Otto Marseus van Schrieck
Encyclopedia
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
) was a painter in the Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
.
Biography
Marseus van Schrieck spent the years 1648-1657 in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
with the painters Matthias Withoos
Matthias Withoos
Matthias Withoos , also known as Calzetta Bianca and Calzetti, was a Dutch painter of still lifes and city scenes, best-known for the details of insects, reptiles and undergrowth in the foreground of his pictures.-Biography:...
and Willem van Aelst
Willem van Aelst
Willem van Aelst was a Dutch artist who specialized in still-life painting with flowers or game.-Biography:...
, after which he settled in Amsterdam. He is best known for his paintings of forest flora and fauna. In Arnold Houbraken
Arnold Houbraken
Arnold Houbraken was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of artists from the Dutch Golden Age. He had ten children. His son Jacobus Houbraken was an engraver of portraits and book illustrations, including books by his father...
's biography of him, he mentions that he joined the Bentvueghels
Bentvueghels
The Bentvueghels were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent .-Activities:...
in Rome and was called the snuffelaer, or "sniffer", because he was always sniffing strange lizards and snakes. He quotes his wife, who apparently survived him by two husbands and was still alive when he wrote the book. He wrote that she said that Otto kept snakes and lizards in a shed at the back of his house, and also on a piece of land outside the city that was walled in for this purpose.
Works
Many of his paintings are dark studies of plants, often with lizards at the base and insects on the leaves and branches. According to the RKD, his followers were Willem van AelstWillem van Aelst
Willem van Aelst was a Dutch artist who specialized in still-life painting with flowers or game.-Biography:...
, Anthonie van Borssom, Elias van den Broeck
Elias van den Broeck
Elias van den Broeck was a Dutch Golden Age flower painter.-Biography:According to the RKD, he was born in Antwerp, but in 1665 he became a pupil of Cornelis Kick in Amsterdam, and in 1669 he became a pupil of Jan Davidsz. de Heem. He is registered in Italy in 1672. In 1673 he accompanied De Heem...
(1649-1708), J Falk, Carl Wilhelm de Hamilton, Trajan Hughes, Nicolaes Lachtropius
Nicolaes Lachtropius
Nicolaes Lachtropius , was a Dutch Golden Age flower painter.-Biography:According to the RKD he was a flower still life painter who followed Otto Marseus van Schrieck. He worked in Amsterdam, The Hague and in Leiden and was last registered in Alphen aan den Rijn.-References:* on Artnet...
(1656-1700), Jacob Marrel
Jacob Marrel
Jacob Marrel was a German still life painter active in Utrecht during the Dutch Golden Age.-Biography:Jacob Marrel was born in Frankenthal. He moved with his family in 1624 to Frankfurt, where he became a student of Georg Flegel in 1627...
, Abraham Mignon
Abraham Mignon
Abraham Mignon or Minjon , was a Dutch golden age painter, specialized in flower bouquets.-Biography:Mignon was born at Frankfurt. His father, a merchant, placed him under the care of the still-life painter Jacob Marrel, when he was only seven years old. Marrel specialized in flower painting, and...
, Rachel Ruysch
Rachel Ruysch
Rachel Ruysch was a Dutch artist who specialized in still-life paintings of flowers, one of only three significant women artists in Dutch Golden Age painting, of whom Maria van Oosterwijk was also a flower painter, and Judith Leyster mainly not .She was born in The...
, Christiaen Striep, Isac Vromans, Matthias Withoos
Matthias Withoos
Matthias Withoos , also known as Calzetta Bianca and Calzetti, was a Dutch painter of still lifes and city scenes, best-known for the details of insects, reptiles and undergrowth in the foreground of his pictures.-Biography:...
, and Pieter Withoos.
A notable omission in this list is the daughter and sister of the last two mentioned, Alida Withoos
Alida Withoos
Alida Withoos was a Dutch botanical artist and painter. She was the daughter of the painter Matthias Withoos.-Life:...
, who collaborated with him on creating paintings of the garden of Vijverhof for Agnes Block
Agnes Block
Agnes, or Agneta Block was a Dutch Mennonite art collector and horticulturalist. She is most remembered as the compiler of an album of flower and insect paintings.-Life:...
's collection of garden albums.