This beautiful early 20th-century oil painting by Dutch-Belgian artist Jean Laudy (1877-1956) depicts a still life with roses.

Laudy’s exquisite still lifes capture a snapshot, a blur of soft petals emerging buoyantly from daubed vases. He painted joy, without overthinking each mark, thus retaining a sense of impressionistic energy and spirit. During his lifetime, the critics were glowing.

“A wonderful gift of harmony and exceedingly clever technique.”
The Connoisseur, 1921.

“Jean Laudy’s exhibition is brilliant, dazzling, blinding. It is easy to understand that the artist creates with joy and that he must create, that he obeys an imperative need.”
Magazine printed in Brussels, 1921

“Full of a vitality, which is not allowed to run riot. There are many good things, but not many so brilliant as these.”
Yorkshire Post, 1930

Here, in this work from around 1930, the roses appear radiant, glowing akin to a gentle blush. It’s spirited, natural and untamed, much like the hand of this well-loved master.

Signed in the lower left and framed.

Learn more about Jean Laudy in our directory.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 24½” x 20½” / 62cm x 52cm
Year of creation: c. 1930 
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Assessed and approved by our conservator. Cleaned. Revarnished. Two tidy patched repairs. Stretcher a little warped. Frame left as found for decorative effect.
Artist’s auction maximum: £12,100 for ‘Rosen (1922)’, Oil on canvas, Dorotheum, Vienna, 1996 (lot 1046).
Our reference: BRV1888