Still Life With Figs, Peaches, Grapes And Flowers

Adriaen van der Cabel (Rijswijk, 1630 or 1631 – Lyon, 16 June 1705)

Still life with figs, peaches, grapes and flowers

Oil on canvas, 56.5 x 76 cm

With frame, 76 x 95 cm

The still life described here can be linked to the still numerically scarce catalog of the painter Adriaen van der Cabel, at least as regards the works linked to this specific genre. Famous above all for his port views and genre scenes, in some cases he distanced himself from landscape painting, moving to less suitable terrain but in which he demonstrated a certainty and knowledge of the genre also derived from the experiences gained during his career, where he had the opportunity to meet artists and colleagues who were experts in these subjects, considering the fortune that still life had in northern Europe, and in particular in the Netherlands, during the 18th century. The spatial order in which the two baskets are arranged, one ceramic the other in wicker, is found in the careful decentralization of both, which allows occupying both sides of the scene as well as visually linking the fruits of the first, the figs, with those of the second, the peaches. The lines of force start from the mezzanine floor where the figs are located, which appear slightly in dim light compared to the peaches, placed together with the container along a slightly lower shelf to which the eye reaches spontaneously; some flowers surround and enclose the two containers, such as blue and white cornflowers, a yellow tulip, and a poppy flanked by a white peony, with bright and contrastive colors which then leave room for walnuts and a broken plum branch, which, however, has not yet lost its ripe fruits and leaves. In Van der Cabel's other proofs in this genre we find the characteristic trait of fruit baskets, as well as the addition of open fruits, such as shelled walnuts and the predilection for some in particular such as peaches and plums, favored by the painter.Born and raised in Rijswijk, near The Hague, Cabel undertook his education under the guidance of Jan van Goyen. His career took him early to Pargi in 1655 and to Lyon (c. 1655 - 58) where he settled at a young age and spent most of his life. However, he lived in Rome between 1659 and 1666, where he had the opportunity to update his studies and knowledge on Italian art and that of the Flemish present in the eternal city, also becoming part of their community, known as that of the Bentvueghels, among whom he was known by the nickname Geestigheid, "humor", which underlined his joyful and biting humor. Furthermore, here he became one of Codazzi's usual collaborators, as demonstrated by an architecture preserved in the Uffizi. Cabel was not the only artist in his family; his brother Engel van der Cabel, also a painter and member of the Bentvueghels with the nickname "Corydon", accompanied him on his travels and settled with him in Lyon, where he became "Maître-Garde" of the Guild of Saint Luke. This close family and professional relationship underlines the importance of collaboration and artistic exchange within their circle.

Van der Cabel's great legacy is also translated through his students: he was the teacher and godfather of the Lyonnais landscape painter Adrien Manglard, who acquired his style and landscape treatment of both Dutch and Romano-Bolognese origin, taken from van der Cabel during his stay in Italy. This transmission of knowledge and styles profoundly influenced Manglard, who in turn became one of the most famous landscape painters of his era in Rome. He died in Lyon in 1705.