Jacob Bogdany (c. 1660 – 1724), Magnificent Still Life with Squirrels. A colorful still life of fruit and flowers is arranged on a stone bench in front of a balustrade. The pyramidal composition is crowned by peaches and an opened pomegranate. They are surrounded by blue, red and green grapes. A wicker basket and a bowler hat underpin this central group. The wicker basket leans against a shimmering bronze vase. On a step on the left are rose petals and blue morning glory - on the right, plums and pears and a blue grape. A squirrel prepares to pounce on a branch of the grapevine on the right. A dark blue curtain completes the composition on the left. A streak of red afterglow can be seen at the top right. Jacob Bogdany was an important Hungarian painter who spent his entire career in the United Kingdom. He embodies the international painter who emerged at this time. The complexity of his work combines inspiration from various sources, such as Flanders, Holland and France. His success came as much from his ability to export and serve the courts of Europe, as the development of a common and worldly repertoire that Bogdany shares with painters such as Abraham Brueghel (1631 – 1690) Antoine Monnoyer (1671 – 1747) Jan Weenix (1640 – 1719) and Jacob van de Kerckhoven (1637 – 1712) . All these painters without exception, travelled and worked in varied places, but were not native to where they practiced their profession. All, without exception, practiced a mixture of genres (in this case painting of flowers and fruits, landscape and animal painting) and very often all these genres were united in a single composition. Accompanied by a certificate written by Phd Claudia Salvi, Doctor of Art History. Oil on canvas, 103,5 x 154 cm
