18th Century Family Portrait attributed to Balthasar Beschey the younger
A mid 18th Century Family Portrait attributed to Balthazar Bescheij II showing an interior scene, with a view of a balustrade and Italianate garden beyond, with seven elaborately-dressed members of the family joined by their parrot and gathered around a scroll; upon which is an architectural plan of what appears to be a fortified castle. Oil on canvas; presented on a painted and parcel-gilt bolection moulded frame
Very little is known about Balthasar Beschey the younger or Balthazar Bescheij II, in fact, until recently many works by him had been misattributed to his uncle of the same name. Balthazar Bescheij II (London 1738 – 1804 Amsterdam) was the nephew of the Antwerp artist Balthasar Beschey the Elder (1708-1776). Bescheij the Younger was apprenticed to Beschey the Elder and another uncle in Antwerp. He lived and worked as a painter in Amsterdam from c. 1674 until his death in that city in 1804. The existence of this second, Amsterdam-based Balthasar Beschey/ Bescheij was discovered by Mrs. Marianne Hallewaard-Hansen, a descendant of the Antwerp Beschey family of painters. She conducts research on the artist independently and also worked together with art historian Ellen van Meurs on this subject.