Gaspare Lopez, attrib. Still Life with Fountain, Obelisk and Cascade of Flowers in a Garden, Naples, c. 1720

Gaspare Lopez, attrib. Still Life with Fountain, Obelisk and Cascade of Flowers in a Garden, Naples, c. 1720

Oil on canvas, 36 × 45.2 cm

Giltwood frame of later date, 48 × 57.4 cm

Inscription on reverse: “H. C. Veit – 1A Chesham Mews SW1 – 16 June 1957”

This painting, one of a pair of Neapolitan still lifes from the early eighteenth century, displays a refined architectural setting combined with a rich cascade of flowers—features closely associated with the work of Gaspare Lopez, one of the leading Italian flower painters of the period.

At the centre stands a fountain with a putto, its stream rendered in fine, silvery strokes that recall Lopez’s characteristic way of enlivening his compositions with water. To the left rises a slender obelisk, a motif that appears in several of his more elaborate garden scenes and contributes to the noble, decorative tone of the setting.

The cascade of flowers is constructed with the inventive spirit typical of his floral capricci: roses, tulips, peonies, carnations and his distinctive blue bellflowers, painted with a clear, bright touch. The colours are luminous, joyful and decorative, expressing the Neapolitan vitality that marks Lopez’s mature style. Already in his lifetime he was known as “Gaspare dei fiori” for his spectacular and often deliberately exuberant floral arrangements.

The background features an Italianate garden with cypresses, terraces and stone structures. This repertoire closely parallels the still lifes with garden terraces preserved at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 1658, 1662, 1664), all attributed to Lopez. Despite its smaller size, the present painting shares the same horizontal layout, bright skies with soft clouds and the interplay of architecture and abundant floral masses, offering strong arguments for the attribution.

Lopez trained under Andrea Belvedere, the foremost Neapolitan flower painter of the late Baroque. From him he inherited a refined botanical vocabulary, brilliant colour and a taste for scenographic compositions, which he later developed in a more decorative and international direction while active between Naples, Rome and Florence.

Condition: old varnish and stable craquelure.

Provenance

A handwritten label on the reverse, dated 16 June 1957 and bearing the London address 1A Chesham Mews, SW1, identifies former ownership by Henri C. “Harry” Veit (1925–2012): American citizen, engineer trained at Princeton, US Navy veteran and grandson of the French Orientalist painter Maurice Bompard. In the 1950s Veit lived and worked in London on international assignments for the U.S. Steel Corporation; the label confirms that the painting belonged to his private collection at that time. The pair later reappeared in New York, still from the same family collection.