Three Dragonflies

This highly finished watercolor drawing, signed and dated by Rochus van Veen, shows three dragonflies against a blank background. Rendered in meticulous detail, each carefully colored dragonfly is unique in its shape, color, and composition. The wings in particular demonstrate Van Veen's mastery in using translucent watercolor to draw his subjects naer het leven (after life), while employing opaque watercolor, more specifically dark earth tints such as ochre, beige, brown and black, to shape the bodies of the individual dragonflies. In line with other natural history illustrations, the empty background allows the viewer to focus on the insects. The overall composition of the sheet is well-balanced with the dragonflies placed in a triangular formation. At the bottom of this sheet, Van Veen describes how and when he encountered these dragonflies: during a drought in May 1681, an enormous never-before-seen group of dragonflies came from the south and was carried by the wind to the north. The length and detail of this inscription underscores the artist's enthusiasm at the unique opportunity to record these dragonflies at a specific moment in time.