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Coquillages et crustacés

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Jan van Kessel the Elder ~  Festoon, masks and rosettes made of shells, 1656

Jan van Kessel the Elder was Jan Brueghel the Elder’s grandson (cf. no. 7). He was registered in the Antwerp guild in 1644/45 as a flower painter, but his work was not limited to this genre. He painted all kinds of still lifes (which were avidly collected) (cf. no. 23) and even landscapes. This painting on copper – a surface often used by Kessel – is exceptional in his work: it is the only known specimen of this type of decorative and anthropomorphic composition with shells. The work is in an excellent state of conservation, enabling us to appreciate fully the painter’s meticulous technique and gift for trompe l’oeil. 
➜ Fondation Custodia | Collection Frits Lugt

Escaping Criticism

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Pere Borrell del Caso, 1874
Everything that deceives may be said to enchant, thus wrote Plato. In the world of arts this idea is almost self-evident: the artist transforms dead materials like wood, marble or paint into his or her perception of the world. The very fact that this version of reality is subjective forms the essence of its attraction to the viewer.

There is one genre for which the art of deception forms its essence: the trompe-l’oeil. Here, the artist tries to trick our eye by creating a convincing optical illusion. Early examples of trompe-l’oeils can be found in Greek and Roman art, such as the famous murals in Pompeii, which offer views onto a non-existent landscape. Their popularity took a flight in the Baroque period, where the trompe-loeil’s illusionistic character perfectly suited the theatricality so embedded in this era. 

This stunning nineteenth-century example of a trompe-l’oeil is by the Catalan artist Pere Borrell del Caso. The relatively unknown Borrell, who lived from 1835 until 1910, was the son of a carpenter. When he went to Barcelona as a young man to get his artistic training at the renowned Escola de la Llotja, he kept on working as a chest maker to pay for his classes.

Borrell distanced himself from the Romanticism that dominated the education at the academy. He rejected the idealization and insincerity that, in his eyes, were so typical of Romantic art and chose to change to the novel style of Realism. He founded his own art academy, the Sociedad de Bellas Artes. Here, students were encouraged to work en plein air, a rare phenomenon in those days.

This painting, that shows an ill-clothed boy who clambers out of a picture frame to enter the world outside it, is entitled ‘Fugint de la crítica’ (Escaping criticism). Though its exact meaning or intention are unknown, it is not unlikely that Borrell referred to the conservative art critics of his days, who only wanted to see heroes and ethics, thus ignoring the vitality of the real world.
 
(Text: Maarten Levendig & Pauline Dorhout)

Scowen and Co.

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Charles Scowen and Co. ~ Bell Flower, ca.1880’s [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]

Charles T. Scowen arrived in Ceylon in circa 1873. He was employed as an assistant to R. Edley, Commission Agent, Kandy circa 1874. Scowen opened a photographic studio in Trincomalee Street, Kandy by 1876. The firm had studios at 19 Queen Street, Colombo and Ward Street, Kandy by 1885. Charles T. Scowen was in Europe in 1885 and the firm was being run by C. Scowen. The Colombo studio moved to York Street, Fort, Colombo by 1891. The firm was being run by M. Scowen by 1893. The firm’s stock of negatives was probably acquired by ‘Colombo Apothecaries Co.’ at some time in the 1890s. M. Scowen was recorded as a proprietary planter, Giddawa, Wattegama in 1914-15. 
➜ John Ferguson Ceylon Almanac
Charles  Scowen and Co. ~ Coffea Arabica, ca. 1880’s