1.8 Dutch painters during the reign of Willem III
The influx of Dutch artists continued throughout the final twenty years of the century. This was perfectly understandable in view of the close political and cultural ties that developed after William III’s accession to the [British] throne in 1689. While there were plenty of Dutch artists around, specifically Dutch art was in short supply. The new arrivals were painters in the elegant court style that had made its way from France via Holland to England, where it was now faced with an English national style. Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) cannot be included among the artists who brought Dutch art with them, although he had studied under Rembrandt and Ferdinand Bol in 1663.1 A journey through Germany, a stay in Rome with Carlo Maratta and Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini and commissions in Venice were enough to make him dispense with anything Dutch that he might have learnt. Kneller only settled in England after 1676, where he soon became an English painter. Like Willem Wissing he was sent abroad on several occasions to undertake prestigious commissions. He was in France in 1684 and 1687 and in Brussels in around 1697. Flemish and French elements can be detected in his paintings, but very little that is Dutch. Ursula Hoff sees in his portrait of Alexander Pope ‘elements of Rembrandt in a van Dyck coposition’.2 His 1702 portrait of Sir Isaac Newton (National Portrait Gallery, new acquisition) [1] has a very broad affinity with the art of Nicolaes Maes. But in his late portraits there are no longer any vestiges of the Rembrandt style that can be found in his Scholar of 1668 (Lübeck) [2]. John Zacharias Kneller (1644-1702) accompanied his brother to London and collaborated with him there. Frederik Kerseboom (1632-1693) was in a similar situation. His stay in Amsterdam, which was recorded by both Weyerman and Walpole, was of no significance when compared with his training under Charles Le Brun in Paris and under Nicolas Poussin during his long stay in Italy.3
Among the late portraitists, we have already mentioned Netscher’s pupils, Simon van der Does and Johan van den Brandt, as well as Wissing’s assistant, Jan van der Vaart. Other artists in this category were Isaac Paling (1643-1728) from Leiden (who was in England between 1682 and 1703),4 the draughtsman Johan Faber (c. 1670-1721) (whose son John Faber II [1694-1756] must be regarded as an English mezzotinter)5 and the brothers Eduard (1619-1696) and Simon Dubois (1632-1708). The latter, who was born in Antwerp, trained in Rotterdam and Haarlem under Nicolaes Berchem and Philips Wouwerman as an animal and landscape painter. Like his brother, in England he turned to portrait painting, which offered good financial rewards [3]. Nothing had changed by the time that Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719) arrived in England in 1713. ‘When I was in London I saw with amazement that (with few exceptions) there were only portrait painters to be found. This has convinced me that opportunity, and not inclination or individual passion makes for so many portrait painters (in translation)’. He goes on to say that, lured by the lucrative possibilities, most of them had left behind promising positions in order to become portraitists.6 Houbraken had gone to England at the behest of some Englishmen to draw portraits for a historical publication about the reign of Charles I. The Englishmen failed to keep their word, however, and the book never materialised.7
1
Gottfried Kneller
Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), dated 1702
London (England), National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. 2881
2
Gottfried Kneller
Old scholar surrounded with vanitas attributes, dated 1668
Lübeck, St. Annen-Museum, inv./cat.nr. 41
3
Simon Dubois
Portrait of a man, called Arthur Parsons (1656-1720), dated 1683
London (England), Tate Gallery, inv./cat.nr. T07469
4
Godefridus Schalcken
Portrait of William III of Orange (1650-1702) in candlelight, c. 1695-1696
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-367
