YKENS, Frans
(b. 1601, Antwerpen, d. ca. 1692, Bruxelles)

Biography

Frans Ykens (Eykens, Ijkens), Flemish painter. In 1613-14 he was apprenticed to his uncle, the flower and still-life painter Osias Beert I, and he became a Master at Antwerp in 1630. According to his own declaration (1641), Ykens travelled in Provence after his apprenticeship, staying at Aix and Marseille. In 1635 he married Catarina Ykens-Floquet who was born in Antwerp as the daughter of Lucas Floquet. She was a still-life painter sometimes confused with Catharina Ykens, the sister of Peter Ykens. Frans Ykens purchased a house in 1651 and made a will in 1666.

Frans Ykens was a still-life painter, active first in Antwerp, then from 1665 in Brussels. Most of his work is signed.