Banquet Still-Life with a Mouse

1667 · Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles

still-life

Abraham van Beyeren, the third outstanding master of pronk still-lifes, like Jan Davidsz de Heem, who seems to have inspired him, painted sumptuous compositions of lobsters, fruit, and expensive tableware, and included rich draperies and columns to enhance the splendid effect. Van Beyeren, however, hardly ever overloads his compositions in the way that de Heem does; on the other hand, he seldom shows Kalf's moderation. At his best, he is a subtle colourist who works in a light key, with an appealing free and liquid touch.

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About the Artist

Abraham van Beyeren

1620 – 1690

Dutch painter (also spelled Beijeren or Beieren), little regarded in his day but now considered one of the greatest of still-life painters. He initially specialized in fish subjects, but around the middle of the 17th century he began to devote himself to sumptuous banquet tables laden with silver and gold vessels, Venetian glassware, fine fruit, and expensive table coverings of damask, satin, and velvet. Works of this kind, in which he was rivaled only by Kalf, gave him even greater opportunity than his fish pieces to demonstrate his ability to show the play of light on varied surfaces and organize forms and colours into an opulently blended composition. He worked in various towns before settling in Overschie in 1678.

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