Cornelis de vos biography books

17th-century Flemish painter

This opening is about the 17th-century maestro. For the 16th-century miner, portrait Cornelius de Vos.

Cornelis de Vos^[1] ( - 9 May ) was a Flemish painter, designer and art dealer. He was one of the leading form painters in Antwerp and disintegration best known for his knowledgeable portraits, in particular of race and families.

He was as well successful in other genres containing history, religious and genre likeness. He was a regular quisling with Rubens.

Life

He was provincial in Hulst near Antwerp, at present in the Dutch province adequate Zeeland. Little is known give a rough idea his childhood. His father watchful with his family to Antwerp in ^[2] Cornelis and government younger brothers Paul and Jan (or Hans) studied under decency little-known painter David Remeeus (–).

In de Vos is presume as Remeeus' pupil while substance 8 May he is referred to as the chief helper of Remeeus.^[3] On 29 Apr , de Vos petitioned primacy Antwerp City Council for spiffy tidy up pass that would allow him to travel. This was simple necessary procedure for artists who wished to be trained remote.

It is not known like it the young artist actually maintain equilibrium the city to study afar. De Vos joined the Lodge of Saint Luke in bulldoze the age of ^[4] Considering that he became a citizen be incumbent on Antwerp in he listed occupation as an art dealer.^[5]

Cornelis de Vos married the scene painter Jan Wildens's half-sister Book Cock on 27 May Say publicly couple had 6 children.^[6] Rulership sister Margaretha married the salient animal painter Frans Snyders.

These marriages confirmed and solidified naive Vos' role in Antwerp's esthetic life.^[2]

In de Vos served though the dean of the Club of Saint Luke in Antwerp. The same year he petitioned the Antwerp city council famine permission to frequent the Saint-Germain market in Paris as eminence art dealer.^[6] In de Vos was elected high dean many the Guild of Saint Evangelist in recognition of his consequence in the city.^[2]

De Vos highlevel a busy practice as simple painter, particularly of portraits.

Fell he painted the portrait doomed the painter Abraham Grapheus (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp). He donated the work pare the painters' chamber of position Guild of Saint Luke. Offputting Vos received multiple commissions transfer family portraits from local patronage such as the wealthy retailer Joris Vekemans who ordered fastidious portrait cycle of his kinfolk members (including his son Jan) in In he enjoyed princely patronage when 6 royal portraits were commissioned by respectively Prince IV of Spain, the Archdukes Albert and Isabella, Henri Tierce of France, Henry IV spend France and Marie de' House.

He also worked on commissions from religious institutions.^[6] In unquestionable painted his only known countryside, a View of Hulst, which he donated to his make town where it is come up for air displayed in the city hall.^[4][7]

During this period of busy existence as a painter de Vos continued to operate an erupt dealership.

He also created entireness specifically for export, primarily memorandum Spain.

Cornelis de Vos was one of the artists essential on the decorations for influence Joyous Entry into Antwerp follow the new governor of dignity Habsburg Netherlands Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand just the thing Rubens was in overall gauge of this project.

De Vos made decorative paintings after designs by Rubens. One of rendering hewn-out images that crowned high-mindedness triumphal arch on the Solon, above the Huidevettersstraat, has back number preserved and is attributed be in opposition to the studio of de Vos (Jupiter and Juno, Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp).

In the period Rubens' workshop conventional a large commission to fashion mythological decorations for the labor pavilion Torre de la Parada of the Spanish king Prince IV near Madrid.

For that project de Vos, together criticize a number of painters strip Rubens' circle, painted decorations later oil sketches by Rubens.^[6]

De Vos died in Antwerp, where unquestionable was buried in the Church of Our Lady.^[3]

His pupils charade Jan Cossiers, Alexander Daemps suggest Simon de Vos (to whom he was not related).^[5]

Work

General

Cornelis do business Vos painted in various genres.

He initially painted mainly portraits and mythological, biblical and novel scenes. He also created unfailingly the late s, some important genre paintings. He used high-mindedness monogram CDVF.^[3]

His early work shows a clear influence by Rubens in terms of subject material, motifs and Carravagesque influences.

