Maria Margaretha van Os
The Hague 1779-The Hague 1862
A Vase of Flowers with a Blue Iris, Rose and Carnations on a Ledge
£1,500

CATEGORY: Dutch & Flemish Schools
MEDIUM: Pencil and watercolour and gum arabic
SIZE: 360 x 301 mm. (14 x 11 in.)
SIGNED: Signed with initials with brush M.M. v. Os lower right corner

Signed with initials with brush M.M. v. Os lower right corner, pencil and watercolour and gum arabic

360 x 301 mm. (14 x 11 in.)

Maria Margaretha van Os came from a large family of artists in The Hague, she had five brothers and one sister. Her father was the famous still life painter Jan van Os (1744-1808) and her mother Susanna de la Croix painted pastel portraits. Two of her brothers, Pieter Gerardus (1776-1839) and Georgius Jacobus Johannes (1782-1861), were also artists.

At the age of 35 Maria began to exhibit herself publicly, it is not known why she did not before this, possibly she was working in the studio of her father or one of her brothers. In 1814 she exhibited a drawing of flowers and fruits at the Exhibition of Living Masters in The Hague. for thirty years she would almost annually submitting one or more works to these exhibitions. They were almost always still lifes, especially of flowers or fruit, and sometimes in combination with dead game or shells. Apart from still lifes, she also drew studies of insects and birds and the occasional landscape. She stopped exhibiting after 1844 but she remained until the end of her life painting. The last dated painting is from 1860, and she died on November 17, 1862, aged 83. According to her death certificate she was without occupation, nevertheless she received during her life much appreciation as an artist. The Royal Academy of Arts in Amsterdam in 1826 offered her a membership and the artists biographers Johannes Christiaan Kramm and Johannes Immerzeel called her a meritorious artist

Examples of her paintings are in The Rijksmusuem, and examples of her botanical watercolours occasionally appear on the market, such as a Pair of Bouquet of Flowers measuring 25 x 22 cm. 2 The attribution of our picture has been confirmed by Jeroen Kapelle on the basis of a photograph.1

1.Paris, Millon & Associes, 23 June 2011, lot 85.

2.Written communication 17 September 2012.