Willem Gabron - Still Life with Turkish Carpet and a Parrot

Willem Gabron or Guiliam GabronWillem Gabron
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

(1619,

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

– 2 August 1678,

), was a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

painter, who worked in a wide range of genres including fruit pieces,

vanitas ''Vanitas'' is a genre of symbolizing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, and thus the vanity of ambition and all worldly desires. The paintings involved still life imagery of transitory i ...

still lifes, flower still lifes, game pieces and breakfast pieces. Gabron was also a gifted

animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...

and often included living animals in his still life scenes.Willem Gabron (attributed), ''Stillleben mit Aras und zwei King Charles Spaniels''
at liveautioneers He initially worked in a monochrome style but developed a more colourful palette after a long stay in Italy.Willem Gabron (Antwerp 1619-1678), ''A still life of a pewter-mounted stoneware jug, an overturned roemer, a broken roll of bread, a candle in a brass stand, a glass beaker of beer, a pewter dish with fish and a knife with ivory handle on a draped table-top''
at Bonhams

Life

Willem Gabron was born in Antwerp where he was baptised on op 28 October 1619. His family had an artistic pedigree. His grandfather Jan Gabron was an art dealer and auctioneer. His father, also called Willem, was a frame and panel maker who had registered as a master at the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1610 and was also active as a decorative painter. Willem Gabron's mother was Magdalena Cossiers, the sister of the

history painter History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek mythology, Greek and Roman my ...

Jan Cossiers Jan Cossiers (Antwerp, 15 July 1600 – Antwerp, 4 July 1671) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. Cossiers' earliest works were Caravaggesque genre works depicting low life scenes. Later in his career he painted mostly history and reli ...

It is not clear with whom he studied but it is likely his father was his teacher.Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 1116-1118 He was already active from 1634. He was first registered in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke as a 'wijnmeester' (i.e. son of a master of the Guild) in the guild year 1640–41, along with his younger brother Antoon. His sister Anna Maria married the Antwerp sculptor Artus Quellinus the Younger. Gabron travelled to Rome, at the latest by 1646. Here he became a member of the

Bentvueghels The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique"). Activities The members, which incl ...

, an association of mainly Dutch and Flemish artists working in Rome. It was customary for the Bentvueghels to adopt an appealing nickname, the so-called 'bent name'. Gabron was given the bent name ''Toetssteen'', which means 'touchstone'. He returned to Antwerp before 1660 where he remained active until his death. He never married and he left his estate to his brother Antoon and his sister Anna Maria, who had been widowed by that time.

Work

Only a few of his works have been preserved. The artist was a specialist still life painter known for his game pieces, flower and fruit pieces and vanitas paintings. His still lifes were very sought after. He excelled in the painting of fruit and flowers as well as in the realist representation of golden, silver and ivory objects.Guillaume Gabron
at the

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

, Volume 7, p. 405 Gabron was also a gifted

and often included living animals in his still life scenes. In the early part of his career in Antwerp, Gabron was close to the Haarlem tradition, which is characterised by its monochrome palet. After his trip to Italy, especially in Rome, his works took on a more colourful imagery. Like other still life painters of his generation, his work was influenced by the leading Dutch still life painter Jan Davidsz. de Heem who worked in Antwerp for a long period. Willem Gabron responded to de Heem's style in his own idiosyncratic manner rather than imitating him. The work of

Daniel Seghers Daniel Seghers (3December 15902November 1661) was a Flemish Jesuit brother and Flemish Baroque painter, painter who specialized in flower still lifes. He is particularly well known for his contributions to the genre of flower garland painting.I ...

was also an important inspiration for Gabron.

was one of the earliest practitioners of the genre of garland paintings. These paintings typically show a flower garland around a devotional image or portrait. Gabron's ''Adoration of the Holy Sacrament'' (At Tajan on 16 December 2014, lot 4) is an allegory of the

holy communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

represented by two flower garlands surrounding the

Host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

and wine over which hover two

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

. The work expands on Seghers' earlier garland paintings.Guilliam GABRON (1619 - 1678), ''L'adoration du saint sacrement''
at Tajan

References

Willem Gabron - Adoration of the Holy Sacrament

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabron, Willem 1619 births 1678 deaths Flemish Baroque painters Flemish still life painters Members of the Bentvueghels Painters from Antwerp