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Peter Martin Mijtens the Elder, also spelled Meytens or Mytens (1648- 1736) was a Dutch-Swedish painter. Trained in the Netherlands, he worked principally in
adelsvapen.com His earliest works were very simple compared with nobleman
More works by Mijtens
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Mijtens, Martin 1648 births 1736 deaths Artists from The Hague 17th-century Swedish painters 18th-century Dutch painters 18th-century Dutch male artists 18th-century Swedish painters 18th-century Swedish male artists Dutch male painters Swedish male painters Portrait painters Dutch emigrants to Sweden Dutch Golden Age painters
Peter Martin Mijtens the Elder, also spelled Meytens or Mytens (1648- 1736) was a Dutch-Swedish painter. Trained in the Netherlands, he worked principally in Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
Biography
He was born atThe Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
in the Netherlands
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, image_map =
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
into a family of artists. His father was Isaac Mijtens (1602-1666), the son of an art dealer and saddler from 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 ...
. His father and his son Martin van Meytens
Martin van Meytens (24 June 1695 – 23 March 1770) was a Sweden, Swedish-Austrian painter who painted members of the Royal Court of Austria such as Marie Antoinette, Maria Theresa, Maria Theresa of Austria, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, the Em ...
, known as "The Younger" were both painters. His uncle Daniël Mijtens
Daniël Mijtens ( 1590 – 1647/48), known in England as Daniel Mytens the Elder, was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter belonging to a family of Flemish painters who spent the central years of his career working in England.
Biography
...
, and his cousins Daniel Mijtens the Younger
Daniël Mijtens the Younger (7 August 1644, The Hague – buried on 23 September 1688, The Hague), was a Dutch Golden Age painter and the son of Daniel Mytens the Elder, although some early sources indicate that his father was Jan Mijtens. H ...
and Johannes Mytens
Johannes Mytens or Jan Mijtens, or "Mytens" to the English (c.1614 – 24 December 1670) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, almost entirely as a portraitist.
Mytens was born in The Hague. According to Houbraken, Johannes (Jan) Mijtens was trained ...
were painters as well.
He went to Stockholm with his older brother Dietrich Mijtens (d. 1679) where his portraits were well received. In 1681, he decided to stay and shortly after was married to Johanna de Bruyn. Martin Mijtens d. ä.adelsvapen.com His earliest works were very simple compared with nobleman
David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl
David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (23 September 1628 – 23 October 1698) was a Swedish nobleman and portrait painter.
Biography
David Klöcker was born in Hamburg. He was the son of Johann Klöcker and had eight siblings.
In 1648, Klöcker tr ...
who was the most popular portrait painter at that time. To maintain his clientele, Mijtens' works gradually became more colorful and dramatic, although it has been said that he sacrificed character.
Many of his paintings were left unsigned, which has often led to them being confused with Ehrenstrahl's work, although certain small stylistic differences can be perceived. Despite the competition from Ehrenstrahl and his nephew David von Krafft (both of whom became court painter
A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...
s), he earned a sufficient income to amass a significant art collection. He had several students, including Georg Desmarées
Georg Desmarées or Des Marées, (29 October 1697 – 3 October 1776) was a Swedish-born German portrait painter.
Biography
Desmarées was born in 1697 at Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of immigrant parents Jean Desmarées and Sara Meijteris ...
and Lucas von Breda. He also trained his son, who later went to Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and adopted the surname "Van Meytens".
He apparently suffered from some sort of senility or insanity in his later years. He died in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
during 1736. After his death, his collection was sold to Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n diplomat Count . Later, much of it came into the possession of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg
Charles Eugene (German: ''Carl Eugen''; 11 February 1728 – 24 October 1793), Duke of Württemberg, was the eldest son, and successor, of Charles Alexander; his mother was Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis.
Life
Born in Brussels, he ...
.
Posthumous criticism was harsh. Swedish diplomat Carl Gustaf Tessin
Count Carl Gustaf Tessin (5 September 1695 – 7 January 1770) was a Swedish Count and politician and son of architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and Hedvig Eleonora Stenbock. He was one of the most brilliant personages of his day, and the mo ...
called him "an old paint-spoiler" (''färgskämmare''). He was essentially forgotten until 1841, when his work was reevaluated by literary and art critic Nils Arfwidsson
Nils Arfwidsson (7 May 1802, Göteborg – 14 April 1880, Stockholm) was a Swedish author, journalist, and government official.
Biography
He was born to Niklas Arfwidsson, a village counselor, and his wife, Anna Margareta née von Jacobsson, the ...
, who wrote about him in ', a magazine devoted to the arts and sciences.
References
Other sources
* Boo von Malmborg (1961) ''Martin van Meytens d.a. - En konstnär från Sveriges storhetstid'' (Malmö: Allhems förlag) *Marije Osnabrugge (2015) ''Netherlandish immigrant painters in Naples (1575-1654)'' (Dissertation - University of Amsterdam)External links
More works by Mijtens
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Mijtens, Martin 1648 births 1736 deaths Artists from The Hague 17th-century Swedish painters 18th-century Dutch painters 18th-century Dutch male artists 18th-century Swedish painters 18th-century Swedish male artists Dutch male painters Swedish male painters Portrait painters Dutch emigrants to Sweden Dutch Golden Age painters