precious wine glasses and Chinese porcelain. He was unmatched in his ability to depict oysters with light playing on the viscous and pearly flesh and the wetness distinguishing the oysters from the hard surface of the shell's interior. A good example is the Still life with oysters (National Gallery of Art, Washington), which shows oysters on a plate together with precious objects on a table extending on both sides outside of the canvas against a dark background. His flower still lifes, often showing a vase of flowers in a shallow niche or a basket full of flowers, as is visible in Basket of Flowers at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston are reminiscent of the works of Ambrosius Bosschaert. In his flower pieces each flower is displayed at the peak of its bloom and with great detail. The flowers depicted in the same bouquet often bloomed in different seasons and could never in reality have been displayed in the same vase. As such they symbolize the transitory nature of man's earthly existence. An example is the Bouquet in a niche in the Rockox House, Antwerp. He collaborated with Peter Paul Rubens on at least one painting, Pausias and Glycera (John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art). He influenced his nephew Frans Ykens as well as other Antwerp artists, such as Jacob Foppens van Es and Jacob van Hulsdonck. References External links Flemish Baroque painters Flemish still life painters 1580s births 1623 deaths Painters from Antwerp