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Description: | Pieter Casteels III (1684-1749) was born in Antwerp of a family of painters. He specialised in painting decorative arrangements of birds and flowers and became the leading painter in this genre and the most significant artist of his family. In 1708 he travelled to England and in 1711 he was director of Sir Godfrey Kneller's Academy. He returned briefly to Antwerp in 1713 when he is recorded as a member of that city's Guild of St Luke. In England his brand of decorative flower piece designed for interior settings such as over-doors or over-mantles found great success. His composition and execution were particularly influenced by Jan Van Huysum and reveal his ability as a capable draughtsman. Although Casteels became one of the best known decorative painters of birds, fruit and flowers active in England, he abandoned painting in 1735; he died at Richmond aged sixty-five. The low view point of this painting suggests it was designed to be seen from below and may therefore have been intended as an over-door. The dark ground from which the elaborately drawn bright flowers emerge, suggests the influence of Jan Van Huysum. The inclusion of exotic creatures such as the parrot on the right and the monkey, eating grapes in the foreground by the large flower vase on the stone ledge, are not incidental. In seventeenth-century Flemish painting the ape was used to satirize and parody the vain actions of men: here the monkey is shown eating an expensive luxury import, grapes; the parrot, renowned for its ability to mimic the human voice may similarly be understood satirically. | Subjects: | still life | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Casteels, Pieter (Flemish painter, 1684-1749) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8736... | Go to resource |
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