Isaac Soreau

1604 - Hanau – ca. 1638

Isaac was the son of Daniel Soreau, a painter of still lifes who lived in Hanau close to Frankfurt. His father had a studio where Sebastian Stosskopf and Joachim von Sandrart did their apprenticeship. Following the example of Pieter Binoit, the family left Tournai to join the supporters of the Reformation. When Isaac joined the studio, his father was part of the boom in tempera painting; he would also use these glaze effects in his own paintings. These works are characterised by a search for a balance in forms and frontal architecture, comparable to the works of Jacob van Hulsdonck. Residing in Hanau until 1626, Isaac Soreau devoted himself to the analysis of the smallest details and cultivated the Flemish taste for real things. By rendering reality through rigorous observation, he transcended it by exalting the beauty of each object. A painter of the Antwerp Guild, his technique is exceptional, clear and precise, and of unequalled skill. The excellence of his craft is also revealed in the use of a paste with the brilliance of enamel, whose transparency combines with the glaze effects particular to the tempera technique. Unknown to art historians until the mid-1900s, Isaac Soreau is now unanimously admired by connoisseurs and unquestionably ranks alongside the best Flemish 17th century still-life painters.