#ArtSaturday Balthasar van der Ast, 1593 or 1594-1657
Also known as Balthus or Baldus van der Ast
Dutch Golden Age painter of Still Lifes featuring flowers, insects, and shellsTulip (also known as Dutch Tulip), 1620s pic.twitter.com/xQaN3R1jts
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Not much is known of van der Ast’s life is known.Lizard and Shell, 1620s pic.twitter.com/vVaDpUhgTC
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Still Life with Plums, Cherries, and Shells, 1628 pic.twitter.com/yacstUq74p
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Dictamnus, 1620s
(photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art) pic.twitter.com/FsO6YBkBxD— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
It is not known when van der Ast’s mother died, but his father was a widower when he died.Fruit with Shells and a Tulip, 1620 pic.twitter.com/9z5HzIdHqH
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Van der Ast was born into the family of prosperous wool merchants.Fruit with Shells and a Tulip, detail (1620) pic.twitter.com/oxl6UkAUy6
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
After his father died, van der Ast moved in with his sister and her husband, the painter Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder.Fruit with Shells and a Tulip, detail (1620) pic.twitter.com/0F3r2m5ivP
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Fruit with Shells and a Tulip, with two Details (1620) pic.twitter.com/oi5Swd7s49
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
His brother-in-law, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, trained van der Ast to be a painter.Still Life with Flowers, 1620-21 pic.twitter.com/iwtx1Wx7lX
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Both Bosschaert the Elder and van der Ast are known for their meticulous detail and precision of the flowers et al in their still lifes.Still Life with Flowers and Fruit in a Basket, 1622
(photo: National Museum of Art, DC) pic.twitter.com/lILKk4MT4G— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
After Bosschaert the Elder died, van der Ast trained Bosschaert’s three sons to become painters.Still Life with Basket of Fruit, 1622
(photo: National Gallery of Art, DC) pic.twitter.com/6Mbz4no3cl— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
All three of Bosschaert’s sons, trained by van der Ast, became successful painters as well.Still Life with Bowl of Fruit, 1622-23 pic.twitter.com/DHiYIwv0Ag
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Van der Ast, along with his brother-in-law Bosschaert and van der Ast’s three nephews, are all together sometimes described as the “Bosschaert Dynasty.”Still Life with Flowers and Shells, 1625-30 pic.twitter.com/VVXo9MvUhy
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Van der Ast painted during the Dutch Golden Age, when the Protestant Reformation rejected paintings of religious subjects, which the Catholic Church has patronized for centuries.Still Life with Fruit and Flowers, 1628 pic.twitter.com/BArNvFGkcJ
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Protestant Reformation Art wanted paintings to be “moral” by emphasizing the mortality of its subjects and, by extension, the wealthy patrons and other viewers of the works.Still Life with Basket of Flowers and Shells, 1630 pic.twitter.com/i8pMJ8Z33J
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Many Dutch Golden Age paintings included skulls to remind viewers and patrons of their mortality: the painters of flower still lifes used flowers to remind viewers that “all men must die.”Still Life with Flowers, 1630
(photo: National Gallery, London) pic.twitter.com/dCyCB34MWQ— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Still Life with Flowers, Insects, and Shells, Detail (1630) pic.twitter.com/IsTOzhSrNg
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Still Life with Flowers, Insects, and Shells, Detail (1630) pic.twitter.com/vqaqUO4L0w
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Still Life with Flowers, Insects, and Shells, with two Details (1630) pic.twitter.com/g7Pq7aqWAC
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
The Dutch were extremely wealthy and respected during the Dutch Golden Age, prospering and excelling in trade, military, science, exploration, and the arts.Still Life with Fruit in a Basket, 1632 pic.twitter.com/GlMEEdNs0Z
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
The Protestant Church no longer sponsored art during the Reformation, so newly rich Dutch patrons sponsored art, displaying the paintings privately, in their own homes, as a symbol of their wealth.Still Life, with Flowers, Fruit, Shells, & Insects, 1632 pic.twitter.com/c2F04p0I4O
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Though the established Church no long sponsored art during the Protestant Reformation, there was still a great emphasis on “moral” art, hence the Vanitas (“all men must die”) paintings.Still Life with Shells, 1640 pic.twitter.com/ui3rge2Iuq
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Flower Still Lifes were a sub-genre of Dutch Golden Age Still Lifes. Despite their being a sub-genre, quite a few painters supported themselves painting only still lifes.Still Life with Flowers in a Vase, n.d. pic.twitter.com/a5jsupxeix
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Van der Ast was especially skilled in painting shells, and he has become famed for his detail in shells.Still Life with Shells and Fruit, n.d. pic.twitter.com/uQY6yh2cI8
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Van der Ast’s paintings are known for their precision and for their symmetrical compositions.Still Life with Fruit and Two Parrots, n.d. pic.twitter.com/pXP0cCHyAW
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Although some of van der Ast’s canvases are large, almost all of his work is more modest in scale.Still Life with Flowers, Fruit, Insects, and Shells, n.d. pic.twitter.com/TaslkAiXUL
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Van der Ast lived in Utrecht until 1632 when he moved to Delft, where he became a member of the St. Luke’s Artist’s Guild in 1633.Still Life with Fruit and Shells, n.d. pic.twitter.com/aExC6EInN2
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Van der Ast also married in 1633; he and his wife had two children.Still Life with Flowers in a Vase, n.d. pic.twitter.com/eYLMFFnlvA
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Still Life with Flowers in a Vase, n.d. pic.twitter.com/gLEm5SdsT7
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Still Life with Flowers in a Wan Li Vase with Shells, n.d. pic.twitter.com/ykt2I4jyKd
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Van der Ast sometimes painted the fruit in his Still Lifes showing the beginning signs of decay.Still Life with Fruit and Shells, n.d. pic.twitter.com/9zVNSVw9J1
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019
#ArtSaturday van der Ast
Balthasar van der Ast died in 1657 and is buried in the Oude Kerk.Still Life with Fruit in a Dish and Shells, n.d. pic.twitter.com/hABacfJhX3
— Dr Alexandria Szeman: Award-Winning #Author 📚🖋 (@Alexandria_SZ) November 9, 2019