![Zelfportret Rijksmuseum SK-A-2157](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Zelfportret_Rijksmuseum_SK-A-2157.jpeg)
Abraham de Vries (ca.1590–1649 or 1650) was a Dutch painter who was one of the leading portraitists of his age.
[ Abraham de Vries]
in the RKD
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
, accessed 14 March 2016 As he led a peripatetic lifestyle and worked in France, Antwerp and the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
his stylistic qualities are difficult to pin down.
[Walter A. Liedtke, 'Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art', Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, p. 931-932]
Life
Little is known about the early life and training of Abraham de Vries. It is now generally believed that the artist was born in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
since when he joined the
Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...
of The Hague in 1644 he paid the fees of a native son of the city. In the past he was mistakenly believed to have been a native of
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
. He may have travelled to France as early as 1613 if the date on a landscape drawing made in
Lyons
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...
that year is correct.
[ By 1617 the artist was registered in the Rotterdam church administration.
]
De Vries traveled to Southern France (and possibly Italy) in the 1620s.[ During his period of residence in ]Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
around 1623-1624 he was the teacher of the Flemish artist Jan Cossiers
Jan Cossiers (Antwerp, 15 July 1600 – Antwerp, 4 July 1671) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. Cossiers' earliest works were Caravaggesque genre works depicting low life scenes. Later in his career he painted mostly history and religi ...
who had travelled from his native Antwerp to the south of France. De Vries also spent time in Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
, Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
(1625), Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
(1626) and Paris (1627-1628). During his stay in France he became acquainted with the prominent French scientist and humanist Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc
Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1 December 1580 – 24 June 1637), often known simply as Peiresc, or by the Latin form of his name, Peirescius, was a French astronomer, antiquary and savant, who maintained a wide correspondence with scientis ...
who was a close friend of Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
. De Vries met Rubens in person in 1629 during a stay in Paris.[Un portrait d'Abraham de Vries acquis par le Petit Palais à Paris]
After his return north, he later made several trips to Paris and Antwerp. He was recorded in Antwerp in 1628 and again in 1634 when he became a member of the local Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...
in July 1634. The Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand (also known as Don Fernando de Austria, Cardenal-Infante Fernando de España and as Ferdinand von Österreich; May 1609 or 1610 – 9 November 1641) was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Catholic ...
who was the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands
The governor ( nl, landvoogd) or governor-general () of the Habsburg Netherlands was a representative appointed by the Holy Roman emperor (1504-1556), the king of Spain (1556-1598, 1621-1706), and the archduke of Austria (1716-1794), to administer ...
saw a portrait by de Vries during his visit to Antwerp on 20 April 1635. This led to an invitation to work in the Brussels court city where his work was deemed superior to that of Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh c ...
. He was in Brussels in 1636 as testified by his inscription on a portrait which states it was made in Brussels.
In 1639-1640 there are records of de Vries’ presence in Rotterdam. He was recorded in The Hague in 1643 and he became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...
of The Hague in 1644. He made his will in The Hague in 1648. Various sources indicate that de Vries died in either 1649 or 1650 in The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
.[
]
Work
Abraham de Vries is mainly known for his portraits even though he reportedly also created some landscapes.[ An example of his landscapes is an early ''Mountainous landscape with a wooden bridge'' (1613, Prentenkabinet, ]Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
, Amsterdam), a drawing which was probably created during a stay in Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
in France.
His early works are reminiscent of the works of contemporary artists in Amsterdam and The Hague such as Thomas de Keyser
Thomas de Keyser (c. 1596–1667) was a Dutch portrait painter, a dealer in Belgium bluestone and stone mason. He was the most in-demand portrait painter in the Netherlands until the 1630s, when Rembrandt eclipsed him in popularity. Rembrand ...
and Jan van Ravesteyn
Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn (1572(?) – buried 21 June 1657) was a successful portrait painter to the Dutch court in The Hague.
Biography
Van Ravesteyn was born in The Hague. It is unknown who taught him how to paint, but he was a followe ...