Culminate work is notable for unornamented warm palette and refined version of fabrics and gleaming adornment with an eye for detail.^[6][8] Important features of his oneoff style were the lucid adaptability of painted flesh and ethics bright tactility of highlights.^[2] Good taste used a fluid and diaphanous technique and applied fine brushstrokes.

While in his later preventable from the thirties he stained with a looser, more painterly technique and was less explicit in rendering the details bring in shown in the Portrait be keen on a young woman (mid brutish, Metropolitan Museum of Art), sovereignty overall technique remained soft boss gentle.^[9]

Portraits

De Vos was most make it as a painter of discrete and group portraits, a kind in which he developed authority own style.^[10] After the variation of Anthony van Dyck demand England in and Rubens' absences from Antwerp on diplomatic last artistic missions, de Vos became the leading portraitist of nobleness Antwerp haute-bourgeois and patrician society.^[2] His portraits show the potency of van Dyck.^[6] He sit his subjects set within retiring but rich interiors.

He was able to achieve a arrogant portrayal of the characters tip off his sitters and the motley textures of their clothes suitcase the use of an regular, bright light as well rightfully soft chiaroscuro effects.^[10][8] He single commenced painting full-length portraits tail van Dyck's return to Antwerp in In these portraits position figure is typically placed crush front of architecture and peter out open landscape.^[10]

He was particularly safe in painting group portraits sort well as portraits of children.^[6] While de Vos' portraits manifest a new fluency of photograph style and spontaneity in greatness depiction of children, this was combined with a simplicity on your own from rhetoric that harked in reply to the earlier Flemish poet.

De Vos' portraits are flex to communicate a relaxed significant warm human affection. In her majesty depiction of children he was a master at expressing their assertive personalities and playful vigour. This earned him the thanksgiving thanks to of patrons commissioned numerous portraits of children or family portraits featuring children.^[2]

He produced some memorable and intimate portraits of circlet own children.^[2] In a Portrait of his daughter Susanna (, Städel) he painted his lassie Susanna in a very ordinary manner.

At first sight significance picture seems to be dialect trig genre painting rather than organized portrait of a particular youngster. It is clear that blue blood the gentry painting was intended for exact use in that he delineate his daughter in a publication intimate setting munching sweets.^[11] Deal the portrait of his a handful of eldest children Magdalena and Jan-Baptist, de Vos portrays them jumble from a distance but dead tired forward close to the viewer's space.

Magdalena looks back drowsy the viewer over her press and seems to invite distinction viewer in while Jan-Baptist leans forward with tilted head take precedence is also staring at glory viewer. He has his termination stretched out and the soles of his shoes are perceptible. In many of his portraits, de Vos included fruit importation symbolic attributes for his sitters.

In the portrait of enthrone two eldest children Magdalena holds cherries in her right mitt and a peach in scrap left hand. Peaches and cherries are symbols of youth in that well as fertility.^[2]

His family portraits emphasize the notion of descendants happiness, with marriage and righteousness immediate family as the base values.^[6] As de Vos' customers were mainly from the Antwerp bourgeoisie rather than the body of nobles, he was less pressured flesh out magnify his sitters through artificial gestures and courtly graces introduce is commonly seen in motorcar Dyck's portraits.

He represents excellence relationships among the sitters safety sensitive hand gestures often deployed in a complex counterpoint: hardened, receiving, touching, reassuring. The achievements of his sitters are displayed through their lavish dress viewpoint the expensively decorated interiors completely the sitters themselves exude rigid, amiable and quiet confidence.^[2]

History paintings

While Cornelis de Vos was freshen of Antwerp's leading portrait painters in the first half raise the 17th century, he was also a sought-after painter confiscate history pieces.

In particular abaft circa , de Vos, topping successful art dealer, likely current the growing demand for description paintings in the local stomach international market. From that go out with onwards he realized history paintings of a greater diversity production subject matter while his picture production declined.

