Juan van der Hamen, whose parents were Flemish, is a leading figure of early Madrid Naturalism, both in the production of still-lifes, a genre where he is rightly considered a pivotal master, and in composition painting, where he has left some interesting examples of early tenebrism, such as his canvases in the Encarnación Convent in Madrid. Questionable or unconvincing links with Flemish still-lifes have sometimes been mentioned when considering Van der Hamen as a still-life painter, but his more mature works reflect the expertise and study of Juan Sánchez Cotán’s work in that genre. His later paintings show that he studied the Italian Post-Caravaggio world, most probably through Juan Bautista Crescenzi in Spain, from 1616, and the works of Pietro Paolo Bonzi in Spanish collections.
He was highly important in the evolution of the genre and continued to influence the artists of generations that immediately followed him.
Juan van der Hamen, whose parents were Flemish, is a leading figure of early Madrid Naturalism, both in the production of still-lifes, a genre where he is rightly considered a pivotal master, and in composition painting, where he has left some interesting examples of early tenebrism, such as his canvases in the Encarnación Convent in Madrid. Questionable or unconvincing links with Flemish still-lifes have sometimes been mentioned when considering Van der Hamen as a still-life painter, but his more mature works reflect the expertise and study of Juan Sánchez Cotán’s work in that genre. His later paintings show that he studied the Italian Post-Caravaggio world, most probably through Juan Bautista Crescenzi in Spain, from 1616, and the works of Pietro Paolo Bonzi in Spanish collections.
He was highly important in the evolution of the genre and continued to influence the artists of generations that immediately followed him.