David de Coninck
A Turkey, Two Dogs and Two Pigeons in Front of a Landscape
A Peacock, Two Chickens and Two Rabbits in Front of a Landscape
Oil on canvas (relined). 76.5 x 101 cm each.
In these two paintings, Davd de Coninck presents various animals in an evening landscape with impressive naturalism and anatomical precision. The animals, depicted in a close-up and thus appearing like portraits, belong to the Flemish painter's repertoire of motifs. Thus, an almost identical dog can be found in a painting by de Coninck in the Bredius Museum in The Hague, while the magnificent turkey reappears, among others, in a painting in Burghley House, which has no fewer than eight paintings by the artist. In the painting with turkey there is also a very similar peacock, two equally comparable rabbits and finally a cockerel in a similar position. Moreover, for the depiction of the rooster, a preparatory drawing has been preserved in the Courtauld Institute in London, which is a rare stroke of luck.
David de Coninck was one of the most famous animal painters of his time, who was initially a pupil of Peeter Boel, but was then influenced above all by Jan Fyt. After stays in Paris, Vienna and Venice, de Coninck lived in Rome from 1671 to 1694 before returning to his Flemish homeland.