The Fish Still Life 2-Abraham Henrickszoon van Beyeren

The Dutch painter Abraham Henrickszoon van Beyeren (1620-1690), still life painter extroardinaire, was known primarly for his seascapes, table pieces, and fish still lives . A native of The Hague, the artists also lived in Delft, Amsterdam, Alkmaar and Gouda. In 1678 he settled in Overschie, where he died in 1690. While in the 1640s most of his paintings were seascapes, Van Beyeren began to develop as a skilled painter of still lifes with fish. Van Beyeren was obviously influenced by the theatricality of Snyders yet the hyper detail and careful composition seems more in common with Willem Claeszoon Heda or Jan Davidzoon de Heem. In the three examples of his work above, the similarities between the paintings would suggest that they were all painted from the same setup. This further suggests that Van Beyeren was more interested in the pictoral aspects of the objects, such as composition and shape rather than the narrative.