William Noortman of London based Noortman Master Paintings has confirmed that Adriaen Coorte’s Three peaches on a stone ledge with a Red Admiral butterfly has been reserved by an important private collector.  A new auction record for Coorte was set when Noortman purchased the masterpiece from Bonhams London Old Master Paintings sale on December 7 last year for £2,057,250 against an estimate of £300,000-500,000.

When asked what made this painting so special, Noortman had this to say about his historical purchase: “It is from the last 5 years of the 1690s when he reaches the high point of his small oeuvre. It is the top 10% of his small oeuvre of approximately 65. The work is an important addition to the history of Dutch Still Life painting. He is a unique artist whose isolated production is a phenomenon".

The painting was discovered by Dalia Stanley, a senior specialist with Bonhams Australia, who although not sure of the artist’s identity, was savvy enough to seek the opinion of a colleague in England.  Had it not been for Stanley’s curiosity and keen eye, the painting would likely have ended up in a small decorative arts sale in Australia where it would have been given an estimate of around AUD$10,000.  According to Stanley, the painting had been in the same family for more than 150 years and had found its way to Australia via the owner’s great grandfather.  Stanley was particularly amazed by the pristine condition of the painting which had been hung in a location and position that was conducive to its long-term preservation.

A landmark exhibition of Coorte’s still lifes was held by Washington’s National Gallery of Art in 2003.  The exhibition catalogue states that: “A sense of mystery surrounds Adriaen Coorte, a mystery that concerns not only the character of his haunting still-life images, which are remarkably different from the elaborate compositions his contemporaries painted, but also the nature of his life and artistic career. After three hundred years of obscurity, Coorte has emerged as one of the most compelling still-life painters of the late seventeenth century.”