It is not surprising that many artists travelled back and forth between England and the Netherlands in the entourage of William III (ruled 1689-1702) [4]. They included Godefridus Schalcken (1643-1706),8 Pietro Rijs (†c. 1705) and Jacobus de Baen (1673-c.1700) who were pupils of Jan de Baen, as well as Richard van Bleeck (1670-in or after 1748) [5] and later on his son, Pieter van Bleeck (1697-1764). The influx of artists continued after 1700. Now and then, the same surnames cropped up, although they were now those of the next generation. Theodorus Netscher (1661-1728) was in London from 1715 to 1721; Jacob Campo Weyerman reported in detail on his great financial success.9 Portraits made by Johan van Diest (active 1721-1757), the son of Adriaen van Diest, became well known thanks to the engravings made by the younger Faber [6]. We know of portraits painted by various members of the Verelst family: Johannes (c. 1675-1734), Maria (1680-1744) and William (1704-1752). The latter’s paintings are distinctly English.10 In addition to the Verelsts, mention must be made of the van der Mijns, who not only painted portraits but also flowers and landscapes. Herman van der Mijn (1684-1741), the patriarch of the family, knew his way around the courts of Europe. He regularly worked for long periods in London, where six of his eight children lived and painted. Since their oeuvres date mainly to the 18th century, however, we will not spend further time on the family here.11 In the field of portrait painting, many artists whose names indicate a Dutch origin turn out in fact to be Englishmen. This is true, for instance, of John Vanderbank (Van der Bank) (1694-1739),12 Peter Vandyke (Philips van den Linden van Dyck?),13 Joan van der Spriet (Vanderspriett) )1661-after 1694), Enoch Seeman II (1689/90-1744) (a Dutchman?)14 and Samuel de Wilde (1751-832). There is, however, one example of the resilience of the Dutch tradition at the beginning of the 18th century. This is Daniël de Koninck’s portrait of Peter King, 1st Lord King (National Portrait Gallery) [7] in which the background landscape clearly indicates the training that he had received at the hands of his uncles Philips or Jacob.15 Daniël de Koninck (1668-after 1726/7), who was in Oxford in 1690, had studied under Jacob Coning in Copenhagen. In contrast, there is no longer anything Dutch to be found in the works of a pupil of Theodoor van der Schuer, René Auguste Constantyn (died after 1730), who worked in London during the reign of George I (1714-1727) [8-9].16
5
Pieter van Bleeck after Richard van Bleeck
Portrait of Richard van Bleeck (1669/70-in or after 1748), dated 1735
The Hague, RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History
6
John Faber (II) after Johan van Diest published by John Faber (II)
Portrait of Christopher Clarke (1697-1742), Archdeacon of Norwich, dated 1740
London (England), British Museum, inv./cat.nr. 1877,0811.754
7
Daniël de Koninck
Portrait of Peter King, 1st Baron King of Ockham (c. 1669-1734), dated 1720
London (England), National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. NPG 470
8
René Auguste Constantyn
Portrait of an unknown man, dated 1726
Jakarta, Weltevreden - Verzameling van 's Lands Schilderijen
9
René Auguste Constantyn
Portrait of Sir James Bateman (1660–1718) as Lord Mayor of Londen, 1716
London (England), Bank of England Museum, inv./cat.nr. 0460
Notes
1 [Gerson 1942/1983] See Gerson 1942/1983, p. 222 [= Gerson/Van Leeuwen et al. 2017-2018, p. 2.6].
2 [Gerson 1942/1983] Hoff 1935, p. 26-30 (‘rembrandtische Elemente in einem van Dijckschen Typus’).
3 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] For Kerseboom, see Waterhouse 1988, p.148-149 and J. Bartz in Saur 1992-2022, vol. 80 (2013), p. 116.
4 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 20022] Paling’s wife, Susanna Paling (1654-in or after 1707) was also an artist and lived and worked in London, where she made a name for herself as ‘Mrs. Pawling’ (Jeffares 2006, updated 2019).
5 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Previous literature had speculated variously about the birth dates of Faber senior (1650 or 1660) and of his son (1684 or 1695). However, R. van Leeuwen has recently discovered, in April 2022, evidence in the Amsterdam City Archives that Faber senior was baptized in the Lutheran church in Amsterdam as ‘Johannes Faber’ on 1 July 1670. His parents were Bruijn Faber, tailor, and Maria van Gosseling (or Gestingh, Gesten) (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/01cbb4cc-2622-4858-a1e2-2170425fb846). Subsequently, on 24 April 1693, Jan Faber of Amsterdam, 23 years old, ‘const teekenaar’ (= artful draughtsman), posted banns to be married to the 22-year-old Elisabeth Swaen, also of Amsterdam (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/4f6ce344-8193-4ed3-83a5-9253a63fee44). Their son, later known as John Faber Junior, was born eighteen months later, and on 26 October 1694 was baptized in the Lutheran church in Amsterdam as ‘Johannes Geerard’, the son of Jan Faber and Elisabeth Swaen (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/fdb8d0ec-8e2b-4568-936c-d3d9ab440ec6).
