Still Life With Kitten And Parrot – Master Of Kittens, Mid-17th Century

Oil on panel. Master of kittens, Antwerp, mid-17th century.
An Amazon parrot enthroned on top of a rich heap of food is about to take flight. No doubt he felt the threat of this kitten who would make his next meal! From an overturned basket overflows an abundant farandole of fruit, including these grapes which have certainly aroused the curiosity of the beautiful bird. The roundness of each grain, materialized by delicate luminous highlights, is for the bird so many promises of a delicious nectar. On each side of the basket, other delicacies are arranged in Delft earthenware cups whose preciousness contrasts with the rusticity of the basket from which vine leaves escape. Beneath one of the cups rests an imposing wheel of gouda cheese, reminding us that we are in the Netherlands. Behind it, a thin flute of red wine offers a welcome color contrast to which the red fruits arranged on the other side of the table respond symmetrically. A blue tablecloth delicately placed on it acts as a horizon line for this spectacle of abundance. The contrast in brightness between the cat and the parrot divides the scene along an oblique axis, thus reinforcing the tension that emanates from the composition.
This still life is the work of a painter identified by art historians as "Master of the kittens", and classified in the RKD under the number 51343. By cross-checking several paintings presenting strong similarities, first and foremost a kitten with a black and white coat, all the experts agree that these are the works of the same artist whose identity remains to be discovered. The presence of this kitten combined with that of the parrot brings the composition to life, as Flemish Baroque artists, such as Paul de Vos, liked to do, to whom we owe the introduction of turbulent animals in the pantry. Indeed, the publication of works of zoology by the humanists of the Rebirth allows the artists of North to represent realistic animals in order to decorate their compositions. In this case, the parrot in our composition, represented about to fly away, wings half-spread, proves that our painter was a fine observer of nature. The depiction of psittacines in Dutch painting is reminiscent of their success in colonial trade. If this Antwerp school of still life is often opposed to that of the Northern Netherlands, our artist does not completely break with the style of the Dutch. Indeed, he deploys a science of composition where the number of objects remains limited with regard to the avalanche of food present in the works of his Flemish contemporaries. A careful selection of objects allows him to oppose complementary colors: green of the parrot, grapes and vine leaves on one side, and red of the wine and fruits on the other. The yellow of dairy products, bread and fruit as well as the whites of the dishes enliven the whole. These fiery tones give a variegated appearance to the painting, which is reinforced by the blue of the tablecloth and the marbled coat of the kitten. Thus, the clarity and legibility of his composition brings him closer to Haarlem painters of the mid-17th century, such as Floris van Schooten, from whom he imprinted the light backgrounds and the recurring motif of the striated lump of butter placed in a bowl of porcelain. We can therefore say of this work that it is a synthesis of the pictorial traditions of the still life of Flanders and Holland. Our painting is unique within its corpus by the life that emanates from it, as opposed to his other works where small dead game systematically appears.

We have chosen to present this large painting to you in a carved natural wood frame with a foliage motif.
Dimensions: 55 x 120 cm - 73 x 138.5 cm with the frame

Provenance:
- Sale J. Fievez, Brussels of June 20, 1928 lot n°1 like Alexander Adriaensen.
- German private collection.

Bibliography:
- FOUCART-WALTER, Elisabeth, The cat and the palette: the cat in Western painting from the 15th to the 20th century, Paris: Adam Biro, 1987.
- GREINDL, Edith, Flemish painters of still life in the 17th century, Sterrebeek, Editions d'Art Michel Lefebvre, 1983.
- The Animal Odyssey: Flemish animal painters of the 17th century, Sandrine Vézilier, (Cat. Exp. Musée de Flandre, Kassel from October 8, 2016 to January 22, 2017), Editions Snoeck, 2016.
- WILLIGEN, Adriaan van der, MEIJER, Fred G., A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Painters Working in Oils: 1525-1725, Leiden, Primavera press, 2003.