Ranked with Moillon, Stosskopf, and Baugin as one of the leading French still-life painters, Jacques Linard remains an enigmatic figure about whom little is known. His training is uncertain, though his paintings show the influence of Antwerp masters, particularly Jan Brueghel. His date of birth is inferred from his death certificate, which states that the artist died at about age forty five.
Linard is mentioned in Paris for the first time in 1626, and his earliest
secure painting dates from 1627. He must have been successful in his own day, for he achieved the post of peintre et valet de chambre ordinaire du Roi in 1631, and his milieu consisted of courtly circles, parliamentarians, and important artists such as Vignon. Dated works survive from 1627 to 1644; although his surviving oeuvre is relatively small, some eighteen signed and/or dated examples have been identified. Most of these consist of meticulously rendered flowers and fruits, sometimes with butterflies and birds, or other objects intended to convey the allegorical meaning associated with still lifes. In the best of his paintings, such as the reflective and poetic example from the Norton Simon Museum, the image transcends mere description to achieve a deeply felt mood. |
