![Alexander Coosemans Früchtestillleben mit Hummer und Brot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Alexander_Coosemans_Fr%C3%BCchtestillleben_mit_Hummer_und_Brot.jpg)
Alexander Coosemans (1627,
Antwerp –1689, Antwerp) was a
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
Baroque painter specialized in
still lifes of flower pieces, fruit, and inanimate subjects. He painted
vanitas
A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-kn ...
still lifes,
pronkstillevens and game pieces.
Life
Very little is known about the life of Coosemans. He was born in Antwerp where he was baptized on 18 March 1627. His father was a carpenter from Brussels who had become a
poorter
Poorter () is an historical term for a type of Dutch, or Flemish, burgher who had acquired the right to live within the walls of a city with city rights.
In the Dutch Republic, this ''poorterrecht'' or ''poorterschap'' (citizenship) could be ...
of Antwerp in 1617. His mother was Geertruid Beeck. His father had a successful cloth trading business and could afford to send his son to a good teacher.
[Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 1122 ]
![Alexander Coosemans - Still life with fruit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Alexander_Coosemans_-_Still_life_with_fruit.jpg)
Coosemans became a pupil of
Jan Davidsz de Heem
Jan Davidsz. de Heem or in-full ''Jan Davidszoon de Heem'', also called ''Johannes de Heem'' or ''Johannes van Antwerpen'' or ''Jan Davidsz de Hem'' (c. 17 April 1606 in Utrecht – before 26 April 1684 in Antwerp), was a still life painter ...
, the leading still life painter in the Netherlands, in 1641. He became a master in the
Guild of St. Luke of Antwerp in 1645.
[Alexander Coosemans]
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
He was in Italy between 1649 and 1651. Here he worked on commissions for the
Doria-Pamphili-Landi
The House of Doria Pamphilj Landi (also called simply Doria Pamphilj) was a princely Roman family of Genoese extraction. Legend has it that the origins of the Doria family date from the early 11th century, but the authentic pedigree is traced to ...
and reportedly contributed still life elements of fruit and flowers for decorative paintings by
Pasquale Chiesa in the Palazzo del Principe (also called 'villa di Andrea Doria') in Genoa and the
Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome.
Coosemans returned to Antwerp in 1651. He remained a bachelor and is believed to have resided in Antwerp until his death on 28 October 1689.
[
]
Work
General
Alexander Coosemans painted mainly flower pieces, fruit, and inanimate subjects. He also painted vanitas
A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-kn ...
still lifes, pronkstillevens and game pieces. The only known dated work by his hand is a '' Still Life with Fruit and a Parrot'', which is a work after de Heem (Phillips Auctioneers, London, 10 April 1990).[
His still-life paintings are generally more varied and crowded than those of his master de Heem. He also preferred dramatic light effects in artificial settings which contrasts with de Heem's use of harmonious colour patterns and subtle tonalities to create an illusion of naturalness. His residence in Italy clearly influenced his style.
His style was followed by ]Hendrik Schoock
Hendrik Schoock (baptized May 4, 1630, Utrecht (city) – July 24, 1707, Utrecht (city)), was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Biography
According to Houbraken he was a pupil of Jan Lievens and Abraham Bloemaert who later took to garland painting ...
.[
]
Vanitas and pronkstillevens
A great number of Coosemans' still lifes can be characterized as 'vanitas' still lifes and 'pronkstillevens' (ostentatious still lifes). The still lifes are believed to carry a moralistic, hidden meaning.
For instance, in the '' Still life on a partly draped table'' the various objects convey hidden meanings: the grapes and the glass of red wine refer to Christ and his blood, the bread references the Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
of Christ and the Christian communion and the silver vessel looks like a ciborium that holds the consecrated hosts during the Catholic Mass
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...
. The crabs, just like the lobsters in his other still lifes, refer to the Christian belief in the resurrection of Christ since these crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...
s must, in order to grow, loose their carapace and start a new life. The partly peeled lemon stands for the various stages of human life and its vulnerability and suffering.
Collaborations
As was common in 17th-century Antwerp, Coosemans regularly collaborated with other artists. There are some collaborations with him on so-called 'garland paintings'. Garland paintings are a type of still life invented in Antwerp and whose earliest practitioner was Jan Brueghel the Elder
Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collabora ...
. These paintings typically show a flower garland around a devotional image or portrait. Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter.
A number of garland paintings are known in which Coosemans painted the flower or fruit garland surrounding a cartouche with a depiction of a bust, crucifix or other religious symbol. An example is '' A sculpted bust in a niche surrounded with swags of fruit'' (Christie's on 1 April 2008 in Amsterdam, lot 151) of which it is not known who the collaborating artist is. Another example of this genre is the ''Fruits surrounding a niche with a crucifix'' (Cornette de Saint Cyr, Bertrand, -10-25 October 2013, Paris). These garland paintings often carry religious meanings. For instance in the ''Allegory of the Eucharist'' (Musée de Tessé, Le Mans) the garland painted by Coosemans around a ciborium with the host includes many symbolic elements: a cornucopia
In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...
symbolizes the bounty of creation and the providence of god, the stalks of wheat and the grapes are a reference to the Christian communion during which bread and wine are consumed while the pomegranate and the quince are symbols of plenty as well as of fertility and immortality.
Another collaborative effort of Coosemans is the composition '' Double Portrait of a boy and a girl as Cupid and Ceres next to a Stil life of fruits and flowers'' (Sotheby's on 28 January 2010 in New York, lot 279). His collaborator was Theodoor van Thulden
Theodoor van Thulden (1606–12 July 1669) was a painter, draughtsman and engraver from 's-Hertogenbosch. He is mainly known for his altarpieces, mythological subjects, allegorical works and portraits. He was active in Antwerp, where he had tr ...
who painted the staffage.Alexander Coosemans, ''Double Portrait of a boy and a girl as Cupid and Ceres next to a Stil life of fruits and flowers''
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Coosemans, Alexander
Flemish Baroque painters
Flemish still life painters
Painters from Antwerp
1627 births
1689 deaths