Willem van Leem was a Dutch master specializing in flower paintings. This example was executed around 1920 as part of the Master Copy Class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Copying a painting at the Louvre or any great museum, is a tradition going back many centuries, and is how most of the great masters learned to paint. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Copyist program was founded in 1872, two years after The Met first opened. The program has provided promising artists the opportunity to copy the great works that fill the museum’s numerous galleries.
The painting is well composed, apples and grapes on the table in the foreground, and above gently hued flowers and leaves of many varieties arranged in a widly carefree way.
White, light pink, gold and green dominate. Presented in a wonderful period gold leaf frame.
Inscribed lower right: "Copy from Morgan Collection, Metropolitan..." (the rest of the inscription being illegible). The J. P. Morgan collection was formally donated to the Met in 1917 including works that had already been on loan to almost every department at the time of Morgan's death. This work was executed shortly after this period.
A rare documented example by a talented artist.
Overall: 23 1/2" x 34 1/2" x 2". Canvas: 19" x 30".