. In his 1621 ''Self portrait'', the artist depicted himself as learned painter. In the late 1620s to the 1630s there was clearly a Flemish influence recognizable in his portraits as is seen in the ''Portrait of Simon de Vos'' of 1634 (Maagdenhuismuseum, Antwerp). This portrait of the Antwerp painter Simon de Vos shows a dynamism akin to that visible in the portraits of van Dyck.[ A similar Flemish feistiness can be seen in his ''Portrait of a man holding a ring'' of 1629 (]Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon
The Musée du Petit Palais is a museum and art gallery in Avignon, southern France. It opened in 1976 and has an exceptional collection of Renaissance paintings of the Avignon school as well as from Italy, which reunites many "primitives" from ...
).[ The textured description of skin and soft handling of hair from the mid 1630s onwards show the influence of Antwerp portrait painters of that period. The combination in his portraits of Dutch and Flemish characteristics is not unlike what is apparent in the work of artists working in The Hague such as ]Adriaen Hanneman Adriaen is a Dutch form of Adrian. Notable people with the name include:
*Adriaen Banckert (1615–1684), Dutch admiral
*Adriaen Block (1567–1627), Dutch private trader and navigator
*Adriaen Brouwer (1605–1638), Flemish genre painter
*Adriaen ...
.[
]
By the 1640s the Amsterdam art scene had come under the spell of Rembrandt's portrait art. Rembrandt's portraits emphasized the character and personality of his sitters through their physiognomy rather than by means of symbols and iconography. Abraham de Vries could also not resist the influence of this new painting style in his portraits. The influence was so strong that his ''Portrait of a Dutch gentleman'' (1647, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne) was for some time mistakenly attributed to Rembrandt.[Abraham de Vries, ''Portrait of a Dutch gentleman'' 1647]
at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, accessed 14 March 2016
Abraham de Vries also painted so-called 'regents group portrait
A regents group portrait (''regentenstuk'' or ''regentessenstuk'' in Dutch, literally "regents' piece"), is a group portrait of the board of trustees, called regents or regentesses, of a charitable organization or guild. This type of group portrai ...
s', i.e. group portraits of the board of trustees, called regents or regentesses, of a charitable organization
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definitio ...
or guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
. An example of his original approach to this genre, which was very popular in Dutch Golden Age painting
Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence.
The new Dutch Republ ...
, is his ''Regents of the Burgerweeshuis orphanage in Amsterdam'' (1633, Amsterdam Museum
The Amsterdam Museum, known until 2010 as the Amsterdam Historical Museum, is an Amsterdam-based museum dedicated to the city's past and present. Due to the renovation of its main location, the museum is temporarily located in the building the Amst ...
). Pictured in the group portrait are the regents who were responsible for the major renovation of the Burgerweeshuis orphanage in Amsterdam during the years 1630-1634. The arrangement of the composition is very original: de Vries split the regents in two groups: one group on the left-hand side is composed of standing figures and the other on the right-hand side consists of sitting figures. In the background in the middle of the composition a member of staff of the orphanage leads a small orphan girl into the room and thereby links up the two groups. Abraham de Vries may have been the first artist to introduce a child as an "attribute" in a regents group portrait.[Abraham de Vries, ''De regenten van het Burgerweeshuis'', 1633]
in the collection of the Amsterdam Museum
The Amsterdam Museum, known until 2010 as the Amsterdam Historical Museum, is an Amsterdam-based museum dedicated to the city's past and present. Due to the renovation of its main location, the museum is temporarily located in the building the Amst ...
, accessed 14 March 2016 The portrait of the regents is still ‘’in situ’’ on the wall for which it was designed in the regent's room of the orphanage.
In the ''Portrait of a Gentleman'' (1630-1640, Beecroft Art Gallery) de Vries employed a unique technique to render the sitter's broad lace collar: he applied the paint with his thumb. Close examination reveals his thumbprints still visible in the paint. He painted several wedding portraits in which the man is situated on the left and the woman on the right, which was unusual for that time.A pair of wedding portraits
purchased by the Vereniging Rembrandt
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vries, Abraham de
1590s births
1650s deaths
Dutch Golden Age painters
Dutch male painters
Painters from Rotterdam
Painters from The Hague
Painters from Antwerp