Matthijs Musson (1593 in
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, – 3 November 1678) was a painter and art dealer based in Antwerp, who played an important role in popularizing artists of the 17th-century
Antwerp school by marketing them throughout Europe.
[J. de Maere, Jennifer A. Martin, and Marie Wabbes. ''Illustrated Dictionary of 17th Century Flemish Painters''. Brussels: Renaissance du livre, 1994; p. 294. ]
Life
![Matthijs musson-cristo en casa de marta y maria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Matthijs_musson-cristo_en_casa_de_marta_y_maria.jpg)
Matthijs Musson was born in Antwerp as the son of Robert Musson, an innkeeper. Matthijs is possibly a pupil in the workshop of Rubens and becomes 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 1622.
[Stefan de VRIES, ''Le commerce de l’art entre les Flandres et l’Espagne, 1648-1713'', Master thesis 1: Histoire de l’art Université Paris Sorbonne-Paris IV UFR Histoire de l’Art et Archéologie, 2007 ][Matthijs Musson]
at 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 ...
Matthijs married on 24 February 1632 Maria Borremans who died on 12 May 1646 without issue. In the year 1646-1647 he was deacon of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke.
[Karlien Jordens, ''Het management van een zeventiende eeuwse kunstfirma. Case study: de Firma Forchoudt'', Master thesis submitted in 2009 - 2010 at the Rijksuniversiteit Gent ] Musson remarried on 15 September 1647 Maria Fourmenois who had been widowed two times before. Her last husband was the glass and ebony dealer Cornelis de Wael.
[ After his marriage to Fourmenois, Musson started to deal in art and his wife played an important role in this trading business.][
Musson had contacts with dealers throughout Europe. In Flanders, he was active mainly in Antwerp and Brussels. About 60 painters worked for Musson and Fourmenois including ]Joos de Momper
Joos de Momper the Younger or Joost de Momper the Younger (1564February5, 1635) was a Flemish landscape painter active in Antwerp between the late 16th century and the early 17th century. Brueghel's influence is clearly evident in many of de Momp ...
, David Teniers the Younger
David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile arti ...
, Abraham Willemsens
Abraham Willemsens or Abraham Willemsen (c. 1605-1610 - 1672), was a Flemish painter of history and genre paintings.[Ab ...]
, Victor Wolfvoet II and Willem van Herp
Willem van Herp (I) or Willem van Herp the Elder (variations on first name: 'Guilliam', 'Gilliam' and 'Guillaume') (c. 1614 in Antwerp – 1677) was a Flemish Baroque painter specializing in religious paintings and small cabinet paintings of "low ...
. After discovering that works of painters from 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 ...
, a city situated between Brussels and Antwerp, were of high quality and relatively inexpensive he started sourcing from this city. As a trained painter, he did not limit himself to trading. He gave detailed instructions to his artists and for instance paid Pieter van Lint
Pieter van Lint or Peter van Lint (1609–1690) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and designer of tapestries. He excelled in history paintings, genre scenes and portraits in the Flemish Baroque style with some Classisizing influence. He work ...
to make changes to a human figure in one of his paintings.[Abraham Willemsens (active 1627-1672), A peasant family in a yard]
at Christies
In 1657 Matthijs Musson bought the art works from the estate of 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 ...
, which included great works by Rubens and van Dyck as well as examples by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Joachim Patinir
Joachim Patinir, also called Patenier (c. 1480 – 5 October 1524), was a Flemish Renaissance painter of history and landscape subjects. He was Flemish, from the area of modern Wallonia, but worked in Antwerp, then the centre of the art market ...
, 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 ...
, Joos van Cleve
Joos van Cleve (; also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485–1490 – 1540/1541) was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the tr ...
and Frans Ykens.
Many of his correspondences have been published and studies of his business relationships with other dealers across Europe have contributed to an understanding of the 17th-century art trade and its economics.
Work
Only very few artistic works of Matthijs Musson are known. His style was clearly influenced by his master Rubens in his preference for ornamental opulence, sumptuous still lifes and a dramatic sense of narration. The human figures in his compositions are more stylised and svelte in comparison with the Rubenesque models.
A work entitled ''Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary'' (Collection of the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Bilbao, Spain. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, and is present ...
) uses a biblical subject as a pretext to create a sumptuous still life. His rendition of the vase of flowers in the centre of the composition is reminiscent of works by the Flemish artist Jan Philip van Thielen
Jan Philip van Thielen or Jan Philips van Thielen (1618 in Mechelen – 1667 in Booischot) was a Flemish painter who specialized in flower pieces and garland paintings. He was a regular collaborator with leading Flemish and Dutch figure pain ...
, for whom Musson acted as a dealer.Matthijs Musson, 'Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary'
at the BBVA Collection)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musson, Matthijs
Flemish Baroque painters
Flemish history painters
Flemish art dealers
Artists from Antwerp
1598 births
1678 deaths
Businesspeople from Antwerp