Hendrik de Cort or Hendrik Frans de Cort (1742 in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

– 28 June 1810 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was a Flemish

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

and draughtsman. His international career brought him to Antwerp, Paris, England and Wales. He is mainly remembered for his topographical paintings and drawings of English castles, country houses, parks and ruins.Richard Green. "Cort, Hendrik Frans de." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2014

Life

Hendrik de Cort studied in Antwerp under Henricus Josephus Antonissen and

Willem Jacob Herreyns Willem Jacob HerreynsName variations: Guillaume Jacques Herreyns, Willem Jacob Herreijns, Willem Jacob Herrijns, Willem Jacob Herryns, Guillaume Jacques Herreijns (Antwerp, 10 June 1743 – Antwerp, 10 August 1827) was a Flemish painter of histor ...

.Hendrik de Cort
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

In 1770 he became a master in the Antwerp

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 iden ...

. When

Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria (Maximilian Franz Xaver Joseph Johann Anton de Paula Wenzel; 8 December 1756 – 27 July 1801) was Elector of Cologne and Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights from 1780 until his death. Influenced by En ...

travelled through the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

in 1774 he appointed de Cort as his personal painter, possibly at the urging of

Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine Prince Charles Alexander Emanuel of Lorraine (; ; 12 December 1712 in Lunéville – 4 July 1780 in Tervuren) was a Duchy of Lorraine, Lorraine-born Habsburg monarchy, Austrian general and soldier, field marshal of the Imperial Army of the Holy ...

, the then governor of the Austrian Netherlands. He moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

after 1776. He was received (reçu) into the

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (; ) was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abolished in 1793 during the French Revolution. I ...

in 1779. He became the ‘ordinary’ painter to the Prince de Condé for whom in 1781 he painted topographical views of the

Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmore ...

. De Cort returned to Antwerp in 1782. Here he was one of the founders in 1788 of a society of artists known as the ''Genootschap ter aanmoediging der Schoone Kunsten'', known under its short form as the ''Konstmaatschappij'' (the 'Art Society').Reginald Howard Wilenski, ''Flemish Painters: 1430–1830'', Viking Press, 1960, p. 418 Other founders included Balthasar Paul Ommeganck, Pieter Faes, Miss Herry,

Jan Josef Horemans the Younger Jan Josef Horemans the Younger (baptised 15 January 1714 – 9 February 1792) was an 18th-century Flemish painter. He is mainly known for his genre scenes but also painted harbor views, equestrian paintings, portraits and still lifes. Life Jan J ...

, Ferdinand Verhoeven,

Hendrik Aarnout Myin Hendrik may refer to: People * Hendrik (given name) * Hans Hendrik (1832–1889), Greenlandic Arctic traveller and interpreter * Tony Hendrik (born 1945), German music producer and composer Others * Hendrik Island, an island in Greenland * Hendrik ...

Frans Balthazar Solvyns Frans Balthazar Solvyns or François Balt(h)azar(d)Birth name; Franciscus Balthazar Solvyns, also known as: Frans Balthazar Solvijns and Balthazar Solvijns Mattheus Ignatius van Bree Mattheus Ignatius van Bree (Antwerp, 1773 – Antwerp, 1839) was a Belgian Painting, painter. He was one of the founders of the historical school of painting in Belgium and played an important role as a teacher in the development of 19th-century ...

Maria Jacoba Ommeganck Maria Jacoba Ommeganck (1760 – 16 December 1849) was a Flemish neoclassicistic animal painter, specializing in pictures with cattle. Ommeganck was born in Antwerp in 1760 and baptized on 14 August of that year. She was a daughter of Paul and ...

Marten Waefelaerts Marten Waefelaerts (1748 - 1799) was a Flemish 18th century landscape painter living most of his life in the Holy Roman Empire. He was probably born in Antwerp, but little is known about his early years. He worked in the years 1790–1800. In 179 ...

and many others. The purpose of the society was the promotion and appreciation of the artworks of its various members in an informal setting. De Cort would not remain a member of the society for long as he left Flanders after the

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (, ), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed revolution, insurrection that occurred in the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) between O ...

of 1789. He settled in London c. 1790 and remained in England for the rest of his life. There he built up a highly successful practice as a painter of country houses, castles, cathedrals and other views. He gained many commissions from the nobility and other important patrons. He thus stood in a long tradition of Flemish painters who made topographical paintings of the estates of the British nobility, which includes artists such as

Jan Siberechts Jan Siberechts (1627–1703) was a Flemish landscape painter who after a successful career in Antwerp, emigrated in the latter part of his life to England. In his early works, he developed a personal style of landscape painting, with an emphasis ...

Peter Tillemans Peter Tillemans ( 1684 – 5 December 1734)Noakes, Aubrey, ''Sportsmen in a Landscape'' (Ayer Publishing, 1971, )pp. 47–56: ''Peter Tillemans and Early Newmarket''at books.google.com, accessed 7 February 2009. ONDB writes: "In 1733 Tillemans re ...

and Pieter Andreas Rijsbrack. Many of his works were exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

and the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it ...

between 1790 and 1806. He died in London.

Work

De Cort's work consists solely of landscape and topographical paintings and drawings. His early landscapes from the time before he moved to England were often made in collaboration with other Flemish artists such as Balthasar Paul Ommeganck and Petrus Johannes van Regemorter who painted the figures and animals. De Cort is known for his topographical views of English and Welsh landscapes. These were painted in an Italianate idiom indebted to the style of

Gaspar Dughet Gaspard Dughet (15 June 1615 – 25 May 1675), also known as Gaspard Poussin, was a French painter born in Rome. Life Dughet was born in Rome, the son of a French pastry-cook and his Italian wife. He has always generally been considered as a Fr ...

. He often painted on specially prepared mahogany panels. His style was described by the painter

Joseph Farington Joseph Farington (21 November 1747 – 30 December 1821) was an 18th-century English landscape painter and diarist. Family Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Farington was the second of seven sons of William Farington and Esther Gilbody. His father ...

as follows: 'his ground prepared light, this to draw his outline with black lead pencil, then to pass oil over it, and on that tint to glaze his shadows and embody his lights'. Some traces of under drawing and pentimenti are visible in this work.’ He would adjust some of the details of his landscape subjects for maximum effect. For instance, in his '' Launceston Castle, Cornwall'' he painted the main towers and buildings as protruding from behind, even where they would not normally have been visible from this viewpoint.Hendrik Frans de Cort, ''Launceston Castle''
at vads To complete his many commissions de Cort travelled far and wide and made many preparatory wash drawings. A number of these are in the collections of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

. The collection of the Stedelijk Prentenkabinet (Municipal Cabinet of Prints) of the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp holds a sketch book of de Cort containing mainly drawings of castles from the time he was still residing in his home country.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cort, Hendrik-Frans de 1742 births 1810 deaths Flemish landscape painters 18th-century Flemish painters Painters from Antwerp Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to the Kingdom of Great Britain