SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT

With their extraordinary eye for detail and dedication to their craft, father and son artists Willem and Walter Dolphyn were not only the best of friends. They were, and continue to be, the best of still life artists, albeit with different objects as their focus.

Still life painting flourished in Northern Europe during the early 17thCentury, reflecting the increasing urbanisation of Flemish life and emphasising home and personal possessions, commerce, trade and learning – all the aspects and diversity of every-day life.

For Willem, the most important thing in life was his painting and he spent hours studying the masterpieces in the museums in Antwerp. He worked in his studio off Venustraat from 1963, his rooms crowded with historic furniture, the shelves loaded with treasures, fabrics, glassware and ceramics which span the centuries, gleaming and glinting in the Northern light, each piece collected with pride and all contributing to his…