Jan Boeckhorst on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Jan Boeckhorst or Johann Bockhorst (c. 1604 – 21 April 1668) was a
at the
at historian of netherlandish art Jan Boeckhorst became a
In the mid 1620s Boeckhorst moved to Antwerp apparently to study with Peter Paul Rubens. There is no firm evidence that Boeckhorst actually studied under Rubens, only a statement by Rubens’ nephew Philip to that effect. However, a close relationship between the artists during the 1630s is documented. Boeckhorst likely also briefly trained with Jordaens during Rubens' stay in London in the late 1620s. In Antwerp, Boeckhorst was known as ''Lange Jan'' (Tall John) because of his tall stature.
From 1626 to 1635 Boeckhorst worked on a commission paid for by the devout merchant Lodewijk De Roomer to complete 26 works for a chapel in the Falcon monastery in central Antwerp (or for St. Joseph’s chapel in the Antwerp convent of St. Augustine). These works on which he collaborated with 
Boeckhorst became a master in the Antwerp
at Barok in Vlaanderen For the Pompa Introitus Broeckhorst contributed architectural elements on the 'Arch of Isabella' and the figures of 'Securitas' and 'Salus publica' in collaboration with
Jan Boeckhorst or Johann Bockhorst (c. 1604 – 21 April 1668) was a German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
-born Flemish Baroque painter
Flemish Baroque painting refers to the art produced in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. The period roughly begins when the Dutch Republic was split from the Habsburg Spain regions to the south with ...
and draughtsman. He was a versatile artist who produced history painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
s, genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
scenes and portraits in a style influenced by the trio of leading Baroque painters in Antwerp Peter Paul 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 ...
, 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 ...
and Jacob Jordaens
Jacob (Jacques) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer known for his history paintings, genre scenes and portraits. After Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, he was the leading Fle ...
. Boeckhorst also worked as a designer of cartoons for tapestries.Jan Boeckhorstat 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
Jan Boeckhorst was born inMünster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
, Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
as the second-oldest of twelve children. His family belonged to Münster’s highly respected citizens (Honoratioren) and his father Heinrich was for a while the mayor of Münster.Anne-Marie Logan, ''Review of: Maria Galen, Johann Boeckhorst. Gemälde und Zeichnungen. Hamburg: Baar-Verlag 2012''at historian of netherlandish art Jan Boeckhorst became a
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
in the Jesuit order at age 17. He only started his artistic study when he was about twenty-two years of age.
In the mid 1620s Boeckhorst moved to Antwerp apparently to study with Peter Paul Rubens. There is no firm evidence that Boeckhorst actually studied under Rubens, only a statement by Rubens’ nephew Philip to that effect. However, a close relationship between the artists during the 1630s is documented. Boeckhorst likely also briefly trained with Jordaens during Rubens' stay in London in the late 1620s. In Antwerp, Boeckhorst was known as ''Lange Jan'' (Tall John) because of his tall stature.
From 1626 to 1635 Boeckhorst worked on a commission paid for by the devout merchant Lodewijk De Roomer to complete 26 works for a chapel in the Falcon monastery in central Antwerp (or for St. Joseph’s chapel in the Antwerp convent of St. Augustine). These works on which he collaborated with Jan Wildens
Jan Wildens (1586 in Antwerp – 16 October 1653 in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman specializing in landscapes. His Realist landscapes show an eye for detail and have a serene character. He was a regular collaborator with Ruben ...
are now lost. Between 1627 and 1632 he likely worked closely with Anthony van Dyck who was during that period back in Antwerp after a long stay abroad. The two artists collaborated on individual works of art while Boeckhorst also produced copies after van Dyck.
Boeckhorst became a master in the Antwerp 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 1633–1634. He was a regular collaborator with Rubens in the mid 1630s. He first worked on the decorations for the 1635 Joyous Entry
A Joyous Entry ( nl, Blijde Intrede, Blijde Inkomst, or ; ) is the official name used for the ceremonial royal entry, the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch, prince, duke or governor into a city, mainly in the Duchy of Braban ...
(the so-called 'Pompa Introitus') into Antwerp of the new governor of the Habsburg Netherlands Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
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 ...
