Abraham van Beijeren
Abraham van Hendrickz Beijeren or van Beyeren (c. 1620/21 in The Hague, † 1690 in Overschie ) was a Dutch painter of still life and seascapes of the Baroque.
Life
The lifetime little known artist was the son of a glazier. He stayed on in Leiden 1638-39. In 1640 he was inducted into the Guild of St. Luke in The Hague. Since he as born there and resident painter Pieter de Putter (1605-1659) specialized in Still Life with Fish, it is believed that he was trained by this, but this has not yet been proven. Van Beijerens presence in The Hague in 1636 and witnessed from 1639 to 1657, and later worked in Delft ( 1657-63 ), then again in The Hague ( 1663-69 ), then in Amsterdam ( 1669-74 ), Alkmaar ( 1674 ) and Gouda (1675 ), and finally in Overschie in Rotterdam (since 1677).
Abraham van Beijeren had in 1638 in Leiden Emmerintia Stercke († 1646) married, who bore him three children. Left a widow he married in 1647 his second wife Anna, the daughter of well- employed portrait painter Christian van den Queborn (around 1515-1578 ). Abraham van Beijeren died in 1690 at the age of about 70 years in Overschie.
Work
Van Beijeren is considered an important painter of still lifes, particularly of Still Life with Fish, was beyond but also a skilful painter of seascapes. He signed his paintings with the monogram AVB, but dated them only rarely, so that the dating of his works still posing in front of issues. Although a certain range of subjects is available - including flowers, fruits, dead birds and Vanitas Still Life - remained van Beijerens preferred motifs of dead fish and its accumulation as well as great structured compositions of banquet tables with precious board vessels. His work is characterized by a warm color scheme, in which prevail the brown tones. Another feature is the virtuoso playing with shapes and light that is reflected among other things in dazzling gold, silver, glass and porcelain surfaces, wherein the light source is usually hidden.