Grimbergen
Grimbergen () is a municipality in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, 10 km north of the capital Brussels. It comprises the towns of Beigem, Grimbergen, Humbeek, and Strombeek-Bever. In 2017, it had a population of 37,030 and an are ...
– 1655,
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 ...
) was a
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
tapestry
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 ...
designer.Hans Devisscher. "Lodewijk de Vadder" Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 14 October 2020 His landscapes represent a move away from the Mannerist tradition of landscapes painting in Flemish art towards a more naturalistic approach exemplified by looser brushwork and an emphasis on atmospheric effects. He was the first Flemish landscape painter who painted dune landscapes as the primary feature of his landscapes. While his loose brush handling shows the influence of Rubens and
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.
He was born in Grimbergen and was baptized on 8 April 1605. He was the son of Gielis de Vadder and Margriet Cocx. He came from a family of painters: his father and brothers Philippe (born 1590) and Huybrecht (born 1592) were painters. While there are no records on his apprenticeship, it is assumed that his brother Philippe who became a master of the
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 ...
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 ...
in 1613 was his teacher.
He became a master of the
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
In 1644 he obtained from the Brussels city authorities a privilege to make tapestry cartoons. He made cartoons principally for the Brussels weaving workshops of Jan Cordijs and Boudewijn van Beveren.
His pupils were Ignatius van der Stock, Jan Claessens and possibly also
De Vadder painted the landscapes with woods and rural areas around Brussels with a preference for sunken paths. It was originally believed that he only produced small-scale works marked with the monogram LDV. It has been demonstrated that he was responsible for a number of large-scale works that were formerly attributed to his younger contemporary and follower Jacques d'Arthois. De Vadder, his pupil Ignatius van der Stock, his presumed pupil Lucas Achtschellinck and d'Arthois are usually referred to collectively as "The
Sonian Forest
The Sonian Forest or Sonian Wood ( nl, Zoniënwoud, french: Forêt de Soignes, ) is a forest at the southeast edge of Brussels, Belgium.
The Sonian Forest was a favorite hunting ground of the Habsburg Imperial family, and as such features promi ...
Painters" as they often depicted the woods and sand banks in the Sonian Forest near Brussels.
Important influences on De Vadder were the late landscapes of Peter Paul Rubens as well as the landscapes of Adriaen Brouwer. De Vadder's style is freer in composition and, with its loose, broad brushwork, reminiscent of Rubens' style. His landscapes represent a departure from the Mannerist tradition of landscapes painting in Flemish art as represented by artists such as
in favor of a more naturalistic approach. Rather than the densely populated forests of van Alsloot, he depicted landscapes in which emptiness dominates. He emphasized atmospheric effects over detailed depiction of the features of the landscapes. He was the first Flemish landscape painter who painted dune landscapes as the primary feature of his landscapes. His palette is more restrained than that of the Flemish landscapes tradition which shows his awareness of developments in the Dutch Republic, in particular the works of
Pieter Dircksz Santvoort
Pieter Dircksz. van Santvoort (1604–1635), was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter.
He was born in Amsterdam and is known for landscapes in the manner of Esaias van de Velde.
,
Pieter de Molijn
Pieter de Molijn (6 April 1595 in London – 23 March 1661 in Haarlem) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver of English birth and Flemish descent.
He was baptized in the Dutch Reformed Austin Friars church in London. He was born to Pi ...
and
Jan van Goyen
Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapesm marines, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscape, cityscap ...
.
As was not unusual at the time, de Vadder collaborated with other artists. So, he painted landscapes for a.o. Gaspard de Crayer, Antoon Sallaert or Michael Sweerts, and David Teniers painted the staffage of several of his paintings. He was likely responsible for the large trees that appear in some of the works in the never-finished cycle on the ''Life of Henry IV'' (1628–30) created by Rubens and
Peter Snayers
Peter Snayers or Pieter Snayers (1592–1667) was a Flemish painter known for his panoramic battle scenes, depictions of cavalry skirmishes, attacks on villages, coaches and convoys and hunting scenes. (p. 241-243, v.1; plate 92, v.2)Hans V ...
.Carl van de Velde, "Snayers, Pieter" ''Grove Art Online''.
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
Gothenburg Museum of Art
Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden.
It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection.
Collections
The museum holds the world's finest collect ...
) The ''Life of Henry'' series was commissioned from Rubens by
Marie de' Medici
Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...
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 ...
on tapestry designs for the tapestry workshop of Jan Cordijs. He was an accomplished draughtsman and some of his drawings were engraved by other artists such as
Lucas Vorsterman the Elder
Lucas Vorsterman (1595–1675) was a Baroque engraver. He worked with the artists Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, as well as for patrons such as Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel and Charles I of England.
Biography
Vorsterman ...
and
Wenceslaus Hollar
Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as . He is particu ...
. He was a gifted printmaker himself. A series of 8 landscape etchings by his hand referred to as the 'Small landscapes' was published by the Antwerp publisher