(Antwerp 1636–1701 Brussels)
A dog growling at a cat over game,
oil on canvas, 93.5 x 130.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
sale, Christie’s, London, 6 July 2011, lot 112;
Private collection, Spain;
art market, Belgium;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Fred Meijer for having confirmed the attribution to David de Coninck after inspection of the original. He points out that the present composition is the most elaborate of two variants (see Sotheby’s, London, 17 April 1996, lot 161; and Christie’s, London, 18 April 1996, lot 273).

The present work is a prime example of the brilliant execution and refined symbolism of the Antwerp animalier and still life painter David de Coninck, arguably the principal practitioner of the genre in Flanders in the late 17th century. Once attributed to Jan Fyt, for its brilliant compositional symmetries and fluent handling, the snarling cat to the right symbolises malice and falsehood, while the dog to the left represents courage and loyalty. Complimented by a vibrant palette of reds, blues and yellows, this struggle between canine good and feline evil takes place above a vanitas of dead birds arranged beneath, their natural beauty all too fleeting. The present work compares favourably with de Coninck’s chefs-d’oeuvre, such as Dead birds and game with gun dogs and a little owl conserved in the National Gallery, London.

De Coninck was apprenticed in 1659 in Antwerp to Pieter Boel, himself a pupil of Fyt, and in 1663 became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke. Afterwards he went to Paris, working with Flemish animal painter Nicasius Bernaerts who was in the service of the Royal Court and was a member of the Royal Academy for Painting and Sculpture in Paris. From 1671 to 1694 he was living in Rome, where he was a member of the circle of Dutch and Flemish painters who called themselves the Bentvueghels. After a stay in Vienna he returned to Flanders and went to Brussels around 1701, where he became a master in the Guild of Saint Luke there.