Hendrick Avercamp, Comments

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, History

Tags

Balthasar van der Ast, Francis Drake, Hendrick Avercamp, Martin Frobisher, Netherlands, Still-life Paintings, Walter Raleigh

Winter Landscape, Hendrick Avercamp
(Photo credit: Wikimedia)

Looking at the Past Week

It was not an easy week for this author. If there is any way to avoid bunions, use it. The only possible cause I can think of, in my case, is being made to look feminine by wearing shoes that had high heels and a pointed front. However, the cause could be genetic. At any rate, try to avoid the surgery. Your doctor will supply you with morphine and codeine, but if you kill the pain entirely, you may not notice that there is infection.

The week was otherwise rather pleasant and informative. We saw that:

Sir Walter Raleigh was instrumental in spreading the love of tobacco in Europe.
We were introduced to Queen Elizabeth I’s four “sea dogs:” Sir Francis Drake, Sir Martin Frobisher, Sir John Hawkins and Sir Walter Raleigh. All four participated in repelling the Spanish Armada (1588).
We noted that there was “legitimate” piracy. These legitimate pirates were called privateers and made a fortune on their own, but they were also in the service of the Crown: Elizabeth the first’s England. Although they were privateers in England, they were pirates in the eyes of the enemy du jour, Spain.
Furthermore, we have associated the rise of capitalism with explorations. I did not know about the Muscovy Trading Company. But as a Canadian, I was familiar with the Hudson’s Bay Company.
We saw that still-life painting in the seventeenth-century Netherlands were Vanitas. They reminded human beings of their mortality.
We met Balthasar van der Ast, his brother-in-law Ambrosius Bosschaert, his three Bosschaert nephews and Roelandt Savery, an artist but also a scientist.
I nearly forgot the unfortunate dodo. Savery made paintings of the now extinct dodo.

Hendrick Avercamp: Winter and Playing Golf on Ice

And now that winter is here, we are being introduced to Hendrick Avercamp, a seventeenth-century Dutch artist who painted many lovely winter scenes. Thanks to the internet, we can see that in the Netherlands of the seventeenth century, people played golf on ice wearing skates and looked very much as though they were playing hockey. Moreover, in the Netherlands one could commute quickly by skating down frozen waterways. As well, notice the shape of the roofs.

(click on picture to enlarge)

Winter Landscape with Skaters, by Henrick Avercamp

Winter Landscape with Skaters, by Hendrick Avercamp

composer: Antonio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741),

piece: The Seasons, Winter, 2nd movement, piano arrangement

performers: Apollo Chamber Ensemble

Sir Martin Frobisher as Privateer and Hero to his Queen (michelinewalker.com)
Comments on Simon Frobisher as Privateer (michelinewalker.com)
Still-life Paintings: Vanitas Vanitatum (michelinewalker.com)
Roelandt Savery: from Flowers to the Dodo (michelinewalker.com)
The Bosschaert “Dynasty,” Jan Davidsz de Heem & Bartholomeus Assteyn (michelinewalker.com)

The Bosschaert “Dynasty,” Jan Davidsz de Heem & Bartholomeus Assteyn

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Art

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Abraham Bosschaert, Ambrosius the Younger, Balthasar van der Ast, Bartholomeus Assteyn, Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Johannes Booschaert, Roelandt Savery

Glass Vase with Flowers, by Abraham Bosschaert

Images for Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder

Images for Abraham Bosschaert

Images for Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger

Images for Johannes Bosschaert

THE BOSSCHAERT “DYNASTY”

In our blog about Balthasar van der Ast, we looked at still-life paintings in general using Balhasar as our main example, I noted that Balthasar’s sister had married Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573–1621) and that upon the death of his father, Balthasar van der Ast had moved in with the Bosschaert “dynasty,” his sister’s family.

The Bosshaerts are called a “dynasty” because Ambrosius the Elder had three sons who became still-life painters. They first studied under their father and after his death, they became Balthasar van der Ast’s students. Two of Bosschaert’s three sons seem to have died at a young age, but there is some disagreement concerning these dates. The three sons were:

Abraham (b. c. 1606–1683-84),
Ambrosius the Younger (1609–1643),
Johannes (ca. 1610 –1628-29).

(please click on the picture to enlarge it)

Basket of Flowers, by Johannes Booschaert

Basket of Flowers, by Johannes Bosschaert

Still Life with Fruit, by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger, 1634-1635

Comments

You will note that all the sons use the same basket. You may also note that the various elements the artists are using sit on a table or shelf and that sometimes one sees the corner of a table. That is typical of the paintings of the Bosschaert family and it has been copied. In a more affluent home, the table would be covered by a beautiful rug, the type of rug we walk on. They used to be called “Turkish” rugs, whatever their provenance. In fact, they were often made in the Netherlands. As for the slight disarray in Ambrosius the Younger’s “Still Life with Fruit,” it is moralistic. It points to instability in matters human.

Baroque Artists

Moreover, we have left Mannerism behind. There are several masterpieces of Mannerism, but they are at times so busy “one does not see the forest for the trees.” If one is a naturalist and likes to study the details, Roelandt Savery provides the display of a lifetime. In fact, if one looks at one detail only, such as the blue and white bird detail of Savery’s “Paradise,” it alone could constitute a fine painting. However, the Booshaert brothers were Baroque artists. Abraham Booshaert’s painting featured at the very top of this post is in no way overbearing.

Among students of Balthasar van der Ast, the foremost are Jan Davidsz de Heem (17 April 1606, Utrecht – before 26 April 1684, Antwerp), and Bartholomeus Assteyn (Dordrecht 1607, probably Dordrecht 1669/1677). We have images for both.

Images for Jan Davidsz de Heem

Images for Bartholomeus Assteyn

_________________________

There are countless still-life paintings dating back to the seventeenth century, the Golden Age of Dutch still lifes. It is not possible to view more than a sample. But the internet has many sites replete with still lifes and with other paintings by Dutch masters. Here are a few sites.

I am inserting a video featuring the still-life paintings of Jan Davidsz de Heem, a particularly successful student of Balthasar van der Ast. It’s a lovely video. The picture under the video is by Bartholomeus Assteyn. It can be enlarged by clicking on the picture itself.

December has come and it has started to snow.

My best regards to all of you.

composer: Ennio Morricone (born November 10, 1928)

piece: “Notturno”