Balthasar Van Den Bossche (1681-1715), Gallant Scene With Musicians

Balthasar Van Den Bossche (1681-1715) Galante scene with musicians Oil on canvas Dimension: 70.5 x 87.5 cm Dimension with frame: 84 x 101.5 cm The painter: Balthasar van den Bossche is a Flemish painter born in Antwerp where he studied under the Flemish genre painter Gerard Thomas, an artist specializing in studio interior paintings and picture galleries. Van den Bossche became master of the Guild of Antwerp in 1697. He then traveled to France and maintained a studio in Paris for some time. Most of his output explored the various genre subjects that had been introduced into Flemish and Dutch painting in the seventeenth century. If the artist takes up the subjects treated by his master, he will broaden his themes towards concerts, alchemists in their laboratories, scenes in the duty room, scenes of conversation and visits to the doctor. As was customary in Antwerp, van den Bossche collaborated with other specialist painters. His collaborations with Pieter van Bloemen (animal specialist) and Jacob Balthasar Peeters (architectural painter) are documented. The painting: In our painting Van Den Bossche uses a recurring motif in his work, which is the battle of Hercules with the Nemean lion (see the representation by Rubens, which will influence many artists). We find this sculpture in two paintings Preserved at the Hermitage in Russia (inv GE-5719 and GE-5718) as well as at the Vrubel Museum (Russia). But we also see in a second painting kept at the Vrubel the same central figure of a musician in blue and yellow, with the same face, accompanied by a child and a dog. When we compare his paintings in general, we realize that he manages very well to organize scenes with many characters. The pattern used in one table may very well reappear in another but treated differently. A painter who had some success during his lifetime knowing how to meet the expectations of a diverse clientele. Today we find his works in many international museums. Shipping Possible