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Still-Life with Flowers, Fruit, and Shells

1640 · Musée de la Chartreuse, Douai

still-life

Balthasar van der Ast learnt to paint from his brother-in-law, Ambrosius Bosschaert. He also specialized in flower still-lifes though he differed from his teacher in his preference for more complex compositions. In this still-life of 1618, he placed two bouquets against the splendid backdrop of Renaissance architecture, which was probably painted by Bartholomeus van Bassen.

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Still-Life with Flowers, Fruit, and Shells

About the Artist

Balthasar van der Ast

1594 – 1657

Dutch still-life painter, the brother-in-law of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, with whom he trained in Middelburg. He worked in Utrecht before settling in Delft in 1632. His touch was less exquisite than Bosschaert's, but his range was wider, his paintings often including fruit and shells as well as flowers. Jan Davidsz. de Heem was his pupil in Utrecht.

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