A breakfast with cheese, bread, fruit and roemer, on a partially draped table

Floris van Schooten was one of the seventeenth-century Dutch artists with the most experience as a painter of still lifes, although he also made some biblical and historical scenes, very close to the school of P. Aertsen and J. Beuckelaer, with huge figures represented in the painting. When we look at his works, we discover an artist who often repeats the same model of kitchen interiors with still lifes, full of all kinds of products such as: fish, fruits and different dishes. Throughout his career he made numerous still lifes with monochromatic backgrounds, much to the taste of the Dutch Golden Age. These types of compositions, called “ontbijtjes” or “served tables”, presented a series of foods on a table as a snack and were very demanded at the time. His compositions, despite being quite austere, manage to perfectly combine still life, interiors and the interaction of different characters, paying special attention to the effects of light and his careful way of painting the tablecloths. His still lifes with fruits and pottery are easily confused with those of Floris van Dyck while the figures depicted in his works are, in some cases, portraits of girls or boys very similar to those made by P. C. van Ryck. It is very frequent that his works appear signed with the FvS monogram, in an unusual place for it, as is the center of the painting.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• A checklist of painters c.1200-1994 represented in the Witt Library, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, 1995, p. 457
• E. Benezit,  Dictionnaire des peintres…,. tomo 12, 1999, Pag.513 y 514.
• W. Bernt, The Netherlandish  Painters of the Seventeenth Century, tome 3, pag. 105, plates 1052, 1053 and 1054
• L. J. Bol, Holländische Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts Nahe den Grossen Meistern, Landschaften und Stilleben, Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1969, pp. 3, 7, 8, 11-14, 20, 365.
• Bredius, Künstler-Inventare : Urkunden zur Geschichte der holländischen Kunst des XVIten, XVIIten und XVIIIten Jahrhunderts, vol. 5, 1918, pp. 1604-1616
• Bredius, Künstler-Inventare : Urkunden zur Geschichte der holländischen Kunst des XVIten, XVIIten und XVIIIten Jahrhunderts, vol. 7, 1921, p. 198
• G.L.M. Daniëls, ‘Een “Memento Mori” van Floris van Schooten’, Antiek 10 (1975-1976), p. 273-279
• E. Gemar Koeltzsch, Holandische Stillebenmaler im 17 Jahrhundert, 1995, Vol 3, pag 909-917.
• P. Gamelbo, Dutch Still-Life Painting from the 16^th to the 18^th Centuries in Danish Collections, Copenhagen, Leigh-on-Sea and Amsterdam, 1960, no. 63
• P.Gamelbo, Floris van Schooten, Nederlands Kunsthistirisch Jaarboek, XVII, 1966, pp. 127-128, no. 63, fig. 21, as ‘Floris van Schooten’
• F.G. Meijer, ‘Twee is niet altijd meer dan één’, RKD bulletin 1997, nr. 2, p. 16-20
• van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Floris Gerritsz van Schooten‘ in: Painting in Haarlem 1500-1850. The collection of the Frans Hals Museum, Gent-Haarlem 2006, p. 301-303
• U. Thieme & F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler : von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, vol. 30, 1936, p. 258, as Schooten (Schoten, Verschoten), Floris Gerritsz. Van
• N.R.A. Vroom, A Modest Message as intimated by the painters of the Mnochrome Banketje, Schiedam, 1980, Vol II, no. 576, as ‘Floris van Schooten’
• A. van der Willigen, ‘Enkele aanvullende biografische gegevens over Haarlemse schilders’, Oud Holland 103 (1989), p. 50
• A. van der Willigen & F. G. Meijer, A dictionary of Dutch and Flemish still-life painters working in oils : 1525-1725, 2003, p. 179
• C. Wright “Dutch Painting in the Seventeenth Century Images of a Golden Age in British Collections” pag.244
• A. von Wurzbach, Niederländisches Künstler-Lexikon auf Grund archivalischer Forschungen bearbeitet, vol. II, 1910, p. 584, as ‘Floris van Schoten of Schooten

 

PROCEDENCE

• Sotheby’s Mak van Waay, 23 June 1953, lot 96, as ‘F. van Schooten’ (Dfl 4.500)

 

MUSEUMS

Schooten’s works can be found in many museums around the world including: Antwerp- Fine Arts Royal Museum, Arnhem- Gemeentemuseum, Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum, Copenhagen- Fine Arts Royal Museum, Dusseldorf- Kunstmuseum, Glasgow Art Gallery,  Haarlem- Frans Hals Museum, Hoorn- Westfries Museum, London  Mansion House, Manchester City Art Gallery,  Otterlo-Rijksmuseum Kroller Muller.