Victor Wolfvoet (II) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Victor Wolfvoet (II) or Victor Wolfvoet the Younger (1612 – 1652), was a Flemish art dealer and painter of
at the
at Christie’s
He married in 1636. His 1652 will, which he made not long before his death, states that he was the widower of Elisabeth Mertens. Victor Wolfvoet died in Antwerp on 23 October 1652 leaving one daughter, Livina Wolfvoet.Erik Duverger, ''Antwerpse kunstinventarissen uit de zeventiende eeuw, Volume 6'', Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België, 1992, p. 343
The artist's estate comprised a substantial collection of artworks of seven hundred items. The inventory of his estate lists twenty sketches by Rubens, including several designs for the ceilings of the Carolus Borromeus Church in Antwerp and six bozzetti for the ''Triumph of the Eucharist'' tapestry series. There are also sketches by other artists, many unattributed sketches and framed grisailles, and a number of sketches after Rubens.Marjorie E. Wieseman, ''Pursuing and Possessing Passion: Two Hundred Years of Collecting Rubens's Oil Sketches''
in: Peter C. Sutton (Author), Marjorie E. Wieseman (Author), Nico van Hout, 'Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens', Exhibition catalogue Greenwich, Conn.: Yale University Press in association with Bruce Museum of Arts and Sciences, 2003 Some of the sketches were likely in Wolfvoet's own hand, like his copies after Rubens' ''Abraham and Melchizedek'' and ''Manna from Heaven'' both now in the Mauritshuis, The Hague. The large collection of works has been regarded as evidence that the artist may also have been active as an art dealer.
Although there is no evidence Wolfvoet studied under Rubens, he is considered one of the most faithful followers of that artist. He often used paintings or preparatory drawings or oil sketches by Rubens as the model for his paintings. He had access to some of these through his art business and public sales of Rubens' work in the Antwerp market.Anne T. Woollett, Ariane van Suchtelen, ''Rubens & Brueghel: A Working Friendship'', Getty Publications, 2006, p. 184 Examples are two copper paintings relating to the theme of the ''War between War and Peace'' (private collections) and an oil on canvas of ''Hercules and Minerva Expelling Mars'' (
He was inspired by other artists such as
Victor Wolfvoet (II) or Victor Wolfvoet the Younger (1612 – 1652), was a Flemish art dealer and painter of history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and allegorical paintings. His artistic output was heavily influenced by Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...
.Victor Wolfvoet (II)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 ...
Life
Victor Wolfvoet the Younger was born in Antwerp as the son of Victor Wolfvoet the Elder, a painter and art dealer, and Brigitta Voorwercx. His father was probably his teacher. He became a member of the AntwerpGuild 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 ...
around 1644-5. Some sources refer to Wolfvoet as a pupil of Rubens.Victor Wolfvoet (II) - A Bacchanal in a wooded river landscapeat Christie’s
He married in 1636. His 1652 will, which he made not long before his death, states that he was the widower of Elisabeth Mertens. Victor Wolfvoet died in Antwerp on 23 October 1652 leaving one daughter, Livina Wolfvoet.Erik Duverger, ''Antwerpse kunstinventarissen uit de zeventiende eeuw, Volume 6'', Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België, 1992, p. 343
The artist's estate comprised a substantial collection of artworks of seven hundred items. The inventory of his estate lists twenty sketches by Rubens, including several designs for the ceilings of the Carolus Borromeus Church in Antwerp and six bozzetti for the ''Triumph of the Eucharist'' tapestry series. There are also sketches by other artists, many unattributed sketches and framed grisailles, and a number of sketches after Rubens.Marjorie E. Wieseman, ''Pursuing and Possessing Passion: Two Hundred Years of Collecting Rubens's Oil Sketches''in: Peter C. Sutton (Author), Marjorie E. Wieseman (Author), Nico van Hout, 'Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens', Exhibition catalogue Greenwich, Conn.: Yale University Press in association with Bruce Museum of Arts and Sciences, 2003 Some of the sketches were likely in Wolfvoet's own hand, like his copies after Rubens' ''Abraham and Melchizedek'' and ''Manna from Heaven'' both now in the Mauritshuis, The Hague. The large collection of works has been regarded as evidence that the artist may also have been active as an art dealer.
Work
Wolfvoet was active as an art dealer, became an artist rather late in life and died relatively young. This explains his fairly limited output. As his work has recently received more academic attention his known oeuvre has expanded thanks to new attributions to Wolfvoet of work formerly attributed to other artists such as Erasmus Quellinus II,Guillam Forchondt
Willem Forchondt, or Guillam Forchondt the Elder (1608–1678) was a Flemish painter, cabinet maker and art dealer. He operated a successful painting workshop and a profitable are dealership which extended throughout Europe through the satellite ...
and Willem van Herp and anonymous Rubens followers.M. Díaz Padrón, 'Tres cobres restituidos a Victor Wolfvoet, el más fiel seguidor de Rubens', Archivo Español de Arte 79 (2006), nr. 316, p. 403-412 M. Díaz Padrón, 'Tres nuevos cobres de Victor Wolfvoet con la Paz y la Guerra baje las consigna de Rubens', Archivo Español de Arte 85 (2012), nr. 337, p. 403-412 M. Díaz Padrón, ''Dos Cobres De Victor Wolfvoet En El Museo De San Carlos De Mejico'', Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología: BSAA, , Tomo 65, 1999, Universidad de Valladolid: Servicio de Publicaciones
Although there is no evidence Wolfvoet studied under Rubens, he is considered one of the most faithful followers of that artist. He often used paintings or preparatory drawings or oil sketches by Rubens as the model for his paintings. He had access to some of these through his art business and public sales of Rubens' work in the Antwerp market.Anne T. Woollett, Ariane van Suchtelen, ''Rubens & Brueghel: A Working Friendship'', Getty Publications, 2006, p. 184 Examples are two copper paintings relating to the theme of the ''War between War and Peace'' (private collections) and an oil on canvas of ''Hercules and Minerva Expelling Mars'' (Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...
) (of which there also exists a copy on copper). In the first two copper paintings he used a palette similar to that of Rubens and achieved a harmony of tone with space, which he had learned from Rubens.
He was inspired by other artists such as Frans Francken the Younger
Frans Francken the Younger (1581 in Antwerp, 1581 – 6 May 1642, in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter who created altarpieces and furniture panels and gained his reputation chiefly through his small and delicate cabinet pictures with historical, m ...
whose versions of the ''Worship of the Golden Calf'' he used as a basis for his own version of this theme (in the Museo Nacional de San Carlos
The Museo Nacional de San Carlos ( en, National Museum of San Carlos) is a Mexican national art museum devoted to European art, located in the Cuauhtémoc borough in Mexico City. The museum is housed in the Palace of the Count of Buenavista, a n ...
). Wolfvoet copied the colour of Franken’s versions but added figures and intensified the shadows on the objects and persons.
A significant portion of the output of Wolfvoet consists of relatively small-scale paintings on copper. This medium was preferred for paintings made for the export market, in particular to Spain and the Spanish South-American colonies where the copper support was highly prized both for durability and its glossy finish.Phoenix Art Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and Mauritshuis (Hague, Netherlands), ''Copper As Canvas Two Centuries of Masterpiece Paintings on Copper, 1575-1775'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1999; pp. 206–208.
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfvoet, Victor 2 1612 births 1652 deaths Flemish Baroque painters Painters from Antwerp Artists from Antwerp Flemish history painters