Peter van Bloemen - Riders Resting at a Military Encampment

Pieter van Bloemen, also known as Standaart (bapt. 17 January 1657 – 6 March 1720), first name also spelled Peter or Peeter, was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He was a gifted landscape and animal painter and was very successful with his compositions depicting equestrian, animal and market scenes.

Life

Van Bloemen was born in Antwerp. He was a pupil of Simon Johannes van Douw, according to some historians already from the age of 10. He became a master of the local

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 1674 at the age of 17.Pieter van Bloemen
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 had two younger brothers who were also painters: Jan Frans and

Norbert Norbert is a Germanic given name, from '' nord'' "north" and ''berht'' "bright". Norbert is also occasionally found as a surname. People with the given name Academia * Norbert Angermann (born 1936), German historian * Norbert A’Campo (born 19 ...

. At some point he travelled to Rome. This possibly happened in the year 1674 or later in the year 1689. He was in 1684 in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

in the company of the Dutch painters Adriaen van der Cabel and of Gillis Weenix. His brother Jan Frans joined him in Lyon. Pieter van Bloemen - Cavalry battle

Via Turin, Pieter and Jan Frans travelled on to Rome where in 1688 they were registered in the parish of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte.Pieter van Bloemen
at Hadrianus In 1690 their third painting brother Norbert joined them in Rome as well. Pieter and Jan Frans made a few trips to Naples, Sicily and Malta. Pieter and Jan Frans also collaborated on works, with Pieter taking on the role of figure painter and Jan Frans painting the landscape (

vedute A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genre ...

).Metropolitan Museum of Art, ''Flemish Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art'', p. 3-4 Pieter became a member of the

Bentvueghels The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique"). Activities The members, which included ...

, an association of mainly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome. It was common practice in the Bentvueghels to give each member a nickname, the so-called "bent name". Pieter's bent name was "Standaart" or in Italian "Standardo". It is believed he was given this nickname in reference to the standards and banners that he regularly painted in his military subjects.Bloemen, Pieter van, "Plundering soldiers"
at Jean Moust

Pieter returned to Antwerp in 1694 and Norbert left for

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 ...

before 1724, while Jan Frans remained in Rome for the rest of his life. Pieter became dean of the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp in 1699. He was the teacher of his younger brothers Jan Frans and Norbert as well as of Peeter van Aken and Frans van Alter. He died in Antwerp.

Work

A prolific painter, van Bloemen was at his best painting animals, although he also produced a wide range of landscape, genre, equestrian, military and history scenes. He carried on the tradition of Italianizing landscape paintings of the

Roman Campagna The Roman Campagna () is a low-lying area surrounding Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, with an area of approximately . It is bordered by the Tolfa and Sabatini mountains to the north, the Alban Hills to the southeast, and the Tyrrhenia ...

representing inns, ruins and animals. A portion of his output paintings also stand in the tradition of the '

bamboccianti The ''Bamboccianti'' were Genre works, genre painters active in Rome from about 1625 until the end of the seventeenth century. Most were Netherlands, Dutch and Flemings, Flemish artists who brought existing traditions of depicting peasant subject ...

', a group of mainly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome whose small works depicted trivial or base subjects.Italian Landscape with Cattle
at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

He was particularly known for his representations of groups of animals, which he typically placed in the foreground of his compositions and therefore appear as his main centre of interest. Particular features of his style were his depiction of groups of animals as ‘still-lifes’ in open, Italianate landscapes containing some ancient monuments to convey the ‘Roman’ atmosphere and the use of lively colouring in the figures’ costumes so as to contrast with the more sombre greys and browns of the herds and ruins. Because of his particular skill in the painting of horses, he was frequently invited to collaborate on the compositions of other local artists. An example is his cooperation with Balthasar van den Bossche on a portrait including a battle scene made for the

Duke of Marlborough General (United Kingdom), General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an Engl ...

when he visited Antwerp after the

Battle of Ramillies The Battle of Ramillies (), fought on 23 May 1706, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand Alliance – Austria, England, and the Dutch Republic – the battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon ar ...

in 1706.Edward Strachan, Roy Bolton, 'Russia & Europe in the Nineteenth Century', Sphinx Fine Art, 2008, p. 106-110 Van den Bossche painted the portrait while Pieter van Bloemen painted the horses. The work is now only known through the copy painted by Pieter van Bloemen on his own.The Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Cadogan at Blenheim (Hochstadt)
at Museums of the world Pieter van Bloemen - A mounted cavalier, seen from behind

Pieter van Bloemen - A mounted cavalier, seen from behind

Pieter van Bloemen - A sheet of animal studies, c

He also made many drawings that represent mainly landscapes and figure and animal studies from life.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloemen, Pieter van Flemish Baroque painters Flemish landscape painters Flemish genre painters Equine artists Flemish war artists Artists from Antwerp Painters from Antwerp Members of the Bentvueghels Italian vedutisti 1657 births 1720 deaths