Continental European before 1800 8 Could this flower painting be the work of Maria Withoos?

A Bowl of Flowers
Topic: Artist

I think Marie Blancour is none other than the elusive sister Maria (1663–after 1669) of the Withoos family. Her sister Adriana Withoos is known for pieces like this one. Her father Mathias Withoos took on the name Calzetta Bianca (white sock) when he lived in Italy which is a literal translation of the name Wit-hoos, and this ‘Blancour’ is probably Blanc-cous or white sock in French.

The collection has written: 'Thank you for alerting us to this comment. The Gallery has no comment to make at this time, but the two relevant curators have given permission for the discussion to become a public one.'

The artist is recorded only by her signature on this work: ‘Marie Blancour p’, below the vase.

The flowers include yellow narcissus, blue and white ‘primula auricola’, two ‘broken’ (variegated) tulips and possibly ‘viburnum lantana’ (the large white blooms hanging over the front of the pot).

Jane Darnell, Entry reviewed by Art UK

8 comments

Adri Mackor,

This entry contains several incorrect or improbable statements.
First of all Maria lived at least up to 1699 and some authors state 1719. She is strongly influenced/educated by her father Mat(t)hias who indeed made an Italian trip and jokingly called himself there Calzetta Bianca. The older sister's name is Alida. Both sisters followed the style of the father, but it is said in less detail.
Why would anyone working in the North of North-Holland (Hoorn)sign with a French name, for which in my opinion white sock is not a correct translation? Consult RKD for more information about Maria.

Kieran Owens,

Page 536 of the Women's Studies Encyclopedia, Volume 1, edited by Helen Tierney (1999), mentions that a Marie Blancour, still-life artist, was one of the early 17th-century women artists that were admitted into the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture) in Paris, the first, Catherine Duchemin, having been elected in 1663, during the directorship of Jean-Baptiste Colbert.

Kieran Owens,

Additionally, Claus Grimm in his 'Stilleben: die italienischen, spanischen und französischen Meister (Still life: the Italian, Spanish and French masters)' (Belser Chr., 1995), states that a Maire Blancour was a Spaniard.

Jacinto Regalado,

A "p" after the name would be for "pinxit," and and "f" for "fecit." A "t" would be rather harder to explain.

Jacob Simon,

I suspect that the absence of comments during the last three years indicates that the existing attribution, based on a signature, to Marie Blancour, should be maintained. And that the idea that this flower painting could be the work of Maria Withoos is untenable.

I wonder if Xanthe might comment?

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