Carel van Falens

He specialised in scenes of hunters and cavalry encampments in the popular style of the Dutch battle and horse painter Philips Wouwerman.

[3] Van Falens was born in Antwerp as the son of Jan Baptist and Maria Anna de Kegel.

[4] Van Falens did not join the Antwerp guild but moved in 1703 to Paris, where - unlike his master Francken who had done the same in young age - he stayed for the rest of his life.

[3] The work that he submitted for entrance into the Académie was a hunting scene, which was later hung by the académiciens in the position of honour in their meeting room (Salle d’assemblée).

Many of his compositions base their harmony, pictorial details, vivid and vibrant colours, and texture on the works of the Dutch battle and horse painter Philips Wouwerman.