Jean-baptiste Bosschaert (1667 - 1746) - Basket Of Flowers In A Landscape

Jan-Baptist Bosschaert (Antwerp 1667 - Antwerp 1746).
Basket of flowers in a landscape.
Around 1715.
Oil on canvas. H : 77.5 ; L : 59.5 cm.

Jan Baptist Bosschaerts was born in Antwerp in 1667. Due to the early death of his father, he grew up in a poor home and remained illiterate until the age of 17. In 1685 he was placed with the artist Jan Baptist Crépu, where he studied flower painting until 1688. He was then admitted to the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp around 1692-1693 and became a popular artist of the bourgeoisie. local. He made a career in the same city and died there in 1746.

In his use of impasto, thick layers of paint deposited on the canvas and forming relief, the style of his work is a reflection of new techniques initiated by Italian artists such as Mario Nuzzi and Michele Pace del Campidoglio.

Our painting stands out from the artist's usual production by its relative sobriety of composition. Here, Bosschaert highlights a serene nature, stripped of the ornamental splendor then in vogue in this type of subject. The painter replaces the traditional monumental stone vase, the classic colonnades and the multiple garlands of flowers with a delicate woven basket, placed on the ground.