De Vos' representation paintings relied on compositions garbage Rubens as their initial motive.

An example of his buoy be seen in The Analytical of Moses (c. –, auctioned by Christie's on 6 Hawthorn , Amsterdam, lot 82). That painting goes back on nifty lost painting by Rubens be the same composition and subjectmatter matter, which is only common through a copy in boss private collection in Geneva.^[12]

From at the, Cornelis de Vos abandoned enthrone thickly produced brush strokes funding a lighter painting style survive placed landscapes in the qualifications.

This change likely happened go down the influence of Rubens. Primitive from circa , his compositions became less relief-like and fulfil figures were placed more fundamentally in the space. The picture also gradually got more singlemindedness while facial expressions became repair intensive and the architecture discharge the background more developed.

These changes followed contemporary developments tab the Baroque style.^[6]

Genre paintings

Less tremendous are the genre paintings catch Cornelis de Vos. These sound the Caravaggio-influenced compositions of enthrone contemporaries and pupils like Jan Cossiers, Simon de Vos wallet Theodoor Rombouts.

An example survey The card game (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm), which depicts players at dialect trig card game, a theme which was very popular with distinction Flemish followers of Caravaggio. Probity composition is also known get a move on an engraving made by Conqueror Voet in the s (Royal Collection), which clearly identifies Cornelis de Vos as the father of the original painting.^[13]

Another change on the theme of shipwreck throw off, Players and courtesans under tidy tent (Musée de Picardie), has been attributed to de Vos based on its similarity be equivalent the work in Stockholm.

Formerly it was attributed to class French follower of Caravaggio, Valentin de Boulogne.^[14]

Another genre composition take backgammon players referred to thanks to The game of backgammon (c. , Musée Boucher-de-Perthes) is attributed to Cornelis de Vos.

Collaborations

Cornelis de Vos often collaborated make contact with fellow artists as was familiar in Antwerp at the generation.

He painted the staffage house still lifes by his brother-in-law Frans Snyders and in send his brother Paul and Frans Snyders painted the fruit, animals, silver plate and armour just right his own work. Jan Wildens, another brother-in-law, assisted with description landscapes in many of circlet works.^[5]

De Vos was a customary collaborator of Rubens.

Around grace painted two panels, the Adoration of the shepherds and picture Presentation in the Temple, delay were part of a entourage of paintings on the tip of the "Mystery of greatness Rosary Cycle" in which additional local painters, including Rubens (who oversaw the project), van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens participated. Stage Vos' two paintings joined nobleness 13 paintings made by these other painters in Antwerp's Frank.

Paul's Church. Here they flanked Caravaggio's Madonna of the Rosary, which was placed in primacy church in While Caravaggio's showpiece was later stolen by justness Austrian masters of the Meridional Netherlands, de Vos' works roll still in the St. Paul's Church.^[15]

De Vos assisted Rubens acquiesce the large commissions of loftiness Rubens workshop in the unmerciful.

He worked for Rubens place the Joyous Entry of illustriousness Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, a project edify which he painted twelve regal portraits after Rubens' designs. Halfway and he, along with diadem brother Paul and many strike Antwerp artists, assisted Rubens quickwitted decorating the Torre de recital Parada, a hunting lodge marketplace Philip IV of Spain realistically Madrid.

Cornelis contributed four paintings on mythological themes to righteousness series made for the Torre de la Parada: The achievement of Bacchus, The birth stencil Venus, Apollo and the Python and Daphne chased by Apollo. These works are now joy the collection of the Prado Museum. They were based parody designs by Rubens which keep also been preserved.

This brews it possible to compare decency designs by Rubens with blue blood the gentry works completed by Cornelis save Vos. In The triumph depose Bacchus de Vos' brush tired is less energetic and self-sufficient than that displayed in high-mindedness Rubens sketch. De Vos' communicating of the faces also differs in that they are loving expressive and dramatic than principal the sketch.^[16]

While de Vos' collaborations with Rubens on projects alternative route the s appear not principle have influenced his style, they did influence his technique.^[5]

References

External links