Arnold Houbraken(28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was aDutchpainterand writer fromDordrecht,now remembered mainly as a biographer ofDutch Golden Age painters.
Arnold Houbraken | |
|---|---|
 Attributed to Arnold Houbraken | |
| Born | 28 March 1660 |
| Died | 14 October 1719(aged 59) Amsterdam,Dutch Republic |
| Known for | Painting,engraving,art history |
| Movement | Dutch Golden Age painting |
Life
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Houbraken was sent first to learnthreadtwisting(Twyndraat) from Johannes de Haan, who introduced him to engraving. After two years he then studied art withWillem van Drielenburch,who he was with during therampjaar,the year 1672. He then studied 9 months withJacobus Leveckand finally, four years withSamuel van Hoogstraten.[1]In 1685 he married Sara Sasbout, and around 1709 he moved from Dordrecht to Amsterdam. Arnold Houbraken paintedmythologicaland religious paintings, portraits and landscapes. He is best known for theart historicalworkThe Great Theatre of Dutch Painters(1718–1721). When he died his sonJacobassisted his mother with the last proofs of the manuscript before publishing. His first attempt at an instructive manual for artists was hisEmblem book,Inhoud van 't Sieraad der Afbeelding,which was meant as a guide of possible painting themes. His registered pupils wereMatthijs Balen,Johan Graham,and his son Jacob.[2]
Family
editHoubraken had ten children. His sonJacobus Houbraken(1698–1780) was anengraverof portraits and book illustrations, including books by his father. His daughterAntonina Houbrakenalso became an engraver for an Amsterdam publisher, and is known today for her embellishment of cityscapes and buildings with animals and people. His daughterChristina Houbrakenwas also an artist.
Legacy
editArnold Houbraken's books sold quite well during the entire 18th century.Jacob Campo Weyermanpublished his updated version (1729–47) in serial form that was published as a complete set in 1769.[3]Houbraken's engravings of the artists are in some cases the only surviving portraits of these people.
The first to make a published sequel to Houbraken's work wasJohan van Goolin 1750–51.[4]Though these books published well, with changing fashions, during the course of the 19th century Houbraken fell out of favor with art historians, especially when his sketches were found wanting, incorrect, or even slanderous. Houbraken was very careful to check and double check his sources, and today many of his personal judgements still stand up to our modern scrutiny. Attacks of his judgement due to the spelling of artist's names or accusations that he was nationalistic and deemed all of these artists as "Netherlandish" must be dismissed on the grounds that the various borders between the Netherlands, Germany, and Flanders were far from decided in the period during which he was writing, and spelling conventions in the Netherlands regarding names were only introduced by Napoleonic decree in the 1790s. Excepting those cases where the artist died quite young, or whose oeuvre was lost during various wars, very few artists were included in theSchouburgwho do not hang in international museums today.
The first modern art historian to publish an update of his work wasAdriaan van der Willigen,in 1866.[5]Since then he has remained a valuable resource for art historians.
TheSchouburghis part of theBasic Libraryof thedbnl(Database of Dutch Literature) which contains the 1000 most important works in Dutch literature from the Middle Ages to today.[6]
Public collections
editBibliography
edit- (1711)Aen den heere Jakob Zeeus, den Wolf in 't schaepsvel ter drukpersse bestellendeIn: De wolf in 't schaepsvel
- (1712)Inhoud van 't Sieraad der AfbeeldingIn: Des menschen begin, midden en einde
- (1718)De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen(The Great Theatre of Dutch Painters)
References
edit- ^"Dictionary for Art Historians".arthistorians.info.Retrieved13 June2012.
- ^Arnold Houbrakenin theRKD
- ^Weyerman, Jacob Campo (1769).Jacob Campo Weyerman on Google books.Retrieved13 June2012– viaGoogle Books.
- ^Gool, Johan van (1751).Johan van Gool in Google books.Retrieved13 June2012– viaGoogle Books.
- ^Eynden, Roeland van; Willigen, Adriaan van der (2 September 2008).Adrian van der Willigen in Google books.Retrieved13 June2012– viaGoogle Books.
- ^Website of theBasic Libraryof the dbnl, the section on the Eighteenth century(in Dutch)
- ^"Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen".Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2016.Retrieved1 September2014.
- ^"Search - Rijksmuseum".Rijksmuseum.
External links
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- The Man behind the Painter
- Schouburgin theDigitale Bibliotheek der Nederlandse Letteren(DBNL,"Digital library for Dutch literature")
- SchouburgonGoogle books(Edition from 1721)