Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen

Cornelius Johnson or Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen (; also Cornelius Jonson van Ceulen, Cornelis Jansz. van Ceulen and many other variants) (bapt. 14 October 1593 – bur. 5 August 1661) was an English painter of portraits of Dutch or Flemish parentage. He was active in England, from at least 1618 to 1643, when he moved to Middelburg in the Netherlands to escape the English Civil War. Between 1646 and 1652 he lived in Amsterdam, before settling in Utrecht, where he died.

Johnson painted many portraits of emerging new English gentry. His early portraits were panel paintings with "fictive" oval frames. His works can be found in major collections in the UK and overseas as well as in private collections in stately homes in Britain.

He was an accomplished portrait painter, but lacked the flair of a master such as Van Dyck. His style varied considerably over his career, and he was able to assimilate new influences into his own style without any discordant effect. He was particularly accurate and detailed in his depiction of clothing. He was one of the few artists in England at this time who consistently signed and dated their work.

Family life

Johnson was born to Dutch or Flemish parents in London – his father had been a religious refugee from Antwerp, and his paternal grandfather had come from Cologne. He was baptised at the Dutch Church at Austin Friars much used by the Netherlandish community in London. He was the son of Johanna le Grand and Cornelius Johnson. He may have been trained in the Netherlands, possibly under Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt. p. 12 He was certainly influenced by other artists from the Netherlands, and his early works follow the design and mood of Dutch painters.

He had returned to England by 1619 when he was a witness at the baptism of his nephew, Theodore Russell – Johnson' sister was married to Nicholas Russell of Bruges. He was active in England, from then until 1643. In the 1620s, he lived and had his studio in Blackfriars, London, as did Anthony van Dyck and Peter Oliver; it was within the boundaries of the City of London, but was a liberty and so avoided the monopoly in the City of members of the London painters' Guild.Kirby, Jo (1999) ''The Painter's Trade in the 17th Century'', National Portrait Gallery Technical Bulletin 20 He married Elizabeth Beke of Colchester on 16 July 1622 at the Dutch church in London. Their son James (who presumably died young) was baptised on 30 September 1623 at St Anne's Church.Lane Fine Art
/ref> Another son Cornelius Johnson, junior who also became a painter, was baptised on 15 August 1634.

Johnson wished to be regarded as an English gentleman, registering his pedigree with the College of Arms. His arms were three gold parrots on a gold background, and had a crest of a silver Catherine wheel with two parrot wings behind it. Apparently winged crests are common in German heraldry which may show the arms previously used by the family.

Johnson moved to Canterbury in the mid-1630s, living with Sir Arnold Braems, a Flemish merchant, and continued to live in England until after the outbreak of the English Civil War, but in October 1643, apparently at the insistence of his wife, he moved to Middelburg, joining the Guild of St. Luke there. He was given parliamentary permission to travel " ... and to cary with him such pictures and colours, bedding, household stuff, pewter, and brass as belongs to himself". Between 1646 and 1652 he lived in Amsterdam, before settling in Utrecht, where he was buried.Waterhouse, 61–2

Portraiture

Johnson' first dated work is 1617, and may be of a Dutch subject; 1619 marks the beginning of his English portraits, which were initially heads only, although he later painted full-length and group portraits.Waterhouse, 62

For painting a portrait, Johnson liked to charge £5 compared with a more typical figure of 10s – 20s. However, this was not as expensive as better known artists such as Van Dyck or Peter Lely. Karen Hearn's ODNB entry for Johnson notes that "in 1638 Sir Thomas Pelham of Halland House, Sussex, paid £4 for his portrait by Johnson" (referencing an account book among the Pelham family papers, BL, Add. MS 33145, fol. 107).

There are hundreds of portraits of the emerging new gentry by Johnson, including Lady Rose MacDonnell of Antrim. "Johnson's art was best suited to the relative intimacy of the bust length portrait in which, with a certain detachment, he captured the reticence of the English landed gentry and minor aristocracy". One of his earliest surviving portraits is of Susanna Temple, grandmother of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (Tate). This portrait was subsequently engraved by Robert White towards the end of the seventeenth century. A copy of the engraving was among the prints owned by Samuel Pepys which subsequently passed to Magdalene College, Cambridge.

His royal portraits include Charles I as well as Charles II and James II, painted as children, both of which are in the National Portrait Gallery (London). He collaborated with Gerard Houckgeest on a portrait of Charles I's wife, Queen Henrietta Maria.

After his move to the Netherlands, he continued to produce portraits of English clients – both exiled Royalists, and clients still living in England.

Studio

Johnson's studio in the 1620s was in St Anne's, Blackfriars, London. The size of Johnson’s studio is not known, but surviving portraits such as the portrait erroneously inscribed Countess of Arundel and that of Sir Alexander Temple (both below) help reconstruct the painting process. It is likely that Johnson did not paint the complete portraits himself. The wet-over-dry paint layering of the costumes (see 'Technique' below) and the fictive ovals allowed contributions from others in the studio, as did the demand for additional versions.

Patronage

His patrons came from the gentry, but were not from the highest levels in society. His sitters were Dutch immigrants, gentlemen and courtiers. During the first few years of his career, a network of patronage by five families enabled Johnson to establi