After Pieter Casteels III (Untitled) Timeless, Four Exotic Birds With Fruits

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There was a time, before photography, before airplanes, a time when multi-masted wooden ships carried wonderous things to ports throughout … Read more There was a time, before photography, before airplanes, a time when multi-masted wooden ships carried wonderous things to ports throughout Northern Europe. Then, a faithful rendering of a Scarlet Macaw and a Yellow-Crested Cockatoo expressed the awe, the wonder of newly discovered lands and cultures, and the marvelous goodies brought back to Europe from these far-flung locales—all to delight an aristocratic clientele.
For an enterprising young Flemish artist working in England like Pieter Casteels III (1684-1749) such trade brought opportunity. Not only were his still-life paintings of flowers and bird scenes like this one in demand, but he extended his market by becoming a skilled engraver to multiply his output. Producing plates of his originals, he made his artistry available in themed sets of 12, available by subscription. Further, he designed textiles.
Casteels’ work also inspired the unknown modern artist of this piece, rendered in oil on canvas. To gaze at it, perhaps hanging in your study or, better, the dining room, where it might have been placed in Georgian England, is to travel through time on a ticket to escape boredom. See less