Emilie Preyer: The Beauty of Nature

Shiny grapes, velvety peaches and walnuts painted so faithfully from nature that you think you could pick them right off the canvas – Emilie Preyer is one of a handful of 19th century artists who achieved international acclaim and enjoyed financial success for her masterful painting during her lifetime.

Emilie Preyer’s still lifes are hard to top in terms of naturalness. The Düsseldorf artist painted still lifes of fruit in the style of the Old Masters. Fruit, leaves, nuts … everything looks as if it had just been freshly picked.

The intense colours still captivate viewers today. The painter dispensed with interiors and deliberately kept the background of her still lifes neutral, making the depicted fruits, which she bathed in soft light, stand out even more. Wasps and flies, which can be found in many of her paintings, are as typical of Preyer’s oeuvre as the dew droplets that testify to the fresh- ness of the fruit. Three impressive paintings by Emilie Preyer are coming up for sale at Dorotheum this October: Still Life with Two Walnuts, Plums, Grapes, a Peach on a Twig and a Fly from 1871, along with two other, smaller-format still lifes showing late summer fruits.

Emilie Preyer was born into a family of painters in 1849. She was trained by her father Johann Wilhelm Preyer (1803–1889), a well-known still life artist. After that, because women were officially barred from studying at the time, she took private lessons at the Düsseldorf Academy. At the age of 16, Emilie Preyer painted her first oil painting. Three years later she had already made a name for herself as a still life artist.

From 1867 onwards, she exhibited regularly at the Düsseldorf gallery Bismeyer & Kraus and the Eduard Schultes gallery, among others. Her oeuvre, estimated to comprise around 250 paintings, was sold all over the world, finding buyers in the U.S.A. as well as in Europe. The painter remained true to her style throughout her life, even though classical still life painting would eventually be largely replaced by other styles. Emilie Preyer lived a secluded life in her parents’ house in Düssel- dorf. She died on 23 September 1930, aged 81.