Jan Griffier ( 1652 – 1718) was a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

painter who was active in England, where he was admitted to the London Company of Painter-Stainers in 1677.

Biography

Griffier was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and learned to paint landscapes and to engrave from

Roelant Roghman Roelant Roghman (14 March 1627 - 3 January 1692) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, sketcher and engraver. Biography Roghman was born in Amsterdam, the son of the engraver Henrick Lambertsz Roghman and Maria Jacobs Savery. His mother was a daughte ...

. His birthdate is uncertain. According to Houbraken he was born in 1656, and according to English accounts he may have been older by up to 10 years, but in 1700 he was registered in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

in the ''Album studiosorum'' of the university art academy there as being 48 years old and living on the ''Stadstimmerwerf''. He produced views of

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

landscapes as well as of the English countryside, and returned to the Netherlands for a decade after ''ca'' 1695, but was engaged for at least two decades in England where he worked for the Dutch painter

Jan Looten Jan Looten (1617-18 in Amsterdam – c. 1681 in United KingdomJan Looten
at RKD) was a Dutch landscape paint ...

(1617/1618 – 1681). Griffier's work as a draughtsman reflects his training by Roghman; as an

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

, he is remembered for a series of plates of birds after Francis Barlow. File:Jan Griffier - Winter Scene with Skaters - Google Art Project.jpg, Winter Scene with Skaters File:JanGriffierPlaisir d'hiverDétailMuséeAnvers.jpg, Plaisir d'hiver Jan Griffier - Boy playing a violin - mezzotint

Jan Griffier - Boy playing a violin - mezzotint

His

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...

s reproduce portraits after Sir

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

Hendrik ter Brugghen Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen (or Terbrugghen) (1588 – 1 November 1629) was a Dutch painter of genre scenes and religious subjects. He was one of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio – the so-called ''Utrecht Caravaggisti''. Along with Gerrit va ...

, and Sir

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...

. His city views, invaluable topographical evidence, suggest that his travels in England were extensive. According to Houbraken he undertook a voyage by boat with his family to the Netherlands in 1695 that ended in shipwreck. All the paintings he had with him at that time were lost. He bought a houseboat in Rotterdam, which he then proceeded to use to move his family with him on his travels, continuing to make a living by painting landscapes. Eventually he undertook another channel crossing with this boat, but sent his family by a more seaworthy ship, since he was afraid of another shipwreck. This trip was successful and he died in London.

Legacy

Apart from the biographical sketch that Houbraken wrote in 1718, much of what is known of him in England has been transmitted by

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

,Walpole, ''Anecdotes of Painting in England''. working from

George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...

's notebooks. Griffier's sons

Robert Griffier Robert Griffier (c. 1675 in England – after 1727 in Amsterdam), was an 18th-century landscape painter from London who was active in Amsterdam. Biography According to Houbraken, Griffier was born in England in 1688 as the son of Dutch pain ...

and

Jan Griffier the Younger Jan Griffier II (1688–c.1750]) was an 18th-century painter active in England. Biography Griffier was born in England and died in London. According to Houbraken, Jan Griffier's son Robert was born on 7 October 1688, but he mixed up his inf ...

continued the family landscape tradition.

Notes

External links

*
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich: Jan Griffier, the ElderThe Art Fund
Purchases of Griffier paintings for UK museums * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffier, Jan 1640s births 1718 deaths Painters from Amsterdam Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters British Baroque painters