Still-life with Birds

still-life

It was probably in Vienna that Jakab Bogdány, the son of a Protestant family in the town of Eperjes, began his studies; later, between 1684 and 1688, he worked in Amsterdam, which was then the centre of the bourgeois genres, most notably of still-life painting. For the young painter, the Dutch influence proved decisive on several account: it can be detected in his still-lifes with flowers and fruits in the use of colours, while the genre-like composition of his paintings depicting birds reveals the assimilation of Melchior de Hondecoeter's paintings of animals. Elegant parks with beautiful birds are the sites of Bogdány's high society genre scenes.

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About the Artist

Jakab Bogdány

1660 – 1724

Jakab Bogdány (Jacob Bogdani), Hungarian painter, active in the Netherlands and England. He began his art studies in Vienna, then moved to Amsterdam in 1684, and to London around 1690 where he worked for Queen Mary, William III and Queen Anne. His orderers included Admiral Churchill, E. Harley and others close to the Court. His success was mostly due to his colourful still-lifes with birds, i.e. pictures resembling Dutch painting. Around 1700 he painted pictures for the Hall of Mirrorrs of Queen Mary in Water Galley, not far from Hampton Court. His major works: Birds of England (Cambridge, private collection), Red Lilies in a Vase (Buckingham Palace, London), Nile Goose (Kew Palace), Silver Gull, Coot (Kew Palace), From the Game Preserve (Windsor), Fruit Piece with Stone Vase (Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest) and Still-Life with Oyster (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest).

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