Alexander COOSEMANS (c.1627—1689) Still Life with Fruit and Lobster

Alexander COOSEMANS (Antwerp c. 1627—1689)

Still Life with Fruits and Lobster

Oil on canvas, 55 x 80 cm

Signed upper right Alexd. Coosemans

This painting depicts a still life arranged on a table covered with a dark cloth, standing out against a dark background from which the objects stand out. At the centre of the composition is a bright red lobster, placed diagonally, whose brightness contrasts sharply with the more muted tones of the whole. Around it are open oysters on their shells, white and black grapes, and various citrus fruits, including a partially peeled lemon whose spiral accentuates the dynamism of the scene.

Little is known about Coosemans' life. His father, originally from Brussels, was a carpenter who had acquired bourgeois status in Antwerp, where Alexander Coosemans was born and baptised. He also ran a successful cloth business, which enabled him to provide his son with a high-quality artistic education.

In 1641, Coosemans began an apprenticeship with Jan Davidsz. de Heem, one of the most eminent still life painters in the Netherlands in the 17th century. In 1645, he was accepted as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp.

Between 1649 and 1651, he stayed in Italy. There he worked for the Doria-Pamphili-Landi families and is believed to have provided still life elements – fruit and flowers – for decorative paintings by Pasquale Chiesa, notably at the Palazzo del Principe (also known as Andrea Doria's villa) in Genoa and the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome.

Returning to Antwerp in 1651, Coosemans remained active there until the end of his life.