Abraham Cornelisz Begeyn
1637 - 1697
Two Spaniels and a Huntsman before a Landscape
Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Category:
Dimensions:
83.2(h) x 101.4(w) cms
Framed Dimensions:
99(h) x 119(w) cms
Signed:
signed faintly lower right 'A Beg***'
Exhibitions:
Essay:
Born in Leiden circa 1637, Abraham Begeyn appears not to have studied with any particular master, though by tradition it is thought that he may have been taught by Nicholas Berchem. We find his name mentioned as a member of the Guild of St. Luke in Leiden between the years 1655 and 1667.
Begeyn travelled to Italy twice, in 1659 and 1667. In 1672 he was back in Amsterdam and then moved to London for two years where he completed 14 paintings for the Earl of Lauderdale at Ham House, several of which can still be seen there. Later, in 1681, he travelled to The Hague where he lived for four years. In 1683 he was elected a member of the Guild in The Hague. In 1688 Begeyn was summoned to Berlin where he rapidly came to the notice of the Grand Elector and soon became the leading Court painter.
As a painter of animals, he was as important as Nicholas Berchem and Jan Asselijn, and many of his landscapes recall the work of Jan Baptist Weenix, especially in the treatment of foliage. Begeyn typically painted landscapes bathed in golden Italiante light with pillars, arches and flights of steps in the antique manner, placing in the foreground large lifelike clumps of thistles or weeds. He also talented at painting flower still lifes, hunting scenes, and sottoboscos. His paintings are usually signed.
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In this view of shoot two spaniels rest while their master cleans his gun on the grass. No partridge or other game have been collected as yet, so the viewer is left to suppose that the scene is in the early morning before the shoot has begun. The perspective is set low to the ground so that we are on level with the dogs among the weeds and earth giving the painting a hint of the sottobosco. The tall white flowers appear to be hemlock. Combined with the huge prickly thistle towering above the spaniels, the audience is reminded of the wild, rugged corners of the natural world and the adventurous nature of the shoot.
Provenance:
Collection of Mrs. M.T. Warde
Christie's, London, 19 March 1965, lot 77
Christie's, London, 13 Dec. 1996, lot 17, The Property of a Nobleman
With Rafael Valls Ltd, London
Private collection, UK.
