jan van Huysum (early 18th century) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Themes to notice include pen and ink drawings. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Jan van Huysum is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Jan van Huysum Dutch, 1682-1749. The work is cataloged within a Holland cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as pen and ink drawings, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Pen and black ink and brush and black and brown ink washes, over red chalk, on cream laid paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (38.5 × 29.9 cm (15 3/16 × 11 13/16 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include pen and ink drawings. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/149035

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data