6 [Gerson 1942/1983] Houbraken, 1718-1721, vol. 3, p. 168. [Horn/van Leeuwen 2021, vol. 3, p. 168].
7 [Gerson 1942/1983] Hofstede De Groot 1893, p. 9, 12; Walpole et al. 1762/1876 (ed. Wornum), vol. 3, p. 251; De Vries 1885, p. 154, note 1. [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] According to Walpole, Houbraken’s commission related to a set of full-length portraits after Anthony van Dyck. Houbraken was employed by a syndicate of dealers — Cock, Comyns and McSwinny (= Owen MacSwinney (1676-1754), see RKDimages 305040) — to produce the drawings in England, while Pieter van Gunst was to engrave them in Amsterdam (Griffith 1998, p. 183). Over seven months, Houbraken worked on about 30 drawings and Van der Gunst eventually issued a set of ten completed portraits, without mentioning Houbraken’s name. Houbraken may never have been (fully) paid for his work in England, see Horn 2000, vol. 1, p. 62-65.
8 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] On Schalcken’s English career: Franits 2016.
9 [Gerson 1942/1983] Weyerman 1719-1769, vol.4, p. 147. [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Netscher crossed the sea to England as treasurer of the Dutch armed forces, when the States of Holland sent 6000 men to the aid of George I. Netscher’s major patron was Sir Matthew (Matthijs) Decker (1679-1749), a merchant from Amsterdam, who was based in Richmond, Surrey (Walpole et al. 1762/1876 (ed. Wornum), vol. 2, p. 269, note 1). See RKDimages 133687 and RKDimages 286284.
10 [Gerson 1942/1983] Veth 1896, p. 109, 112. Hearn/van Leeuwen 2002] Paul Taylor gives a new account of the Verelst family relations his entry for Simon Verelst the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). For further details: Hancox 2012.
11 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] On the Van der Mijn family in England: Staring 1966 and Staring 1968.
12 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Earlier literature incorrectly described him as a son of Peter Vandrebanc (1649-1697), but he was in fact the son of the proprietor of the Soho Tapestry Manufactory and chief arras-maker to the Crown John Vanderbank (died 1717) and his wife Sarah (died 1727). Vanderbank senior had been born in Paris, the son of Arnold Vanderbank and his wife Mary, who were probably Flemish (Sheppard et al. 1966).
13 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Works that are listed as by Philip van de Linde van Dijk may in fact be by Peter van Dyke. The signatures on them should be compared, in order to attribute the known works correctly – assuming that these names do indeed refer to two different artists.
14 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Enoch Seemann the Younger was born in Danzig and had no links with the Netherlands; his father, Enoch Seemann I is thought to have worked in the Low Countries as a journeyman.
15 [Gerson 1942/1983] Further Dutch portrait painters who worked in England in the second half of the 17th century: Abraham Staphorst in London in 1658/9, and in Norwich in 1671 (Veth 1903, p. 12-123; Bredius 1938; Wallerand Vaillant (according to Walpole et al. 1762/1876 (ed. Wornum), vol. 3, p. 209 but this visit is not definite); Dirk Valkenburg (portrait of Mrs. Nollekens, sale London 28 November 1938, lot 79). [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] According to Walpole, Vaillant did come to England at some point, with Prince Rupert [Ruprecht], but 'at what period of his life he came to England does not appear'. However, Vaillant had been in contact with Prince Ruprecht in 1655/6 in Heidelberg and Frankfurt, where he had painted him (e.g. RKDimages 279193 and 279155) and where the prince had introduced Vaillant to the mezzotint technique. See Turner 2015. Dirk Valkenburg never came to England. The pendant portraits to which Gerson refers, RKDimages 24615 and RKDimages 5884, were formerly thought to depict Josef Frans Nollekens (1702-1748) and his wife, but unless they are by another artist, this is not possible, as Dirk Valkenburg died in 1721. Today the Rijksdienst Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) lists these pendant paintings as portraits of Jean Nollekens (1695-1783) and his wife, but this identification is also impossible, because Jean did not marry until 1731, after Valkenburg’s death.
16 [Gerson 1942/1983] Portraits engraved by Louis Surugue (1686-1762); portrait of Sir James Bateman of 1716 in the art trade, London; two portraits of 1726 in Batavia (De Loos-Haaxman 1938). Perhaps the portrait in Haarlem No. 230 is also by him [= RKDimages 305129].