Willem van Herp (I) or Willem van Herp the Elder (variations on first name: 'Guilliam', 'Gilliam' and 'Guillaume') (c. 1614 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,

– 1677) was a Flemish

Baroque painter Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival,cabinet painting A cabinet painting (or "cabinet picture") is a small painting, typically no larger than two feet (0.6 meters) in either dimension, but often much smaller. The term is especially used for paintings that show full-length figures or landscapes at a s ...

s of "low-life"

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.Willem van Herp (I)
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 ...

He operated a large workshop and through his good connections with Antwerp art dealers helped spread the Flemish Baroque style internationally.Hans Vlieghe. "Herp, Willem van, I." Grove Art Online. Oxford 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 ...

. Web. 14 March 2017

Life

For a long time Willem van Herp was believed to have been a pupil of

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 traditio ...

.Gregory Martin, "An Early Work by Willem van Herp," in Volker Manuth and Axel Rüger, ''Collected Opinions Essays on Netherlandish Art in Honour of Alfred Bader'', London: Paul Holberton Pub, 2004; pp. 106–113. Even though he was not his pupil he did borrow many of Rubens' motifs and touched up copies after Rubens for the art dealer

Matthijs Musson Matthijs Musson (1593 in Antwerp – 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 ...

.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. He is said to have trained with the minor artists Damiaan Wortelmans II and Hans Biermans. Willem van Herp (I) and Studio - A larder with two figures

Willem van Herp (I) and Studio - A larder with two figures

Van Herp may have spent some time abroad after his training. He was listed as an independent master in the

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 ...

beginning in 1637. He spent his entire career in Antwerp. He married Maria Wolffort, daughter of the painter

Artus Wolffort Artus Wolffort, Artus Wolffaert or Artus Wolffaerts (1581–1641) was a Flemish painter known mainly for his history paintings depicting religious and mythological scenes.Melchior Hamers Melchior Hamers (Antwerp, 26 January 1638 – Antwerp, 1709/10) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, printmaker and publisher. He is known for his Italianate landscapes, scenes with hunters and battle scenes. He made a number of prints after de ...

Work

General

Van Herp painted mainly genre scenes and religious compositions. It is not possible to discern a development in his style since he only dated a few of his pictures. His style is characterised by its somewhat mannered way of drawing and the expressiveness of the figures. His large output point to a large workshop with an almost industrial operation. Willem van Herp - Tavern with merrymakers and card players

Willem van Herp - Tavern with merrymakers and card players

Many of his paintings can be regarded as copies or pastiches of original compositions by Antwerp painters such as Rubens,

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

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 ...

Gerard Seghers Gerard SeghersGerard Seghers
at the

Jan Boeckhorst Jan Boeckhorst or Johann Bockhorst (c. 1604 – 21 April 1668) was a German-born Flemish Baroque painter and draughtsman. He was a versatile artist who produced history paintings, genre scenes and portraits in a style influenced by the trio o ...

Hendrick van Balen Hendrick van Balen or Hendrick van Balen I (c. 1573–1575 in Antwerp – 17 July 1632 in Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter and stained glass designer. Hendrick van Balen specialised in small cabinet pictures often painted on a copper ...

Erasmus Quellinus the Younger Erasmus Quellinus the Younger or Erasmus Quellinus II (1607–1678) was a Flemish painter, engraver, draughtsman and tapestry designer who worked in various genres including history, portrait, allegorical, battle and animal paintings. He was a ...

