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| Kitchen Still-Life with Fish, circa 1631. |
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| An Iris and Three Roses in an Earthenware Pot, circa 1630-40. |
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Jacob Foppens van Es (also known as Jacob Fopsen van Es or Jacob van Es: circa 1596, Antwerp – March 1666, Antwerp), Flemish Baroque painter. Known for his still-lifes, mainly of food and occasionally flower paintings, he was one of the leading representatives of the first generation in Flemish still-life painting. Biographical data on the artist is scarce. But by 1617, when he became a master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke, he was known to have been already married with one son; he and his wife would have three more sons and three daughters. In 1648 his first son, Nicolaas, would became a master of the Guild like his father before him. Successful and prolific, van Es enjoyed an elevated status within the artistic community. He was active in Antwerp fifty years, and was buried there on 11 March 1666.
I always admire the skill of still life artists but find the ones with dead creatures a little creepy. How did this genre become a thing?
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are sometimes breathtaking in their exactness and beauty.
I think painting dead animals was a way to show off the artist's skill, with all the different textures involved. Feathers and fur, etc. Also, people weren't as removed from the realities of where their food came from, so seeing a dead rabbit or deer in a painting didn't seem anything shocking like it does to us. For me, I guess it's what sort of dead animal appears; I can appreciate the beauty of a dead fish, but I don't want to see the rest.
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