| Flower still life with a watch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Willem van Aelst  |
| Year | 1663 |
| Medium | oil paint, canvas |
| Dimensions | 62.5 cm (24.6 in) × 49 cm (19 in) |
| Location | Mauritshuis, Het Loo Palace |
| Accession No. | 2 |
| Identifiers | RKDimages ID: 7326 |
Flower still life with a watch is a 1663 floral painting by Willem van Aelst. It is in the collection of the Mauritshuis and exhibited at the Gallery Prince Willem V. [1]
This work was painted in Amsterdam where it was signed and dated Guill.mo van Aelst. 1663. Van Aelst had recently returned from Italy and thus signed as "Guillelmo" rather than Willem. He remained in Amsterdam until his death and was a strong influence on other Amsterdam flower painters, including Rachel Ruysch.
The work shows a watch with a blue ribbon attached. It is not clear which watchmaker designed it. The bouquet shows Rosa gallica, poppy, Pieris, Myosotis, Gentiana, Viburnum opulus, Tagetes lucida, Tagetes patula, butterfly, Southern Hawker, and Calliphoridae. [1] The vase itself is an object created by Johannes Lutma in the auricular style. [1]
The painting follows in a tradition of Dutch and Flemish flower still life paintings showing a pocket watch attached to a blue ribbon with a wind-up key. This is one of many recurring symbols of the Vanitas genre that Van Aelst and others used:
The painting is one of many from the Dutch Royal collection at Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn. It is registered there as early as 1757. William V, Prince of Orange took it to The Hague for his new 1774 gallery. It was in the gallery when its contents were taken to Paris as war booty during the French occupation. It was on show in the Louvre from 1795 until 1815, whereupon it was returned.
Jan Brueghelthe Elder was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collaborator with Peter Paul Rubens, the two artists were the leading Flemish painters in the first three decades of the 17th century.
Jan Davidsz. de Heem or in-full Jan Davidszoon de Heem, also called Johannes de Heem or Johannes van Antwerpen or Jan Davidsz de Hem, was a still life painter who was active in Utrecht and Antwerp. He is a major representative of that genre in both Dutch and Flemish Baroque painting.
Gillis van Coninxloo was a Flemish painter of landscapes who played an important role in the development of Northern landscape art at the turn of the 17th century. He spent the last 20 years of his life abroad, first in Germany and later in the Dutch Republic.
Abraham Mignon or Minjon, was a still life painter. He is known for his flower pieces, still lifes with fruit, still lifes in forests or grottoes, still lifes of game and fish as well as his garland paintings. His works are influenced by those of Jan Davidszoon de Heem and Jacob Marrel.
Rachel Ruysch was a Dutch still-life painter from the Northern Netherlands. She specialized in flowers, inventing her own style and achieving international fame in her lifetime. Due to a long and successful career that spanned over six decades, she became the best documented woman painter of the Dutch Golden Age, being followed by Jan van Huysum, who took flower painting to another degree of popularity.
Jan Lievens was a Dutch Golden Age painter who was associated with his close contemporary Rembrandt, a year older, in the early parts of their careers. They shared a birthplace in Leiden, training with Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam, where they shared a studio for about five years until 1631. Like Rembrandt he painted both portraits and history paintings, but unlike him Lievens' career took him away from Amsterdam to London, Antwerp, The Hague and Berlin.
Willem van Aelst was a Dutch Golden Age artist who specialized in still-life painting with flowers or game.
Maria van Oosterwijck, also spelled Oosterwyck, (1630–1693) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, specializing in richly detailed flower paintings and other still lifes.
Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence.
Abraham Hendriksz van Beijeren or Abraham van Beyeren was a Dutch Baroque painter of still lifes. Little recognized in his day and initially active as a marine painter, he is now considered one of the most important painters of still lifes, and in particular still lifes of fish and so-called 'pronkstillevens', i.e. sumptuous still lifes of luxurious objects.
Frans Ykens was a Flemish still life painter active in Antwerp and Brussels in the 17th century. He is mainly known for his flower pieces and fruit still lifes and also painted banquet pieces, pronkstillevens, garland paintings and larger game pieces.
Flemish Baroque painting refers to the art produced in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. The period roughly begins when the Dutch Republic was split from the Habsburg Spain regions to the south with the Spanish recapturing of Antwerp in 1585 and goes until about 1700, when Spanish Habsburg authority ended with the death of King Charles II. Antwerp, home to the prominent artists Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens, was the artistic nexus, while other notable cities include Brussels and Ghent.
Hendrick Dubbels or Hendrick Jacobsz. Dubbels and variants (1621–1707) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of marine subjects and winter landscapes, who spent much of his career working in the studios of other marine artists.
Balthasar van der Ast was a Dutch Golden Age painter who specialized in still lifes of flowers and fruit, as well as painting a number of remarkable shell still lifes; he is considered to be a pioneer in the genre of shell painting. His still lifes often contain insects and lizards.
Jan van Pee, was a Dutch Golden Age art dealer and genre painter.
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Anna Ruysch was a Dutch Golden Age flower painter.
Catharina Backer was an art collector and an 18th-century painter from the Northern Netherlands.
Jan Anton van der Baren was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, priest and museum curator active in Brussels and Vienna. He specialised in still lifes of flowers and vegetables, some of which include an architectural background. He held the offices of court chaplain and director of the picture gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and Emperor Leopold I.
A Vase of Flowers is a 1716 floral painting by the Dutch painter Margaretha Haverman. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.