Press release - Suermondt-Ludwig

Schöner als die Wirklichkeit –
Die Stillleben des Balthasar van der Ast
(1593/94-1657)
Balthasar van der Ast: Tulip „Sommerschön“, private collection, photo: Anne Gold
Press release
More Beautiful than Nature
Abundant flower bouquets, fruit, shells, or just a single tulip – so precious and elegant that he decided to paint its
portrait: the magnificent still lifes by Balthasar van der Ast, one of the most distinguished exponent of the Golden Age,
are quite familiar to art historians, collectors and art dealers, but nearly unknown to the wider public. This may change
now: The exhibition “More Beautiful than nature – The Still Lifes of Balthasar van der Ast (1593/94-1657)” at the
Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen presents a choice of the most important paintings by this dutch master, all of
exquisite quality.
One of the most successful still life painter of his time
Balthasar van der Ast (1593/94-1657), born in Middelburg, was the most enigmatic and successful still life painter in
the Northern Netherlands in the 1620s and 1630s. From 1609 onwards, he lived with his elder sister Maria and her
husband, the painter Ambrosius Bosschaert – the Godfather of Dutch Flower and Fruit Still Life. Van der Ast was
apprenticed to his much older brother-in-law with whom he moved to Bergen op Zoom and afterwards to Utrecht.
There he would become a free master in the painter’s guild in 1619. He immediately became successful and his
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production was enormous, right from the start – we know of 23 dated paintings from 1622 and 1623. He held
important commissions, a. o. from the Stadholder’s court in The Hague and from other noble collectors. For many
years van der Ast played a leading part in still life painting, until, after 1640, young painters like Willem Kalf, Willem
van Aelst and his pupil Jan Davidsz de Heem would take the place at the top of the pyramid and the elder master
would sink into oblivion.
The first shell still life in the history of art
The larger part of his still lifes was painted for the free market, though, mostly small flower still lifes or fruit pieces,
sometimes also combinations of the two. In the second half of the 1620s van der Ast invented new compositions for
the local art market, like the two roses on a ledge from a private collection in Canada, or the refined branch of
blossoms from Berlin. At the same time he painted the first pure shell still life in art history, since shells, like tulips
were expensive and exotic collector’s items. In 1632 he moved to Delft, probably to get closer to the Stadholder’s
court and because the local Utrecht art market may have been satisfied.
It was in Delft where Balthasar van der Ast would produce his most beautiful paintings. He experimented with light, by
choosing clear backgrounds for his still lifes, instead of the dark ones he used in Utrecht. In addition, his combinations
of fruit, shells and flowers became more spectacular, but more naturalistic at the same time, as can be judged from
the three superb flower pieces in the London National Gallery, the Louvre and the Mauritshuis, or from the remarkable
fruit still life with shells in an American private collection, in which he artistically reached the zenith of his capacity.
Perhaps the most stunning picture van der Ast painted, probably around 1640, was the huge fruit still life in the form
of a flower bouquet, which is the dynamic close of the exhibition.
This exhibition is the fruit of a wonderful cooperation between the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen and the
Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha. No less than 36 paintings and 12 works on paper by the artist are presented
in this wonderful show, as well as four paintings by Ambrosius Bosschaert and Roelant Savery. Many of his best
paintings are on view, including the aforementioned miniature Tulip Zomerschoon or his famous painting from Douai,
the result of a cooperation with Bartholomeus van Bassen, the architectural painter from The Hague, but paintings
from other import museums in Europe as well, such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Ashmolean Museum in
Oxford, the Berlin Gemäldegalerie, the Centraal Museum in Utrecht or the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid,
combined with fantastic loans from no less than sixteen private collections.
Curators
Sylvia Böhmer, Sarvenaz Ayooghi
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Balthasar van der Ast, Blumenkanne in einer Nische (detail), private collection
Schöner als die Wirklichkeit / More Beautiful than Nature
The Still Lifes of Balthasar van der Ast (1593/94-1657)
10 March to 5 June, 2016
Opening: Wednesday, 9 March, 2016, at 5 pm
Images
http://www.medien.aachen.de/workfolder/26
Benutzer: presseaachen
Passwort: presseac
Catalogue
Accompanying the exhibition is a lavishly illustrated catalogue of 232 pages, produced by Imhoff Verlag, which has
been dedicated to Dr. Sam Segal, the pioneer art historian of Dutch Still Life from the Golden Age. Several
internationally highly ranked specialists contributed to this catalogue, a.o. Fred G. Meijer, Daniëlle Lokin, Arie
Wallert, Sylvia Böhmer, Timo Trümper, Peter van den Brink, Sarvenaz Ayooghi and Stefan Grohé.
Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum
Wilhelmstr. 18, 52070 Aachen
Tel.: +49 241 47980 -0
Fax: +49 241 37075
info@suermondt-ludwigmuseum.de
www.suermondt-ludwigmuseum.de
Opening hours
Tu-Fr 12 am to 6 pm, We 12 am to 8 pm,
Sa and Su 11 am to 6 pm
Feiertage (außer Mo) 11.00-18.00 Uhr
During TEFAF Maastricht: Tu-Su 11 am to 6 pm, We 11 am to 8 pm
Please contact:
Stadt Aachen / Fachbereich Presse und Marketing
Dr. Jutta Göricke
Haus Löwenstein, Markt 39
D-52058 Aachen
Tel.: +49 241 432-1331
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jutta.goericke@mail.aachen.de
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