Jan van de Venne or Jan van der Venne, also known as Pseudo van de Venne (active by 1616 – died before 1651), was a Flemish painter of

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 ...

, religious scenes, and

cabinets A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

who was court painter to the governors of the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

.'' The Temptation of St Antony''
at the National Inventory of Continental European Paintings Many of his works depict "low-life" genre scenes of tooth-pullers, card-players and

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...

players,

tronies 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 ...

and expressive religious scenes.Hans Vlieghe (1998). ''Flemish Art and Architecture, 1585–1700''. Pelican History of Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 159.

Rediscovery and identification

Works by Jan van de Venne were formerly attributed to an artist referred to as ‘Pseudo-Van de Venne’. This Pseudo-Van de Venne was erroneously believed to be the brother, also called Jan, of the better known Dutch painter

Adriaen van de Venne Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne (1589 – 12 November 1662), was a versatile Dutch Golden Age painter of allegories, genre subjects, and portraits, as well as a miniaturist, book illustrator, designer of political satires, and versifier. Biog ...

.About Jan van de Venne
at Jean Moust Old Master Paintings Adriaen's brother Jan, however, died in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

in 1625. Art historian Jacques Foucart from the Louvre corrected the wrong attribution in an article published in 1978. Foucart identified Pseudo-Van de Venne with another Jan van de Venne whom he identified as a Flemish artist.Jan van de Venne, dit le Pseudo van de Venne, in: Vente de prestige - Tableaux Anciens et du XIXe siècle – Tajan, 20 June 2007, p. 16 This identification of ‘Pseudo-Van de Venne’ with Jan van de Venne, an artist believed to have been born in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

c. 1600, has since gained wide acceptance.

Life

Very little is known about Jan van de Venne's life and career. Even though some of the artist’s works bear the mark of 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 ...

, he is believed to have been active mainly in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. This is testified by his relationships with prominent personalities in Brussels including at the court. Both Cardinal-infant Ferdinand and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, the governors of the Southern Netherlands, were his patrons. Van de Venne is recorded as a master in the

in Brussels in 1616. He is believed to have been active as a painter as well as a gilder of moldings and perhaps even a painter of imitation marble on frames and altarpieces. He remained active in Brussels where he died in or before 1651.

Work

General

Jan van der Venne - The raising of Lazarus

Van de Venne left very few signed paintings. His oeuvre has been reconstituted based on signed or documented works which show his very individual style, subjects, use of light and brilliancy. His works are typically small-scale oil on panel compositions. Van de Venne specialised in caricatures of so-called ‘low-life’ subjects, such as card-players, tooth-pullers and musicians, and in expressive religious scenes. His paintings demonstrate harsh

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

s in a stronger light than

Adriaen Brouwer Adriaen Brouwer (, in Oudenaarde – January 1638, in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter active in Flanders and the Dutch Republic in the first half of the 17th century.

Influences

Various historians have attempted to explain the origins of his style. They have identified a range of influences on the work of van de Venne: his themes and style are reminiscent of his contemporary

Adriaen Brouwer Adriaen Brouwer (, in Oudenaarde – January 1638, in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter active in Flanders and the Dutch Republic in the first half of the 17th century.

. His preference for brownish tonalities and themes are similar to those of Dutch such as

Adriaen van Ostade Adriaen van Ostade (baptized as Adriaen Jansz Hendricx 10 December 1610 – buried 2 May 1685) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, showing everyday life of ordinary men and women. Life According to Arnold Houbraken, he and his brot ...

, Benjamin Cuyp and

Andries Both Andries Both (1612/1613 – 23 March 1642), was a Dutch genre painter. He was part of the group of Dutch and Flemish genre painters active in Rome in the 17th century known as the bamboccianti, who painted scenes from the everyday life of the ...

. His nervous style shows possibly the influence of

David Teniers the Elder David Teniers the Elder (158229 July 1649), Flemish painter, was born at Antwerp. Biography Having received his first training in the painter's art from his brother Juliaen, he studied under Rubens in Antwerp, and subsequently under Elshei ...

and some authors even conjecture he may have studied under Teniers. Lucas van Leyden's engravings as well

Adam Elsheimer __NOTOC__ Adam Elsheimer (18 March 1578 – 11 December 1610) was a German artist working in Rome, who died at only thirty-two, but was very influential in the early 17th century in the field of Baroque paintings. His relatively few paintin ...

's treatment of the effects of light and shade are also cited as possible influences. Some of his works have formerly been attributed to the style of Rembrandt. Jan van de Venne is believed to have in turn exerted an influence on other contemporary artists. For instance the Dutch '' Bambocciante'' painter

is believed to have derived his propensity for caricature-like distortions of the faces and poses of his figures from the compositions of van de Venne. Heads of an old man and an old woman, by Jan van der Venne

Heads of an old man and an old woman, by Jan van der Venne

Tronies

Many of his works are caricatural portraits of heads. The squeaky misery of the characters he depicts often in profile and the virtuosity of the pasty effects come close to the early production of

Georges de La Tour Georges de La Tour (13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chia ...

. The use of light that make the clothes and folds flicker also evokes the last French Mannerists such as

Claude Vignon Claude Vignon (19 May 1593 – 10 May 1670) was a French painter, printmaker and illustrator who worked in a wide range of genres.Paola Pacht Bassani. "Vignon, Claude." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 2 November ...

Claude Deruet Claude Deruet (1588–1660) was a famous French Baroque painter of the 17th century, from the city of Nancy. Biography Deruet was an apprentice to Jacques Bellange, the official court painter to Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. He was in Rome b ...

. Jan van de Venne occasionally used the paired model whereby two different tronies are paired up and juxtaposed with each other.Jan Muylle, ''Tronies toegeschreven aan Pieter Bruegel''
in: De zeventiende eeuw. Jaargang 17. Uitgeverij Verloren, Hilversum 2001, p. 174-203

Gypsy scenes

Jan van de Venne regularly painted scenes with gypsies. As many of these works with gypsies are in collections in French museums (Aix-en Provence, Auxerre, Besançon, Chambéry, Dijon, Dunkirk, Hazebrouck, Lille, Marseille, Louvre, Quimper and Semur-en-Auxois) he earned the sobriquet 'le Maître des Tziganes' (the Master of the Gypsies) in France. An example of one of his gypsy scenes is the '' Gypsy family'' at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, which shows a gypsy family preparing an outdoor meal over a fire while a woman is delousing a child. Van de venne

The Temptation of St Antony

He also painted various versions of ''The Temptation of St Antony''. This subject was very popular in Flemish art from the late 15th century. Catholics regard Saint Anthony as a model to be emulated as he is believed to have resisted multiple temptations sent to him by the devil. Flemish paintings dealing with the theme of the temptation of Saint Anthony are typically populated with witches and monstrous creatures that tempt him. Van der Venne's versions of ''The Temptation of St Antony'' with different compositions are in museums in Dunkerque, Haarlem and Holbourne and one was sold at Auktionshaus im Kinsky on 28 November 2013 in Vienna (as lot 2). The version sold at Auktionshaus im Kinsky shows St Anthony in a cave kneeling in front of a table with books. To his right appear fanciful phantoms and in the background a witch with a young woman.Jan van der Venne, genannt Pseudo van der Venne, ''Die Versuchung des Hl. Antonius
at Auktionshaus im Kinsky

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Venne, Jan van de Flemish genre painters Flemish portrait painters Flemish history painters Flemish Baroque painters Painters from Brussels Artists from Mechelen Year of birth uncertain