Isacc van Oosten specialised in such an attractive, bucolic landscapes. 

He composed seemingly realistic, natural, local landscapes, built along a traditional Flemish colour scheme: one finds mainly brown tonalities in the foreground, green in the middle and blue in the background.

 

 

Flemish painter

Antwerp 1613 – 1661 Antwerp

 

His first name is sometimes spelt Izaak, Isaack, etc.

 

Painter of genre scenes in landscapes.

 

Pupil of his father, who must also have been a painter and art dealer. He passed away in 1647. Both father and son had the same first name.

 

Our Isaac became Master in the local Painter’s Guild of Saint Luc in Antwerp in the year 1651/52.

  

Our painter’s brother, Frans (circa 1621 – circa 1679/80), was also a landscape painter, but none of his works have been identified. He married Magdalena Wildens, the daughter of the famous Antwerp landscape painter Jan Wildens (Antwerp 1585, possibly 1586 – 1653 Antwerp).

 

Isaac van Oosten is best known as an early follower of Jan Brueghel I (Brussels 1568 – 1625 Antwerp), painting attractive landscapes with peasant scenes in fresh colours. They share a bucolic sense of happiness, of “joie de vivre”, with small figures in anecdotally detailed poses set against a backdrop of a pleasing landscape or of some buildings. Some of these landscapes also show the influence of Jan Wildens.

 

But earlier in his career our painter had been influenced by Alexander Keirincx (1600 – 1652) and by Lucas van Uden (1595 – 1672/73).

 

 

Our painting dates from the second quarter of the 17th century. This traditional Flemish panoramic landscape is divided into several distinct shots: the foreground, middle distance and background. The technical name for this perspective system is ‘coulisse landscape’, referring to the drapes and curtains used on a theatre stage. Though van Oosten’s colours seem natural, one still senses the 16th century Flemish three colour system that divided the landscape into a brown foreground, green middle distance and blue background.

 

 

Because it is such an attraictive, happy painting.