David De Coninck (c. 1636 Antwerps – after 1701, Brussels), A Cat and Dog Fighting for a Pheasant. The painting is attributed to David de Conick, an artist from Antwerp. Pupil of Pieter Boel, the painter left for Rome in the 1670’s, where he arrived after a circuitous trip through Europe. He stopped first in Paris where he met the animalist artist Nicaise Beernaerts, then at the Duchess of Bavaria, and finally in Vienna. He is remembered above all for the depictions of animals and still lifes that refer to the models of the Flemish Jan Fyt. The present canvas depicts a dog and a cat competing for a pheasant framed in a wooded landscape, interrupted on the right, by a corner of the sky; and on the left, by a stone vase. We are grateful to Fred Meijer for confirming this to be a work by de Coninck on the basis of an image. Oil on canvas, 73 x 96 cm
