General Biset was a very versatile artist and the range of his work is very diverse: he painted genre scenes with merry companies, gallery paintings, portraits,
history paintings and possibly
still lifes. In fact, some works now ascribed to Biset were formerly attributed to Coques. This is for instance the case with the composition
Family Seated at a Table in an Elegant Garden Exterior (Sotheby's, 6 December 2006 in New York, lot 7), which was originally regarded as a collaboration between Gonzales Coques and some specialist artists such as
Peeter Gijsels and
Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg but is regarded by the
RKD specialists as entirely by Biset's hand. As was the custom in Antwerp in the 17th century Biset regularly collaborated with other painters who were specialists in a particular genre. Collaborations with the landscape painters
Philips Augustijn Immenraet and
Cornelis Huysmans and the architecture painter
Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg are recorded. The headmen of the Antwerp
schutterij De Oude Voetboog are known to have ordered a group portrait from Biset. It is likely that this work is the large composition referred to as
The Legend of William Tell shown to the Antwerp Schutterij of St Sebastian. This work, which is now in the
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, was made for the hall of the Antwerp schutterij pursuant to a contract made before a notary on 28 April 1672. Biset had delayed the execution of the work for a long time The work is a collaboration with
Philips Augustijn Immenraet and
Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg. The architecture is painted by Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg and the landscape by Philips Augustijn Immenraet and the rest by Charles Emmanuel Biset. The composition uses the tale of
William Tell to create a group portrait of the leading members of the schutterij. The
Portrait of a family in an interior (Sold at Christie's on 19 April 2007 in New York, lot 31) was originally attributed to
Gerard Pietersz van Zijl but is now attributed to Biset. This composition follows the model of the merry companies with its informal setting which includes children and musicians. A less informal rendering of the
same subject is in the
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes.
Genre scenes Genre subjects involving indoor scenes of playing persons were quite popular in Flemish and Dutch painting in the 17th century and in particular among the so-called
Caravaggists. Biset painted similar genre scenes an example of which is his composition the
Tric-trac players (
Statens Museum for Kunst). The composition shows an interior with two standing men playing tric-trac and three onlookers. One of the onlookers is engaged in a lively exchange with a maid who is handing him a glass of wine. A young male servant is pouring drinks for the company at a table on which also food is placed including oysters, a few of which have fallen on the floor. The overall setting seems to point to a company that is actively enjoying itself but may be on the verge of losing control.
Gallery paintings Biset worked also in the genre of the 'gallery paintings'. The 'gallery paintings' genre is native to Antwerp where
Frans Francken the Younger and
Jan Brueghel the Elder were the first artists to create paintings of art and curiosity collections in the 1620s. Gallery paintings depict large rooms in which many paintings and other precious items are displayed in elegant surroundings. The earliest works in this genre depicted art objects together with other items such as scientific instruments or peculiar natural specimens. The genre became immediately quite popular and was followed by other artists such as
Jan Brueghel the Younger,
Cornelis de Baellieur,
Hans Jordaens,
David Teniers the Younger,
Gillis van Tilborch and
Hieronymus Janssens. The art galleries depicted were either real galleries or imaginary galleries, sometimes with allegorical figures. An example of Biset's work in this genre is the
Interior of an Imaginary Picture Gallery (
Alte Pinakothek,
Munich) dated to 1666. This composition falls into the category of allegorical picture galleries, which can be considered a sub-category of the imaginary art gallery type. This composition depicts a large imaginary gallery in which are present a number of persons admiring and scrutinizing artworks and, on the right hand side, figures representing gods and allegorical figures. Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg painted the architecture as well as the ceiling (which is made up of copies of Rubens' works for the
Carolus Borromeuskerk in Antwerp) (later destroyed in a fire). The figures are believed to be by Charles Emmanuel Biset. The painting is a collaboration with each of the individual painters whose work is depicted in the painting and have signed their own work:
Theodoor Boeyermans (Daughters of Cecrops and Erychtonius),
Pieter Boel (Animal Piece),
Jan Cossiers (Diana and Actaeon),
Cornelis de Heem (Fruit Still Life),
Robert van den Hoecke (Winter Landscape),
Philips Augustijn Immenraet (Italianate Landscape),
Jacob Jordaens (Gyges and Kandaules and Allegory of Painting),
Pieter Thijs (Adoration of the Shepherds),
Lucas van Uden (Landscape) and the monogrammists missed PB (Fish Still Life) and PVI or PVH (Satyr and Nymph). This type of painting can be regarded as a carefully crafted advertisement of the present talent and past legacy of the Antwerp school of painting.
Still lifes A number of still lifes with books are attributed to Biset. These attributions have not been universally accepted and some of these works have been attributed by some art historian to an obscure local French painter referred to as Jacques Bizet or Bizet d'Annonay. The work serving as the reference point of the attributions of still lifes to Biset is the
Still life with old books in the
Municipal Museum of Bourg-en-Bresse in
Bourg-en-Bresse in France. This still life is signed at the bottom left on the letter 'A Monsieur (written in one word), Monsieur Bizet Anonnay'. A
Still life with books and a skull (Sold at Alain Truong, 18 December 2008 in Paris) has been attributed to Biset on the basis of its similarity with the still life in the Municipal Museum of Bourg-en-Bresse. The composition depicts a table on which rest a number of writing implements, some sealed letters and old books. On top of one book which is opened and appears to be handwritten rests a human skull. The message of the work appears to be that human endeavours as expressed in personal writings are futile as death is the ultimate outcome. These still lifes attributed to Bizet stand in a tradition of
vanitas still lifes with books that was popular in Flemish and Dutch still life painting in the 17th century.
Book illustrations Biset provided some designs for illustrations for a number of publications in Antwerp. This includes the book on mushrooms by the priest Franciscus van Sterbeeck entitled
Theatrum fungorum oft het toneel der campernoelien ... vergaedert ende beschreven door Franciscus van Sterbeeck, which was published by Joseph Jacobs in Antwerp in 1675 and by the same author and publisher the
Citricultura oft Regeringhe der uythemsche boomen te weten oranien, citroenen, limoenen, granaten, laurieren en andere on the cultivation of non-native trees, published in 1682 in Antwerp. ==References==