Carstiaan Luyckx

Essay:

Carstiaan Luyckx was apprenticed to the flower painter Philip de Marlier from 1639, transferring to the studio of Frans Francken III in 1642. Luyckx was to specialise in still life paintings of fruits and flowers as well as more elaborate compositions with animals and birds.

The artist is recorded on the 27th of May 1645 as travelling to Lille where he married on the 17th of July. Later in that year he was elected into the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp. In 1646 he travelled to Spain to enter the service of the Spanish King. Luyckx appears to have returned to Antwerp where collaborations with David Teniers the Younger and Nicolaes van Verendael are recorded (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden- no. 1091). Dating his oeuvre is difficult as only two dated works are known from 1650.

Later works by Luyckx are predominantly inscribed in French, which would indicate a move to France, although there seems to be no documentary evidence to support this. Many of this works are mentioned in inventories of collections in the Netherlands and elsewhere so his works were clearly much appreciated by collecting patrons. He is mentioned briefly in Amsterdam in 1652 and in Utrecht in 1649 as taking part in a charity auction.

Provenance:

Private Collection, Spain