ALEXANDER COOSEMANS (ANTWERP 1627-1689)

This still life is a particularly fine example of the carefully composed compositions that defined the career of the Flemish artist Alexander Coosemans. A specialist in this genre, Coosemans trained with Jan Davidsz. De Heem, the leading still-life painter of the Golden age, and became a master in the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp in 1645. Much of his career was spent in his hometown of Antwerp, apart from a few years in Italy between 1649-1651, during which time he executed still-life elements for decorative paintings commissioned by the Doria Pamphilj family for their palazzi in Genoa and Rome. Coosemans excelled in capturing different surface textures, as is beautifully illustrated in the handling of light on the lobster, which dominates the right half of this composition. The vibrant palette and treatment of the open landscape in the distance would suggest this work dates to the period following the artist’s years in Italy.