Balthasar van der Ast
1593-94 – 1657
Dutch – Baroque period
Balthasar van der Ast was a very prolific still life painter of flowers and fruits,
was born in Middelburg, which in the 17th century was a city second only to Amsterdam. After
the premature death of his father in 1609, the youngster moved in with his sister
Maria who was married to Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. He began a painting
apprenticeship under Bosschaert (master artist), studying with him for ten years. In
1619 van der Ast moved to Utrecht and joined the painter’s Guild in that
city. He met and befriended another floral still life painter, Roelandt Savery,
who would have considerable influence on him in the years to come. After
twelve years in Utrecht, van der Ast moved to the city of Delft and there
he met and married a woman by the name of Margrieta jans van Buijeren, and together they
had two children.
From Bosschaert, Van der Ast learned much about art. He learned
composition, scale, and painting techniques which his master
had perfected. He also adapted the practice of making watercolor
studies of individual flowers that could be combined and refined
in the studio. He, like his peers would borrow and re-use
favorite flowers. Despite the strong influence of
Bosschaert, van der Ast, soon began a departure from his master’s
style. His colors became softer and more toned; he softened
the sharp lines that Bosschaert was so well known for. He
positioned the elements of his paintings closer to the viewer. His
work had an all encompassing silver-gray, or smoky tonality to
it providing unity and harmony, this he achieved by painting
the flowers in pure hues, and then softening the color through
layers of off-white glazes.
Van der Ast was the first artist to paint shell still lifes,
and has more or less created the genre of shell painting. Trading
vessels were the first to bring shells to the Netherlands, and
it was not long before they became prized collector’s objects. Many
of van der Ast’s paintings contain beautiful renderings
of shells. He painted a wide variety of formats, and often used realistic insects and small
animals to add another tempo to his artwork. It was in Delft that he truly began to favor
the more luxuriant three dimensional still lifes that were executed on
a larger scale.
The artist was also known for including flying insects to his
works, dragon flies and fruit flies were meticulously placed
on certain flowers such as carnations and roses, and in the compositions
which included fruit, the insects were positioned on the fruit often exhibiting a symbolic meaning.
Art historians believe that Van der Ast was one of the most prolific
artists of the 17th century, his works ranging from small copper
renditions to very large canvases that were nearly six feet across. Van
der Ast, together with Ambrosius Bosschaert and Roelandt Savery
are considered amongst the most influential painters of the ‘Golden
Age’. He created small and simple compositions using single
booms placed on a surface to very complex still life’s
of flowers, fruits, and shells in a composition that was stepped. He
took great care with his flower arrangements, larger flowers
are placed in the center with smaller blooms arranged around
the perimeter. Although van der Ast was not original in
his subject matter, he gained acknowledgment through the manner
in which he placed elements and the mood which he was able to
beautifully convey through his work.
It is believed that Van der Ast developed an intense interest
in tonality, using and improving techniques created by Savery
for creating greater dimension. Some art historians
believe he became a master of ‘chequering’ and ‘chiaroscuro’ of
hue, selective lighting, and using thin dark lines to strengthen
the foremost objects; his great style became extremely individual.
Van der Ast worked almost exclusively with ‘glazes’,
and with the passing of time some of these glazes have worn off,
allowing us to view some of his under drawings. His sketches
were done in black crayon, and were mostly of roughly drawn circles,
coiled or curved lines and sometimes he would use long or short
lines for flower branches or stalks.
After Bosschaert died, van der Ast took on the tutoring of Bosschaert’s
three sons and he was also a big influence to Jan Davidz
de Heem. Adding to that, Balthasar van der Ast was part
of what has come to be known today as the 'Bosschaert Dynasty'.
References:
A Flowery Past, - Sam Segal
Flowers and Nature, - Sam Segal
Copper as Canvas - Phoenix Art Museum
Bouquets from the Golden Age - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