. Rubens was in overall charge of this project.Matthias Depoorter, ' Jan Boeckhorst ''at Barok in Vlaanderen For the Pompa Introitus Broeckhorst contributed architectural elements on the 'Arch of Isabella' and the figures of 'Securitas' and 'Salus publica' in collaboration with
Gerard Seghers
Gerard SeghersGerard Seghers
at the
''Sleeping Nymphs observed by Satyrs'', at Dorotheum An example is the '' Peasants going to the market'' (Rubenshuis, Antwerp) on which he collaborated with Frans Snyders. This genre scene, which also acts as an
Boeckhorst may have collaborated on devotional
Boeckhorst's portraits are influenced by Anthony van Dyck and
at the
Torre de la Parada
The Torre de la Parada is a former hunting lodge that was located in present-day Monte de El Pardo in Fuencarral-El Pardo, near the Royal Palace of El Pardo, some way outside Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain ...
of the Spanish king Philip IV near Madrid. For this project Jan Boeckhorst painted decorations after oil sketches by Rubens.
In 1639 Boeckhorst traveled to Italy again where he resided in Rome. In Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
he likely joined the circle of Dutch and Flemish artists in Rome known as the Bentvueghels
The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique").
Activities
The members, which included ...
. It was the custom among the Bentvueghels to adopt a nickname. Boeckhorst's nickname was possibly ''Doctor Faustus''.
The date of his return to Antwerp is not known with certainty and estimates vary from 1639 to 1649. It is known that he completed a few unfinished works of Rubens' after Rubens' death in 1640. After his return to Antwerp he received multiple commissions from religious institutions in Flanders including for the Saint James Church in Bruges and the Saint Michael's Church and Saint James Church in Ghent.
Jan Boeckhorst died on 21 April 1668 in Antwerp where he was buried in the Saint James Church. His large collection was sold after his death in a sale which lasted six days and raised the considerable sum of 6,026 guilders. His collection included a complete set of early drawings of Rubens.
Work
General
Boeckhorst was a versatile painter who produced history paintings on religious and mythological subjects, allegorical works, genre scenes and portraits. Boeckhorst also worked as a designer of cartoons for tapestries. He is known to have designed eight tapestries on the myths of Apollo. The Musée Mont-de-Piété inBergues
Bergues (; nl, Sint-Winoksbergen; vls, Bergn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgian border. Locally it is referred to as "the other Bruges in Flanders". Bergues ...
preserves 8 preliminary drawings for this Apollo series of tapestries.
Boeckhorst also provided designs for the Antwerp publishers. In the early 1650s he provided several designs for the Breviarium Romanum
The Roman Breviary (Latin: ''Breviarium Romanum'') is a breviary of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. A liturgical book, it contains public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bis ...
and 9 border decorations for the Missale Romanum, all engraved by 
Cornelis Galle the Younger
Cornelis Galle the Younger, Cornelius Galle or Cornelis Galle (I) (bapt. 23 February 1615, Antwerp – 18 October 1678, Antwerp) was a Flemish printmaker. He worked mainly on publications for the Plantin Press in Antwerp for which he engraved de ...
and published by the Plantin Press
The Plantin Press at Antwerp was one of the focal centers of the fine printed book in the 16th century.
History
Christophe Plantin (c. 1520–1589) of Touraine was trained as a bookbinder. He fled from Paris where at least one printer had rece ...
in Antwerp.
There only exist three signed and dated paintings (dated between 1646 and c. 1660) and five that are dated only from 1659–1666. The first signed painting, a ''Madonna and Child with Saint John'' is dated 1646, about 20 years after his arrival in Antwerp. Because of the few number of signed paintings it has been difficult to attribute works to Boeckhorst with certainty and some attributions are contested among art historians.
Collaborations
As was common practice among Antwerp painters, Boeckhorst often collaborated as a figure painter on compositions withlandscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
painters Jan Wildens
Jan Wildens (1586 in Antwerp – 16 October 1653 in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman specializing in landscapes. His Realist landscapes show an eye for detail and have a serene character. He was a regular collaborator with Ruben ...
and Jan Brueghel the Younger
Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger (, ; ; 13 September 1601 – 1 September 1678) was a Flemish Baroque painter. He was the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder, and grandson of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, both prominent painters who c ...
and still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
painter Frans Snyders
Frans Snyders or Frans Snijders (11 November 1579, Antwerp – 19 August 1657, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter of animals, hunting scenes, market scenes and still lifes. He was one of the earliest specialist animaliers and he is credited with ...
