Pseudo van Kessel (second half of the 17th century), Pair of still lifes with fish, game, flowers and fruit

Pseudo van Kessel (active in the second half of the 17th century)

Pair of still lifes with fish, game, flowers and fruit

(2) Oil on copper, 24 x 33 cm

With frame, 38 x 48 cm

Pseudo-Jan van Kessel the Younger or Pseudo-Jan van Kessel II is the name given to an artist or workshop to which approximately two hundred small still lifes dating back to the late 16th and early 17th centuries are attributed. The artist's works are based on combinations of motifs in rather elaborate and unsigned compositions. 

Jan van Kessel the Younger was born in Antwerp as the son of Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626–1679) and Maria van Apshoven. He was a scion of the famous Flemish dynasty of painters the Brueghel family. His father was the son of Hieronymus van Kessel the Younger and Paschasia Brueghel (the daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder). Jan van Kessel the Younger was thus, through his paternal grandmother, great-grandson of Jan Brueghel the Elder and great-great-grandson of Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

Klaus Ertz and Christa Nitze-Ertz cataloged much of the work as the work of Jan van Kessel the Younger in their Die Maler Jan van Kessel : Jan van Kessel der Ältere 1626–1679 : Jan van Kessel der Jüngere 1654–1708 : Jan van Kessel der 'Andere' approx. 1620-ca. 1661: kritische Kataloge der Gemälde, Lingen: De Luca, 2012.

Since the small known authentic works of Jan van Kessel the Younger are different in style and execution, they were reattributed by the Dutch historian Fred G. Meijer to an anonymous artist or workshop identified by the non-named Pseudo Jan van Kessel the Younger. For convenience, the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) cataloged the paintings of Pseudo-Jan van Kessel II previously (until 2017) as “study of Jan van Kessel the Elder”. The artist of Flemish origin is believed to have worked in southern Europe, probably also in Italy, in the late XNUMXth and early XNUMXth centuries. 

The pair of still lifes in question are perfectly balanced compositions, characterized by attention to detail and the use of delicate but vivid colors. To the geometric synthesis of late sixteenth-century still lifes, Flanders artists prefer the analysis of the eye which, through light, reveals the details of nature, man and the space in which he lives. This luminous naturalism, characterized by brilliant colors and shapes sculpted by light, is masterfully rendered and amplified by the use of the copper support.

Critics, with much hesitation, in recent years have attempted to associate Pseudo Van Kessel with the name of Raffo Morghen or the German painter Gorthard de Wedig (Cologne 1583–1641). However, the variety in the quality of execution and their apparent mass production suggest that these still lifes were the product of a studio, rather than a single artist. 

The couple of still lifes under consideration are perfectly balanced compositions, characterized by the attention to detail and the use of delicate but vivid colors. To the geometric synthesis of the still lives of the late sixteenth century, the artists of Flanders prefer the analysis of the eye that, through light, reveals the details of nature, man and the space in which he lives. This luminous naturalism, characterized by bright colors and shapes sculpted by light, is rendered in a masterful way and amplified by the use of copper support.

Critics, with many hesitations, in recent years have tried to associate Pseudo Van Kessel with the name of Raffo Morghen or the German painter Gorthard de Wedig (Cologne 1583-1641). However, the variety in performance quality and their apparent mass production suggest that these still lifes were the product of a studio rather than a single artist. 

The object is in good condition

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