Jasper BroersJasper Broers
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (

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,

, 21 April 1682 – Antwerp, 1716) was a Flemish painter. He is known for his landscapes and allegorical compositions and was a leading battle painter in Flanders in the first two decades of the 18th century.Reginald Howard Wilenski, ''Flemish Painters: 1430-1830'', Viking Press, 1960, p. 368

Life

Jasper Broers was born in Antwerp in a lowly family. His father Joris died when he was only 4 months old. His mother Suzanna Jegers sent him at the age of 13 to study painting with Jan Baptist van der Meiren, a landscape and battle painter. In 1703 he became a master of 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 ...

.Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 1203-1204 Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius, De liggeren en andere historische archieven der Antwerpsche sint Lucasgilde
Volume 2, Antwerp, 1864, p. 579, on

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On 27 June 1704 Jasper married Catharina Verdussen. It is not clear whether she was the Catarina Verdussen who in 1696 became a master painter in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke as a daughter of a master.Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius, p. 589, on

It is known that Broers collaborated with the painter Pieter Verdussen, who was the brother of the painter Catarina Verdussen. Jasper Broers and Catharina Verdussen remained childless. Broers suffered from a weak constitution and on 15 May 1713 he was so ill that he drew up a will. About three years later he died. He was buried in the St Andrew Church in Antwerp on 19 January 1716.

Work

Jasper Broers is known for his landscapes and allegorical compositions. He was a leading battle painter in Flanders in the first two decades of the 18th century. Only very few of his works are preserved. The artist had a preference for battle scenes involving cavalry engagements at close range placed in a sweeping and dramatic landscape.Gaspar Broers (1682– 1716), ''Zwei Reiterschlachtszenen''
at Hampel Fine Art Auctions Munich His small battle-pieces were painted in a manner close to that of

Jan van Huchtenburg J(oh)an and Jacob van Huchtenburg (also known as Hughtenburg or Hugtenburg(h)) were two Dutch Golden Age painters in the second half of the seventeenth century. Both brothers were natives of Haarlem, moved to Paris, but died in Amsterdam. The ma ...

and Karel Breydel.Jasper Broers, ''Reiterschlacht''
at the Hamburger Kunsthalle Broers regularly painted his battle scenes in pairs in a horizontal format. He would place the battle action in the two compositions at opposite sides of the canvases so as to create a comparatively free space in the middle of the picture. An example is the pair of cavalry clashes auctioned at Hampel Fine Art Auctions Munich on 20 September 2012 (lot 296). Broers heightens the drama of the battle carnage through the dramatic cloud formations, which start at the bottom with the black gunpowder fumes that merge higher up into the lighter, sun-lit spring clouds. While the battle action takes place under the clouds as well as on the side of the rising hills, the artist has arranged for some light coming from the left in both compositions to fall on a few riders prominently placed in the middle ground. In the pictures, the central figures are a rider on a white horse and riders on two brown horses. In the left picture, the shining back of the white horse is emphasized further by the red coat of the rider, who is fighting a rider in a blue coat. The motif of the illuminated white horse was often used by the Dutch battle painter

Philips Wouwerman Philips Wouwerman (also Wouwermans) (24 May 1619 (baptized) – 19 May 1668) was a Dutch painter of hunting, landscape and battle scenes. Life and work Philips Wouwerman was one of the most versatile and prolific artists of the Dutch Golden ...

His ''Battle of Ekeren'' (1703-1716,

Plantin-Moretus Museum The Plantin-Moretus Museum ( nl, Plantin-Moretusmuseum) is a printing museum in Antwerp, Belgium which focuses on the work of the 16th-century printers Christophe Plantin and Jan Moretus. It is located in their former residence and printing establ ...

) depicts an important battle of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

fought on 30 June 1703 near Antwerp between a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

force and a Dutch army, which became encircled and barely avoided destruction. Unlike contemporary Flemish battle painters

Constantijn Francken Constantijn Francken or Konstantijn FranckenFrans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 978-980 Name variations: Constantinus Francken, Constantyn Francken, Constantin Francken, Constanty ...

and Pieter Verdussen who painted the same battle from an undramatic bird's-eye view, Broers tried to maintain the drama in his composition by moving the action closer and placing it at nightfall allowing him to exploit light effects of fire and smoke. Jasper Broers - Cavalry battle

Another subject matter to which Broers returned is the analogy of the months of which he is known to have painted a cycle.Jasper Broers (Antwerp 1682-1716), ''The Months of May and August''
at Dorotheum Only a few of Jasper Broers' drawings can be securely attributed to him. Two, one of which signed, are in the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. The signed ''Cavalry battle'' has a composition, which is reminiscent of his cavalry battle paintings such as the ''Cavalry skirmish'' (Auctioned at Bonhams in London on 27 October 2004, lot 10). With the light and sometimes nervous application of the pen on the paper angular and the edgy and at times closely curled outlines, he shows in this drawing that he had found his own artistic language.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Broers, Jasper 1682 births 1716 deaths Artists from Antwerp Flemish Baroque painters Flemish landscape painters Flemish war artists Painters from Antwerp