Frans Snyders
(1579 - 1657) |
|
Still Lifes, Animals, Art Work
| Name: |
Frans Snyders |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Antwerp |
| Nationality: |
Flemish |
| Birth: |
1579 |
| Death: |
1657 |
| Website: |
|
| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
|
|
Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Still Lifes, Animals, |
| Medium: |
|
| Method: |
|
| Style: |
|
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
|
|
|
Biography
| Peter Paul Rubens's collaborator and the most celebrated animal painter in Flanders in his own right, Frans Snyders attained wealth and status; he ranked with all the leading painters in Antwerp. The son of a tavern keeper, Frans studied with Pieter Brueghel the Younger (some sources also cite Hendrick van Balen*), becoming a master in the Antwerp Guild in 1602. Jan Brueghel the Elder* may have inspired Frans*s interest in still-life painting. We know that Jan provided Frans with a letter of introduction to Cardinal Federigo Borromeo in Milan, calling him unique in the profession of painters and ranking him among the first painters of Antwerp. Just when Frans set out for Italy is unknown, but the visit apparently lasted about a year; his Milanese stop on the Italian journey is generally thought to date from 1608 to 1609. By 1609 Frans was back in Antwerp, where he married Margaretha, the sister of Cornells and Paul de Vos, in 1611. Snyders joined the Guild of Romanists in 1619 and became its dean in 1629. Early in his career Snyders concentrated primarily on still lifes, although there is some evidence that he attempted figure painting as well. His earliest surviving dated paintings are Fruit and Game (dated 1603, Brussels, Art Market) and Game Dealer (dated 1610, Brussels, private collection). These reflect Frans's dependence on the works of Pieter Aertsen, Joachim Beuckelaer, and the mannerist tradition. 1613 and 1614 are variously given as the start of Snyders's association with Rubens, who called on Snyders many times to add animal or still-life elements to his own canvases. The two artists became such close friends that Rubens entrusted Snyders (among others) with the dispersal of his estate upon his death in 1640. From his association with Rubens, Snyders began to paint hunting scenes and scenes of animals fighting, for which he often relied on Rubens's designs or models to impart a sense of movement and energy. Among Frans's most famous collaborations with Rubens was the eagle he painted in Rubens's Prometheus (Philadelphia Museum of Art). The styles of the two painters were sometimes so similar that attribution of individual works is a matter of scholarly dispute (for example, Snyders's Pots and Pans in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, is sometimes attributed to Rubens). In other cases, Rubens provided Snyders with sketches which the latter then executed on a large scale, a notable example being the Philopomen (Madrid, Prado). Certain motifs were used repeatedly by Snyders in his subsequent works. The working relationship between the two artists seems to have intensified in the last two decades of Rubens's life, when they collaborated frequently on hunting scenes. Snyders worked with Rubens on the paintings for Philip IV for the Torre de la Parada. It has been suggested that Frans's particular skill at brushwork and colors led him on occasion to improve on Rubens. Besides his collaboration with Rubens, Snyders worked with Anthony van Dyck* (who painted a portrait of Snyders and his wife), Abraham Janssens,* Jan Wildens, and Lucas van Uden.* We have a record of Snyders working for Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in 1649. Today Snyders is especially admired for his brilliantly colored, opulent array of still-life objects - fruits, vegetables, dead game, birds, and fish-which are vividly characterized and further animated by the inclusion of numerous well-observed anecdotal details. A One example is the Stili Life with Dead Game and Fruit (Detroit Institute of Arts); another sumptuous arrangement of similar elements (the dead deer, for example) is found in The Larder (Brussels, Mustes Royaux des Beaux-Arts). Given the exceptionally large output from Frans's studio, the attribution of many works to his hand alone remains a matter of speculation. His closest follower was his brother-in-law Paul de Vos. Snyders is credited with developing still-life painting away from the conventions of sixteenthcentury mannerism toward the more artful, flowing, graceful arrangements of the baroque. His contributions are especially important for the development of Adriaen van Utrecht, Paul de Vos, and Jan Fyt (Frans's pupil). |
Samples of Work
|
|
