François Habert

(Active in France around 1650)

"Still life with flowers in a vase"

On canvas 57,5 x 49 cm

Signed and dated 'F.Habert 1645' (l.r.)

Provenance

Gallery, Montreal, Canada; to a private Dutch collection

Notes

Not much is known about Francois Habert’s life. His name only appears twice in written documents. Once in the inventory of Philippe de Champaigne, "Une Guirlande de Fleurs du sieur Habert" ("A Garland of Flowers by Mr Habert"), a painting on canvas purchased for the considerable sum at the time of 100 livres. It appears a second time in the inventory of the paintings of Monsieur Charles Tardif, secretary to Maréchal de Boufflers, for a painting of flowers that was apparently purchased in 1712 from Monsieur de Catinat (M. Faré, Le grand siècle de la nature morte en France, Paris, 1974, p. 275).
His oeuvre consists of a small number of signed still lifes. The oeuvre is closely related to the Parisian realité still life painters and to their Dutch antecedents such as Jan Fyt and Jan Davidsz. de Heem.

Habert’s first works, dating from the 1640s, show how strongly he was immersed in the group of Dutch and Flemish artists who were then working in Paris. Having probably trained with the Flemish artist Balthasar van der Ast, Habert is in the first place receptive to the influence of Jan Fyt, in particular in his rendering of fruit. We can also notice in his early paintings the influence of Jean-Michel Picart, with whom he has sometimes been confused. It seems he also collaborated on several works with Jacques Hupin
But it is above all Jan Davidsz. de Heem who will be his principal master. De Heem is, along with Willem Kalf and Abraham van Beijeren, one of the main proponents of a trend in still-life painting that emerges in the middle of the 17^th century, characterised by opulence and elegance.

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Category
Old Masters 14th - 18th century

Subject Matter
still life