Still-Life
by YKENS, Frans, Oil on oak panel, 83 x 60 cm
This painting depicts a still-life of roses, lilies, tulips and other flowers in a vase with a butterfly. It combines a highly successful modelling of the blooms in depth and bulk, and an engaging softness in palette and brushwork.
Ykens was apprenticed to his uncle, Osias Beert, and became a Master in Antwerp in 1630. Few of his works are dated, but in what are presumed to be mature works such as this one, no trace of his formation under Beert remains, and his style is more reminiscent of artists active in the middle of the seventeenth century, such as Daniel Seghers.