circa 1620 – 1630
Provenance:
Pvt. Collection, Germany,
In the late 1620s, the still life of the Northern school developed a new form under the influence of the painters of the Haarlem...
read morecirca 1620 – 1630
Provenance:
Pvt. Collection, Germany,
In the late 1620s, the still life of the Northern school developed a new form under the influence of the painters of the Haarlem school, Pieter Claesz and Willem Claesz Heda. They inspired numerous Antwerp painters including Cornelis Mahu, who, in this astonishing composition, presents us with his version of the "monochrome banquets". This Still life with an orange on a pewter plate, a porcelain pitcher, a glass, bread and a box of tobacco on a table, with its subtle play of diagonals and monochrome palette, reveals the full extent of this painter’s artistry.
A painter of genre scenes and landscapes, Mahu devotes himself to the still life with great verve, reviving realism in the place of artifice. The judicious choice and arrangement of the items that accent this still life, from the Roemer to the crust of bread, the upset glass and the knife, to the cut orange on the pewter dish are all elements that lend a decidedly Haarlem school flavour to this painting. Although organised in a rhythmic fashion, this banketje, captures the spectator’s eye with vibrant contrasts of light (chiaroscuro). The reflection of the orange in the pewter dish neatly dramatizes the scene which at first sight may be read as an interrupted meal, whilst the subtle light accents emphasise the contours of the glass, the picture, the candle and the tobacco box.
Imbued with an implicit suggestion of vanitas, this banketje displays the majority of the symbols of the still life genre: the cut orange, the segment of which evokes the passing of an earthly life that is bitter in essence, and fleeting when it is not combined with a higher spiritual reality, and the burning candle that inexorably measures time and the finitude of our material and sensual aspirations
This Still life with an orange on a pewter plate, a porcelain pitcher, a glass, bread and a box of tobacco on a table is a brilliant illustration of the virtuosity and multifaceted talent of a painter who was equally adept in landscape painting and genre scenes. A perfect example of the spirit that informed the Haarlem school in the 1630s, this painting will delight the most devoted enthusiasts of the Northern still life. In fact, from the year 1640 onwards Mahu adopts a distinctly more baroque style, abandoning the models of Claesz in favour of the opulence of the table settings by Jan Davidsz de Heem and his Antwerp contemporaries.
circa 1613 – Antwerp - 1689
There are no known documents recording the apprenticeship and training of this painter of still lives and landscapes. However, his presence is noted in the...
read morecirca 1613 – Antwerp - 1689
There are no known documents recording the apprenticeship and training of this painter of still lives and landscapes. However, his presence is noted in the Antwerp guild in 1638 when he was received as a master. It is also here that he had as students L.F. Verbruggen, Caspar-Pieter Verbruggen the Elder in 1644-45 and D. de Brouwer in 1671.
Although the circumstances of his life and his œuvre remain little-known, Cornelis Mahu is nevertheless one of the rare Flemish still life artists whose compositions strongly resemble those of the Dutch painters. The majority of his paintings reflect the work of the Haarlem school and particularly of Willem Claesz Heda (1594-1680), the chief representative of the monochromatic “banketje” paintings, which he had the opportunity to be inspired by during the latter’s stay in Antwerp as well as by the many examples of his virtuosity distributed throughout Antwerp collections.
The production of Cornelis Mahu is however dominated by depictions of interior scenes and Flemish landscapes. He adopts numerous subjects and themes - peasant interiors, guardrooms, tavern interiors - favoured by David Teniers and Adriaen van Ostade. His highly animated paintings teem with figures who often have exaggerated and rough features. Cornelis Mahu also painted several marine scenes showing heavy clouds and raging seas similar to those of Bonaventure Peeters, the most representative master of what is known as the “monochrome” movement.
