This beautiful fruit still life is by the famous female Dutch artist Adriana Johanna Haanen (1814 –1895). Blue and light grapes laid on the forest floor, in front of them apricots and peaches between branches and leaves. The smooth and velvety surfaces of the fruits, with applied water droplets, on which a beautiful light falls, attract your attention.

Like many female artists at that time, Adriana Haanen came from a real painters’ family. From 1841 she exhibited regularly at the Exhibitions of Living Masters in Amsterdam and The Hague, as well as in Antwerp, Brussels, Bremen and Paris. Her work was already collected in large collections during her lifetime, such as that of King Willem II and the State collection. Nowadays paintings by Adriana Johanna Haanen can be seen in numerous important Dutch museums.

Adriana Haanen is famous for her paintings of fruit and flower and considered to be one of the most famous women still life painters of the 19th century. Like the younger Geraldine van de Sande Bakhuyzen (1826-1895) and Margaretha Roosenboom (1843-1896) she paid attention to the natural appearance and true character of the flowers in her still lifes. This stands out from the “stiff” arranged bouquets in 17th-century still lifes. Compared to her contemporaries, Haanen painted in a loose manner. She favored spontaneous arrangements with a strong palette. This painting is a perfect example of her skills.