Franchoys Elaut

Franchoys Elaut (baptized 27 August 1589, in Haarlem – buried on 22 September 1635, in Haarlem) was a Dutch still life painter active in Haarlem. He is known for his monochrome banquet style still lifes, merry company paintings and so-called tronies, i.e. portrait-like paintings of certain facial or figure types or emotions. His work shows the influence of other Haarlem painters of his time who painted similar subjects.

Life Franchoys Elaut was born in Haarlem as the son of Franchoys Eelhaut and Josijnken Potter, both originally from Ghent in Flanders. The profession of his father is not known. On 30 June 1616 he was 'emancipated' by his father which meant that he could from then onwards handle his affairs on his own. On 17 December 1628 he married Anneken Jans. The couple had two daughters.

Elaut also painted tronies, i.e. works that depict an exaggerated facial expression, certain type of person or people in costume. An example is the Portrait of an unknown old man (monogrammed and dated lower left: F.E. Aº 1632, auctioned at Venduhuis der Notarissen (The Hague) on 3-4 November 1981, lot 199). This work is painted very freely with a thick layer of paint in certain areas, which is similar to the technique he used for his still lifes.

He also painted a number of merry companies showing elegant people enjoying themselves in interiors playing and listening to music. These works are similar to paintings of the same subject by Dirck Hals. It is possible that both artists shared models or that Elaut worked after drawings by Dirck Hals. It cannot be excluded that some works of Elaut in this genre have been wrongly attributed to Hals. Notes and references