1605 -1652 · Dutch animal still life and hunting trophies

Birds, feathers, rustic table and contained light characterize the rare still lifes of Elias Vonck, a 17th century Amsterdam painter.

Elias Vonck was born in Amsterdam in 1605 and spent most of his career there before dying there in 1652. The preserved documents and works remain rare, but they show him specializing in animal still life: dead birds, game and trophies of hunting are placed on a table or in front of a sober background. His art belongs to the Dutch development of "hunting pieces", a genre which allows the simultaneous study of anatomy, plumage, body weight and variety of materials. In Dead Birds, today in Mauritshuis, suspended or extended silhouettes are described without superfluous decoration. In Dead Birds, today in Mauritshuis, suspended or extended silhouettes are described without superfluous decoration. The light distinguishes down, long feathers, beaks and wood from the table, while the horizontal composition gives the subject a silent gravity. The old fragmentary signature participated in the story of the work's attribution. Vonck passes this specialty on to his son Jan Vonck, also a game painter. His small, well-known corpus gives a unique place to animal observation in the still life of Amsterdam. The "Elias Vonck" selection notably compares Still Life with Dead Birds. His reading favors composition.

Vonck reduces the hunting room to the essentials: the weight, feather and light are enough to give the birds a silent presence.