Flowers in a Vase

About the Artwork

With just a few flowers, Verelst created a composition of great sophistication and balance. A simple glass flask is filled with a large rose, a red anemone, and a white narcissus tinged with pink. These flowers are surrounded by a scattering of smaller blossoms. Like many still-life painters, Verelst depicted a window reflected in the glass vase, but here he did not show the window's precise structure. He did, however, use another common device: the depiction of a few chips in the stone surface to make the material seem more tangible. Early in his career, Verelst moved from Holland to London, where he worked for the court of King James II and was extravagantly praised for the realism of his flower paintings.

Inscriptions

signed S.V.

Provenance

R. Warner, London S. W. Highley, Harrogate (1928) Mrs. Noah L. Butkin R. Warner (London, England) S. W. Highley Harrogate, 1928 -1982: Mrs. Noah L. Butkin (Shaker Heights, Ohio), by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. 1982-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

The Year in Review for 1983. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-April 8, 1984). The Magic of Still Life. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 4, 1986-February 1, 1987). Still-Life Paintings from the Netherlands, 1550-1720. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (June 19-September 19, 1999); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 31, 1999-January 9, 2000).

Quick Overview

Artist: Simon Verelst (Dutch, 1644–1721)
Date: c. 1669
Medium: oil on wood
Dimensions: Framed: 41 x 37 x 5 cm (16 1/8 x 14 9/16 x 1 15/16 in.); Unframed: 26.4 x 22.6 cm (10 3/8 x 8 7/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Gift of Mrs. Noah L. Butkin
Accession no.: 1982.246

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.