One of the World's Finest Still Life Artists - Willem van Aelst at MFAH - Houston Daily Dish

One of the World's Finest Still Life Artists - Willem van Aelst at MFAH

BY DISH CONSTIBUTOR MONIQUE WESTON:

The first-ever exhibition of 17^th-century Dutch painter Willem van Aelst is premiering at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) from March 11–May 28, 2012. Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst showcases 28 of the artist’s finest works over the range of his career, chosen from private and public collections in the US and Europe. The paintings of Willem van Aelst were among the most prized in the Netherlands in the second half of the 17th century, but his work had fallen into obscurity by the 19th century. The new exhibition aspires to restore Van Aelst’s prestige by highlighting his technical brilliance, attention to detail and virtuoso brushwork for 21st-century viewers.

Willem van Aelst (1627–1683) painted still lifes that are remarkable for their fine finish, carefully balanced composition, elegant subject matter, and rich, jewel-toned palette. He played an important role in the trending of Dutch painting at the time toward greater elegance and refinement.

Born and trained in Delft, he spent most of his life in Amsterdam, but his work was forever transformed by the decade he spent abroad as a youth—first in France and then in Florence, at the Medici court. There, he executed commissions from the Medicis and other elite clients. His work typically depicts arrangements of fresh fruit and flowers; precious domestic objects, such as sumptuous drapery and Venetian glassware; displays of dead game; and plants growing on the forest floor. Van Aelst adapted his choice of subject matter to please his patrons, but also included objects that reflect his personality – literally. The jewel in the crown of the collection is a stunning composition which includes the artist’s self-portrait, visible in a goblet. To further enrich his luxury subject matter, Van Aelst liberally used ultramarine, a very expensive pigment made from lapis lazuli, imported from Afghanistan.

Also on view is a large-scale painting, formerly credited to Rotterdam master Willem Kalf, which was recently reattributed to Van Aelst during a technical examination by a National Gallery of Art conservation scientist. The painting is full of trademark Van Aelst flourishes: an excess of fringed decoration, rich colors typical of the Paris compositions, highlights suggested with dabbled paint and even a previously overlooked partial monogram on a medal with the letters “VA.” This work is the artist’s most complex from the Paris period and was likely commissioned by René II de Froulay, Comte de Tessé.

The exhibition is co-curated by James Clifton, Director of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation and Curator of Renaissance and Baroque Painting at the MFAH, and Arthur Wheelock, Curator of Northern Baroque Painting at the National Gallery of Art. The project was conceived by Tanya Paul, Ruth G. Hardman Curator of European Art at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, following her Ph.D. dissertation on Van Aelst. The project developed while Ms. Paul was a curatorial fellow at the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation in Houston.

A hardcover, illustrated catalogue of the same title accompanies the exhibition—the first book dedicated solely to Van Aelst’s oeuvre, with essays by Clifton, Wheelock, Paul and Julie Berger Hochstrasser, among others.

The exhibit will travel to the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C., after May 28.

For information on vising the exhibit CLICK HERE

Posted on Monday, March 12, 2012 at 10:42AM by