Pieter Casteels III (1684–1749) 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; ...
painter and
engraver mainly known for his flower pieces, game pieces and bird scenes.
[Peter Casteels (III)]
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 spent a significant portion of his life in England where he had a varied career as a still life painter, printmaker and textile designer.
Life
Pieter Casteels III was born in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, as the son of Elisabeth Bosschaert and
Pieter Casteels II, a painter of landscapes and
history painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
s. He trained with his father. In 1708 he left with his brother-in-law
Peter Tillemans
Peter Tillemans ( 1684 – 5 December 1734)Noakes, Aubrey, ''Sportsmen in a Landscape'' (Ayer Publishing, 1971, )pp. 47–56: ''Peter Tillemans and Early Newmarket''at books.google.com, accessed 7 February 2009. ONDB writes: "In 1733 Tillemans re ...
to England to work for a picture dealer named Turner for whom they made copies of Old Master paintings. Casteels became an active participant in London's artistic community, subscribing to the
Kneller Academy of Painting and Drawing in 1711 and becoming a member of the
Rose and Crown Club
The Rose and Crown Club was a club for artists, collectors and connoisseurs of art in early 18th-century London, England.
History
The Rose and Crown Club "for Eminent Artificers of this Nation" was formed by 1704, when the engraver George Vertue ...
.
[Pieter Casteels III (Antwerp 1684–1749 Richmond), ''A concert of birds'', Lot Notes]
at Christie's site He returned briefly to Antwerp in 1712 where he became a member of the local
Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...
in the same year.
[
]
Casteels settled permanently in England around 1717. He developed a successful practice as a painter of flowers and exotic birds that chiefly served a decorative purpose as overdoors and chimney-pieces. He worked simultaneously as an art dealer and imported paintings from Europe. His customers included James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby
James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby (3 July 16641 February 1736), styled The Honourable until 1702, was a British peer, soldier and politician.
Early life
Derby was the second son of Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby, and Dorothea Helena Kirkh ...
who bought imported art as well as original work of Casteels.[
In 1726 Casteels launched a subscription for a set of 12 prints of birds, which he had etched after his own designs. The success of this project encouraged him to work on two further publications: the ''Twelve Months of Flowers'' and the ''Twelve Months of Fruit''.][
Casteels advertised the usefulness of the illustrations in these publications as patterns for workers in luxury industries. Casteels was thus able to demonstrate his potential as a textile designer.][ In May 1735 he retired from painting and spent his last fourteen years working for a ]calico
Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
manufacturer as a residential artist, first at Martin Abbey near Tooting
Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross.
History
Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...
, Surrey, and later, briefly, in Richmond, London
Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...
.[Horace Walpole, George Vertue, ''The Works of Horatio Walpole, Earl of Orford: Anecdotes of painting [and the other fine arts'', G. G. and J. Robinson, 1798, p. 409-410]
He died on 16 May 1749 in Richmond after a long illness.[
]
Work
Casteels painted flowers, flower pieces, landscapes, bird scenes, game pieces and occasional portraits.[ He is often confused with Peter Frans Casteels, a still life painter active in Antwerp in the late 17th century. Some of his animal scenes show similarity with the style of Dutch master Melchior d'Hondecoeter and in some cases experts have been unable to determine whether to attribute a particular work to either master. As he spent most of his active career in England, a large portion of his work is in public and private collections in the UK.
]
When in 1726 Casteels embarked on his first publishing venture, the production of 12 plates of bird scenes, he had not previously made any etchings except for two or three little plates as trials. The birds were depicted against gardens with classical decoration as background settings. The British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
has a complete set of the original prints in its collection.
It is possible that the direct or indirect inspiration for the series of paintings on the 12 months made by Casteels was a series of the 12 months by the Antwerp painter Pieter Snyers
Pieter Snyers or Peter Snijers (first name also written as: 'Peeter' and nickname 'De Heilige' or 'The Holy One') (30 March 1681 – 4 May 1752) was a Flemish art collector, painter, draughtsman and engraver. He practised a wide variety of genre ...
. The 12 paintings by Casteels were engraved by Henry Fletcher and published by Robert Furber
Robert Furber (1674–1756) was a British horticulturist and author, best known for writing the first seed catalogue produced in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its ...
, a British horticulturist, under the title the ''Twelve Months of Flowers'' in 1730. The prints illustrate seasonal flowers that could be ordered from Furber and are thus the first illustrated nursery catalogue published in England. Each plant is numbered, with a list of the corresponding species names provided. More than 400 different species of plant are featured. For clear identification each flower is depicted facing to the front and is arranged separately.[Kasia Boddy, ''Geranium'', Reaktion Books, 15 February 2013, p. 47]
The plates were originally sold on a subscription basis for £1 5s in uncolored form, or £2 12s 6d for a colored version. The subscribers included members of the aristocracy.[ Casteels, Furber and Fletcher had each invested £500 in the publishing venture. As they were able to find 457 subscribers, they each made a handsome profit even before the sale of the prints, the plants or the original paintings.][Pieter Casteels III (Antwerp 1684–1749 Richmond), ''The Twelve Months of Flowers'']
at Christie's A second edition was published in 1734, which included "The Flower-Garden for Gentlemen and Ladies" not present in the first edition of 1730. The plates of the later edition were engraved by Peter Smith and are reductions of the originals. The book was reprinted in 1982. The complete set of the 12 original paintings, which Casteels made for the series, were sold by Christie's on 25 May 2005 in New York as lot 1529. The set of paintings and engravings inspired Jacob van Huysum
Jacob van Huysum (1688 – 1740) was an 18th-century botanical painter from the northern Netherlands who moved to England in 1721.
Van Huysum was baptized 25 February 1688 in Amsterdam.[Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...]
, to paint his own set of ''Twelve Months of Flowers'' (Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...
, Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
) between 1732–6.[
Furber published the ''Twelve Months of Fruit'' in 1732. Like the earlier publication on flowers, the ''Twelve Months of Fruit'' features 12 full-color plates, this time depicting 364 different fruit. Each plate focuses on one month and shows the varieties of fruit that ripen during that month.]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casteels, Pieter III
1684 births
1749 deaths
Flemish still life painters
Flemish engravers
18th-century engravers
Textile designers
Painters from Antwerp
18th-century Flemish painters
Botanical illustrators
Flower artists