Who now?
Georgius Jacobus Van Os was a Dutch painter from the Northern Netherlands. He created the piece An Arrangement With Flowers in the 19th century, showcasing a variety of flowers in a white porcelain vase.
Quite detailed, indeed
The painting sits inside a gold and European-style carved frame, accentuating the dull gray background that shadows the relaxed flowers.
Van Os painted the flowers with a different color each: golden yellow, pastel blue, royal blue, blush pink, vanilla, and dusty orange.
Every petal uniquely flows up or down in their own direction as they stem from the opening of the vase. It’s magical, really.
Each flower possesses surrounding attached leaves as well. They all delicately rest behind the blossoms. The leaves are that of a muted emerald green, with physical appearances of being wide and small, and others of being long and thin.
Van Os was known for his painted still lifes of flowers, just like his father. Although still lifes may seem simple, Van os makes sure every detail is carefully positioned and painted to exhibit the true beauty of nature and man-made objects.
Delightful significance, despite its age
The term “still life” is derived from the Dutch word “stilleven”, which was at its peak in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age,
The Dutch Golden age was a time of prosperity and development in the Netherlands. The rise of the Northern Renaissance came about as well, so this affected many Dutch artists. They began to paint everyday objects as realistically as possible.
Van Os’s talent was also heavily influenced from his family, known as the Van Os family of artists.
His father, Jan Van Os and mother, Susanna de la Croix were both dutch painters, who made remarkable still lifes of inanimate objects. As stated before, his father was famous for his flower paintings, much like Van Os. Van Os must’ve learned through his father and gained the proper skills to paint such intricate details for his works. All of his siblings became dutch painters as well. Together, they passed down the family tradition of art through pieces just like An Arrangement With Flowers.
Van Os lived in the Netherlands most of his life, but in 1822 he moved to Paris to work for the Sevres Porcelain factory. His background in porcelain very much explains the intricate design of the vase.
The vase is colored with bright reflections of white and dark shadows of brown and gray to show the glassy texture and shine of its outer layer. Sculpted into the vase, a child-like boy poses in a dancing position as other small vases surround him nearby. Next to him are other dancing children, slightly covered by some of the petals and leaves. Altogether this vase sits on a golden rounded table with Van Os’s signature engraved to the side of the table.
Every painted stroke, with purpose
Van Os purposely chooses a simple yet elegant table and vase to allow the flowers to be the main focus. Illuminated in the foreground, the blush pink blooms are resting at the edge of the golden table, about to fall over as the broken stem points up right. Its petals are curled into itself while the other outer petals are slightly edging outwards.
Describing his art in detail: Each flower!
A couple of very tiny pastel blue flowers sit on the edge with the pink flowers, some bunched by the larger flower, and the others near the broken end of the stem. To the very back, the dusty orange flowers stand pointing downward at the vase. Its pointy leaves stretch outward from its back, pointing up to the left corner of the painting. Meanwhile, the vanilla flowers with streaks of violet are positioned in the middle of the vase. The largest vanilla flower has a broken stem, but it remains slightly attached as the flower rests on the other plants. Stemming from where the vanilla flower is, the golden yellow flower gently folds over the edge of the vase, sprouting into the light. Van Os paints an image that still manifests beauty even when objects are broken and fallen over.
This is the essence of everyday objects in a home –even quiet and warm- spaces.
He had captured a bundle of flowers that are slowly deteriorating! However, he shows how that can be a beautiful process. Through the positions of these flowers, the dark vibrant colors, and the dramatic light shining upon the arrangement, we are given thoughts of nature, quietness, and relaxation.
An Arrangement With Flowers show that even simple everyday objects can be full of layers and thought. Van Os purposely gave each flower a unique look, with full detail and careful placements in the vase. He allows them to be more than just flowers, he painted them to show the beauty of life in a peaceful setting, of that in the 17th century.
SimplisticsStudio 