Art Price Index: Cherries Are Forever

Published on 06 July 2022, by Anne Doridou-Heim

Cherry season is short, but in art it has lasted for centuries.

€1,662,400Louyse Moillon (c. 1610-1696), Nature morte à la coupe de fraises, panier... Art Price Index: Cherries Are Forever

€1,662,400
Louyse Moillon (c. 1610-1696), Nature morte à la coupe de fraises, panier de cerises, branche de groseilles à maquereau (Still Life with a bowl of Strawberries, Basket of Cherries and Branch of Gooseberries), 1631, oil on panel, 36 x 50 cm/14.17 x 19.68 in.
Paris, Hôtel Drouot, March 25, 2022, Aguttes OVV.

While cherries are native to Europe, they were not cultivated and eaten there until the Middle Ages. Louis XV, who enjoyed them very much, encouraged the development of new varieties, and a red, fleshy species was named after cherry-loving Napoleon. Artists painted them to evoke Christ’s blood on the…

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