David Oyens (29 July 1842 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

– 11 February 1902 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 ...

) and Pieter Oyens (29 July 1842 in Amsterdam – 16 February 1894 in Brussels),

identical twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

, were Dutch painters who specialized in

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 ...

scenes. They both spent most of their careers in Brussels. Their name was originally spelled "Oijens".

Biography

David and Pieter were two of the ten children born to a family of bankers. Beginning at the age of eight, they took drawing lessons from .Brief biography
@ the Frans Kapma Foundation. This was done at the insistence of their mother, who was an amateur artist. They proved to be poor students, however, and were not much more successful at learning the banking trade. Eventually, they chose art over finance and, in 1860, went to Brussels to attend classes at the Academie voor Kunsten. Two years later, they entered the workshop of the Orientalist painter

Jean-François Portaels Jean-François Portaels or Jan Portaels (3 April 1818 – 8 February 1895) was a Belgian painter of genre scenes, biblical stories, landscapes, portraits and orientalist subjects. He was also a teacher and director of the Academy of Fine Arts ...

.Biographical notes
@ Mark Mitchell Paintings. They shared a studio in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the Ci ...

and often served as models for each other. A large inheritance from their family enabled them to lead a

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

lifestyle. David married in 1866, which proved to be a difficult adjustment for Pieter, but he was eventually reconciled to it. In 1875, they began to achieve some success.Brief biography
@ AbsoFacts. The critic

Camille Lemonnier Antoine Louis Camille Lemonnier (24 March 1844 – 13 June 1913) was a Belgian writer, poet and journalist. He was a member of the Symbolist ''La Jeune Belgique'' group, but his best known works are realist. His first work was ''Salon de Bruxelle ...

praised their work, which led to numerous sales and commissions. In 1880, David won a gold medal at the triennial Brussels Salon. They began exhibiting more widely, including a large display at the

Exposition Universelle (1889) The Exposition Universelle of 1889 () was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 5 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fourth of eight expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more than thirty-two million visitors. The ...

. Pieter did not get married until 1893. Soon after, he suffered a stroke and died the following year, only a month before the birth of his daughter. David was griefstricken. He painted very little and his health also began to decline. He and his wife moved to

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

in 1895, but he missed Brussels. They returned in 1900, and he seemed to improve, but died two years later and was buried next to Pieter. They both signed their works with their surname only, so determining who painted which canvas is often difficult. Generally, David painted faster, and was more impulsive; whereas Pieter paid close attention to composition. Major retrospectives of their work were held at the

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag The Kunstmuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands, founded in 1866 as the Museum voor Moderne Kunst. Later, until 1998, it was known as Haags Gemeentemuseum, and until the end of September 2019 as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. I ...

in 2008, and at the

Charlier Museum The Charlier Museum (french: Musée Charlier, nl, Charliermuseum) is a museum in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium, exhibiting Belgian art of the end of the 19th century. The museum is often used for concerts of classi ...

in Brussels in 2010.

Selected paintings

References

External links

Arcadja Auctions: More works by David Oyens

Arcadja Auctions: More works by Pieter Oyens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oyens 1842 births 1894 deaths 1902 deaths 19th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters Dutch genre painters Portrait painters Painters from Amsterdam Identical twins Artists from Brussels 19th-century Dutch male artists

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links