Andries van Eertvelt (1590 – 1652), was a
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
, draughtsman and engraver who was one of the first Flemish artists to specialize in
marine art
Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main Sea in culture, inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea� ...
. Several of his pupils also became prominent marine artists.
[Andries van Eertvelt]
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
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 ...
Life
Andries van Eertvelt was born in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, and baptized in the
Antwerp cathedral
The Cathedral of Our Lady ( nl, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's see of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been ...
on 25 March 1590. There is no record of the masters with whom he trained. He was registered as a master in the Antwerp
Guild of St. 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 Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...
in 1609. He married Catherine de Vlieger on 28 November 1615 in the
St. Andrew's Church. The couple had two children. His wife died in 1626 or 1627.
[
After the death of his wife he travelled together with one of his pupils, Matthieu van Plattenberg, to Italy.][Matthieu van Plattenberg, A Dutch Ship Running onto a Rocky Coast]
at the National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...
Van Eertvelt is documented in Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
from 1628–1630, where he lived with his compatriot Cornelis de Wael
Cornelis de Wael (Antwerp, 1592 – Rome, 1667) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter, engraver and merchant who was primarily active in Genoa in Italy. He is known for his genre paintings, battle scenes, history paintings and still lifes ...
, who also practiced marine art, in particular the depiction of sea battles. Cornelis de Wael was a long-term resident of Genoa and arranged work for van Eervelt during his stay there.
In 1630 van Eertvelt returned to Antwerp. In the early 1630s he had a relationship with Susanna April, with whom he had two illegitimate daughters, Susanna and Annemarie (born in 1630 and 1632). On 3 October 1633 he married Elisabeth Boots in the St. James Church in Antwerp. Their son Jan Baptist was baptized in the same church on 11 February 1634.[
Van Eertvelt had a very successful career as a marine artists and some of his works were exported to markets in Spain and Portugal.][ He also had an eager clientele in 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 ...
.[Andreas van Eertvelt, "Embarkation of Spanish Troops"]
at the National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...
He was remembered as a "son of the seas" by the Flemish 17th century biographer Cornelis de Bie
Cornelis de Bie (10 February 1627 – ) was a Flemish '' rederijker'', poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier.
He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies. He is known internationally today for his biographical sketches of Flemish ...
. 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 ...
painted his portrait and an engraving freely cut after this portrait by Schelte a Bolswert
Schelte a Bolswert (1586–1659) was a leading Dutch engraver, noted for his works after Rubens and Van Dyck.
Life
He was born in the town of Bolswert, in Friesland, in 1586. Both he and his older brother, Boetius à Bolswert, worked in Amste ...
was included in van Dyck's "Iconography" (Icones Principum Virorum), a collection of portraits of leading personalities of van Dyck's time.[L. J. Wassink. "Eertvelt, Andries van." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 3 December 2014] Van Eertvelt also appears to have engaged in diplomatic activity. He took some letters relating to a possible peace treaty between Spain and the Dutch Republic from Balthazar Gerbier
Sir Balthazar Gerbier (23 February 1592, in N.S. – 1663), was an Anglo-Dutch courtier, diplomat, art advisor, miniaturist and architectural designer, in his own words fluent in "several languages" with "a good hand in writing, skill in sciences ...
, an Anglo-Dutch diplomat residing in Antwerp, to Constantijn Huygens
Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist C ...
, the secretary to the Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands.
The title ...
, in the Dutch Republic.
He was the teacher of Gaspar van Eyck
Gaspar or Casper van Eyck (bapt. 6 February 1613, in Antwerp – before December 1674, in Brussels) was a Flemish painter of marine subjects and sea-fights. He worked in Antwerp and spent some time working in Genoa and Madrid. , Matthieu van Plattenberg and possibly Hendrik van Minderhout
Hendrik van Minderhout (1632 – 22 July 1696) was a Dutch-born artist who was primarily active in the Flemish cities Bruges and Antwerp. He painted marine paintings, harbor scenes, cityscapes, landscapes and architectural paintings. .[ He was possibly also the teacher of the leading Flemish marine painter Bonaventura Peeters (I) and of Sebastian Castro.][
]
Work
Van Eertvelt is regarded as the first Flemish marine painter. His marine paintings covered the whole range of battle scenes, storms, views of ships in rivers and harbours, night scenes etc. His favourite themes were Dutch ships at sea and views of ships in southern, often imaginary harbours.
Whereas there may have been an influence of Dutch marine painter Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, some regard the impact on his style of the work of the 16th century Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...
as more significant.[ It is assumed that van Eertvelt spent some time in the Dutch Republic in the early 1600s although there is no record of this other than his paintings of Dutch ships and ports. He may have resided in Haarlem, but there is no proof for the widespread suggestion that he studied under Vroom. He may very well have familiarized himself with Vroom's style in Antwerp where paintings of Vroom as well as copies and imitations after them were readily available in the art market. Van Eertvelt is known to have made copies of Vroom's work but was able to develop his own style.][Margarita Russell, ''Visions of the Sea: Hendrick C. Vroom and the Origins of Dutch Marine Painting'', Brill Archive, 1983, p. 181-185]
In his early paintings, van Eertvelt adopted a bright, mannerist style and his palette was characterized by greenish-black and brown tones. He often relied on white to make the rigging of the ships stand out against the dark sea.[ This style is visible in '' The Return to Amsterdam of the Second Expedition to the East Indies on 19 July 1599'' dated in the 161v0s.
Later he changed to a softer and more subtle palette in particular after his return from Italy. He then favoured views of southern harbours, with calm seas painted in soft tones.][ This mature style is visible in the ''Two Ships at Anchor'' in the ]Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
.
Van Eertvelt collaborated occasionally with other Antwerp painters. The seascape in van Dyck's '' Portrait of Nicolaes van der Borght, Merchant in Antwerp'' is attributed to van Eertvelt.Portrait of Nicolaes van der Borght, Merchant in Antwerp
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
Van Eertvelt was also active as an engraver. The current whereabouts of an etching by his hand, depicting the frozen river Scheldt in 1621 and another of the fort 'Vlaams Hoofd' in Antwerp mentioned in reports are not known.[
]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eertvelt, Andries Van
1590 births
1652 deaths
Flemish Baroque painters
Flemish marine artists
Artists from Antwerp
Painters from Antwerp