09.22.2022-11.11.2022
CERAMIC SIGNS IN FLEMISH PAINTINGS OF THE 16th AND 17th CENTURIES
On the occasion of the 50th Congress of the International Academy of Ceramics in Geneva from September 12 to 16, 2022, browse through a selection of Flemish paintings with ceramic objects as a common thread.
Melting Pot, the theme chosen for this Congress could not be more appropriate for Flemish painting. It metaphorically refers to the way in which societies tend to become homogenous and universal as soon as exchanges between cultures take place, and is a perfect description of the dynamics of the art market in Flanders at that time.
If you can observe delicate Wan-Li porcelain from China sublimating Jan van Kessel's still lifes, it is because they are the mark of intense commercial exchanges with "the Indies". Symbols of luxury because they represent a still unknown know-how, these chinoiseries are at the forefront of the taste for the Far East that reigned in the 17th century.
Long before trade with China, baked clay objects were in daily use in Flanders. Pieter Brueghel the Younger's peasants use pitchers, jars and jugs for cooking, preserving and toasting, while Pieter Huys' paintings turn them into eccentric fireplaces. Around an insignificant object, Flemish painting alone traces the richness and diversity of universal cultures.
Image
Jan van Kessel le Jeune
Nature morte avec coupe de fruits et singe mangeant une poire
cuivre, 25 x 31 cm