Gaspar de Crayer Gaspar de Crayer or Jasper de CrayerName variations: Caspar de Crayer and Gaspard de Crayer (18 November 1584 – 27 January 1669) was a Flemish painter known for his many Counter-Reformation altarpieces and portraits. He was a court paint ...

and Artus Wolffort as well as of Italian masters such as Raffael and

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

Typical works

Typical examples of his work are the painting ''A Poor Company at Table in a Rustic Kitchen'' held by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Tyntesfield Tyntesfield is a Victorian Gothic Revival house and estate near Wraxall, North Somerset, England. The house is a Grade I listed building named after the Tynte baronets, who had owned estates in the area since about 1500. The location was form ...

and oil on copper religious paintings, such as ''Daniel in the Lion's Den'' (''c''. 1650,

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

). In the former, a genre scene, the figures demonstrate a small-scale use of Rubensean figures in an interior reminiscent of contemporary works by

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 ...

Willem van Herp (I) - A Poor Company at a Table in a Rustic Kitchen (Le petit chaudron)

The latter is more representative of the small religious scenes on copper that make up most of his oeuvre, with a highly polished finish and borrowings from Rubens' treatment of the same subject. He also painted large altarpieces of churches in Flanders such as in Antwerp,

Herentals Herentals () is a city in the province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the city of Herentals proper and the towns of Morkhoven and . In 2021, Herentals had a total population of 28.194. The total area is . Saint Waltrude is the patron saint ...

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

and

Londerzeel Londerzeel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Londerzeel proper, Malderen, Steenhuffel (home of Palm Breweries) and Sint-Jozef. On 1 January 2006, Londerzeel had a to ...

. Many of his paintings can be regarded as copies or pastiches of original compositions by Antwerp painters such as Rubens,

Gerard Seghers Gerard SeghersGerard Seghers
at the

and Artus Wolffort as well as of Italian masters such as Raffael and

. He often worked from prints made after the works of these masters to create his own compositions. An example is the ''Baptism of Christ'' (Prado Museum), which is based on a print after Rafael.

Collaborations

Willem van Herp I - A bordello scene with ladies carousing and drinking with their client

As was the custom at the time, he regularly collaborated with other painters. He worked with

Jan van Kessel the Elder Jan van Kessel the Elder or Jan van Kessel (I) (baptized 5 April 1626, Antwerp – 17 April 1679, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp in the mid 17th century. A versatile artist he practised in many genres including studies of i ...

, Lambert de Hondt the Elder and

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 ...

in the production of landscapes (painted by the other artist) with figures (painted by van Herp). Examples are '' The departure of the Israelites'', '' St. Anthony Preaching to the Animals'' and '' Noli me tangere''. These paintings are similar in composition and are a variation of the type of the so-called 'paradise landscape'. Paradise landscapes depict the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

as described in the ''

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...

'', filled with all the animals, fish and birds that were believed to be God's creation. The type was invented and popularized by

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 ...

Works on copper

Although only moderately successful in Antwerp, as suggested by the infrequent occurrence of his paintings in local inventories, many of his small works were probably intended as export items destined for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Most of these were on copper, a material for painting that was highly prized both for durability and its glossy finish in Spain. Van Herp's works were also influential in spreading copper painting in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

by way of trade from Spain to

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, and reflect a taste for small paintings reminiscent of Rubens' style abroad. He also became well known in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

through

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

s after his works, in particular of his genre scenes.

Tapestry designs

Willem van Herp - Old couple in a rustic interior

Van Herp also produced designs for tapestries. In 1663 he was together with

and

Luigi Primo Louis Cousin, in Italy mainly known as Luigi Primo or Luigi Gentile (c. 1605–1667) was a Flemish painter of the Baroque period, who was active in Italy for a major part of his career. Working in a style, which combined his Flemish roots with ...

one of the painters who painted on copper a six-part series representing the history of the Moncada family. These were used as designs for tapestries manufactured in Brussels.Margarita Garcia Calvo. ''Correspondencia entre Fernando de Aragón (1644-1713), 8.º duque de Montalto , y su agente en Bruselas sobre la realización de la tapicería de la "Historia de la casa de los Moncada"'', in: Archivo Español de Arte, Vol 84, No 335 (2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herp, Willem van 1610s births 1677 deaths Flemish Baroque painters Flemish history painters Flemish genre painters Painters from Antwerp