.Jan Brueghel II (Antwerp 1601–1678) and Jan Boeckhorst (Münster/Rees 1604–1668 Antwerp)''Sleeping Nymphs observed by Satyrs'', at Dorotheum An example is the '' Peasants going to the market'' (Rubenshuis, Antwerp) on which he collaborated with Frans Snyders. This genre scene, which also acts as an
allegory
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
of the four elements
Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simi ...
, is of a monumentally large scale at 217.5 cm in height and 272.5 cm in width. The work shows the influence of Jordaens' genre paintings.
Boeckhorst may have collaborated on devotional garland
A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance.
Etymology
From the ...
paintings. Garland paintings are a special type of still life developed in Antwerp by Jan Brueghel the Elder in collaboration with the Italian cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
Federico Borromeo
Federico Borromeo (18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, a prominent figure of Counter-Reformation Italy.
Early life
Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borro ...
at the beginning of the 17th century.David Freedberg, "The Origins and Rise of the Flemish Madonnas in Flower Garlands, Decoration and Devotion", ''Münchener Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst'', xxxii, 1981, pp. 115–150. The genre was initially connected to the visual imagery of the Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
movement and typically involved a collaboration between a figure painter and a still life painter. No collaborations with Boeckhorst on garland paintings have been attributed with certainty.
Boeckhorst is believed to have made changes to works by Rubens. He did so with a tronie
A tronie is a type of work common in Dutch Golden Age painting and Flemish Baroque painting that depicts an exaggerated or characteristic facial expression. These works were not intended as portraits but as studies of expression, type, physiognom ...
painted by Rubens around 1613 called '' King David playing the Harp'' (
Städel
The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...
, Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
). The second Rubens tronie of c. 1616/17, which Boeckhorst transformed around 1640/41 into a bust-length format was the '' Head of a bearded man in profile holding a bronze figure'' (Christie’s, London, 2 July 2013, lot 30). He possibly also enlarged Rubens’ ''Rise of the Blessed'' at the request of Jan Wildens in order to form a pendant with the ''Fall of the Damned'' then in Wildens’ own collection. After the late 1630s Boeckhorst's collaborations appear to have ceased.
Portraits
Boeckhorst's portraits are influenced by Anthony van Dyck and Cornelis de Vos
Cornelis de Vos (1584 – 9 May 1651) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and art dealer. He was one of the leading portrait painters in Antwerp and is best known for his sensitive portraits, in particular of children and families. He was a ...
, the two leading portrait painters in the first half of the 17th century. He occasionally painted lively group portrait
A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...
s. Some of his large group portraits, such as the ''Portrait of a Family'' (Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinak ...
, Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
), are in the style of Cornelis de Vos but with more liveliness and spontaneity.Hans Vlieghe. "Boeckhorst, Jan." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 1 October 2014
Central in his group portraits is the emphasis on the virtue of strong family bonds, the so-called 'Concordia familiae'. Boeckhorst was skilled in depicting his models in a spontaneous and lively manner. His portraits are of an informal character. He also used backdrop draperies, which in imitation of Jordaens, were represented very vividly.
Later works
His later works from the 1650s and 1660s include numerousaltarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...
s for churches throughout Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
and designs of cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
s for tapestries
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...
. The expressiveness of van Dyck's figures and use of colors, such as in ''Ulysses discovers Achilles dressed up as a girl'' (Alte Pinakothek, Munich), is also noticeable in works from this period.Vlieghe (1998), pp. 95–97.
References
Sources
*Galen, Maria (2012). ''Johann Boeckhorst: Gemälde und Zeichnungen''. Hamburg: Baar. (catalogue raisonné) *Vlieghe, Hans (1998). ''Flemish art and architecture, 1585-1700''. Pelican history of art. New Haven: Yale University Press.External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boeckhorst, Jan 17th-century German painters German male painters Flemish Baroque painters Flemish portrait painters Flemish genre painters Flemish history painters German Baroque painters 1604 births 1668 deaths Members of the Bentvueghels People from Münster