Lot 1089 Dα

We know very little about the painter Catharina Ykens, except that she was a niece of the Flemish still life painter Frans Ykens (1601 - 1693) and a nephew and pupil of the famous Ossias Beert (1580 - 1623). The possibly innate talent of her family and the unusual chance it provided her to train as an artist despite her gender were benefits which Catharina Ykens used to her best advantage. However, her surviving oeuvre is relatively small, which may be due to the fact that she lived in a Beguine community. Alongside the motif of a medallion with garlands containing a religious motif, which was highly popular in Antwerp at the time, Ykens also painted sparingly composed bouquets in the manner of her uncle. The present small work, with its confidently placed central signature, is of this latter sort. It shows a bouquet of clearly arranged and separated daffodils, peonies, blue hyacinths and jasmine.