Adriaenssen [Adrieanssen],
Alex(ander)
(bapt Antwerp, 16 Jan 1587; d Antwerp, 30 Oct 1661). Flemish
painter. He was the son of the composer Emanuel Adriaenssen and
brother to the painters Vincent Adriaenssen (1595–1675) and Niclaes
Adriaenssen (1598–1648/9). In 1597 he was apprenticed to Artus van
Laeck (d 1616) and in 1610 became a master in the painters’ guild.
In 1632 he took on Philips Milcx as apprentice, and in 1635 he
painted the coats of arms of the 17 provinces on the triumphal
arches in honour of the new governor. Adriaenssen’s many signed and
often dated oil paintings on wood and canvas are all still-lifes,
mainly of food on tables with copper- and tinware, glass and pottery
(e.g. Still-life with Fish, 1660; Amsterdam, Rijksmus.). There are
four paintings of vases of flowers, but vases of flowers, as well as
single flowers on the table, also appear in other still-life
combinations. Only two canvases are known in which he worked with
figure painters: a garland of flowers around a painting of the Holy
Family (Ghent, Paul Boterdaele priv. col.) by Simon de Vos and a
porcelain bowl of fruit beside a Virgin and Child (ex-Gal. ‘Den
Tijd’, Antwerp, 1982) attributed to a follower of Rubens. His
compositions are graceful and balanced but somewhat stereotyped, and
they are bathed in a soft chiaroscuro. Adriaenssen depicted with
great skill the moist waxiness of fish and oysters, the luminous
transparency of drops of water and glasses filled with liquid, as
well as crisp, juicy fruit, downy feathers and velvety fur.
