Abraham Bisschop

Abraham Bisschop A red macaw, guinea fowl, a silver pheasant and other exotic birds in a park Oil on canvas (relined). 100 x 134 cm. Provenance Owned by a noble family in Belgium for several generations. This large and highly decorative canvas painting is entirely in the tradition of Dutch bird painting, which was extremely successful in the 17th and 18th centuries. Abraham Bisschop (Busschop), the last son of Cornelis Bisschop, was a painter at the Danish court and a member of the Middelburg Guild from 1715. In addition to portraits and decorations for large houses, he mainly painted pictures of birds. We find all the characteristics of Bisschop's art in this painting: in a large-format composition, domestic and exotic birds meet in an imaginary environment interspersed with elements of classical architecture. Abraham Bisschop thus follows in the footsteps of the masters of this genre, above all Melchior de Hondecoeter. With comparable talent, the outstanding colorist depicts the plumage of the birds, which he renders with softness and lightness. We would like to thank Dr. Fred G. Meijer for confirming the attribution (written communication based on a photograph dated 15.9.2013). He refers to the recurring motif of the silver pheasant in Bisschop's works.