Adriaen van Utrecht
Encyclopedia
Adriaen van Utrecht was a celebrated Flemish Baroque
still life
painter of the Antwerp school
.
Adriaen van Utrecht was, contrary to the suggestion of his name, a native of Antwerp. In 1614 he joined the studio of Herman de Neyt
, painter and art dealer, as an apprentice, and was early influenced by Frans Snyders (and later his pupil Jan Fyt
). He travelled in France
, Germany
and Italy
, where he absorbed Baroque
influences and mastered strong chiaroscuro
light effects. After his return to Antwerp in 1625, he was entered as a free master of the Guild of Saint Luke
. In 1628 he married the painter and poetess Constantia, daughter of the painter and poet Willem van Nieulandt II
, a few months after his sister Catharina had married the painter Simon de Vos
. The artist ran his own studio with at least seven known pupils from 1626 to 1646, including Philip Gyselaer
(1634/35), and Cornelis van Engelen. He influenced Jan Davidsz de Heem, Evaristo Baschenis
, and Nicolas de Largillière
.
Van Utrecht specialized in still lifes, in particular monumentalised animal pictures and lush displays of game, fruits and vegetables; also hunting
trophies, vanitas
themes, fish stalls, game larders, garlands and farmyard scenes, typically including poultry – turkeys, parrots and peacocks. Van Utrecht collaborated with other artists, and is known to have provided the still life elements to paintings by David Teniers the Younger
, Jacob Jordaens
, Erasmus Quellinus II
, Theodoor Rombouts
, Theodoor van Thulden
, Jan van den Hoecke
, and Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1613/14–54); he also contributed to tapestry
designs. He painted several works with Willeboirts Bosschaert, commissioned by Constantijn Huygens
, for the Huis ten Bosch
in The Hague
in 1646.
He was popular with his contemporaries, a large number of his paintings finding their way to Spain, where he was patronised by Philip IV
and is today represented in the Prado Museum. He was also commissioned to paint for the Austrian and German courts. His work is represented in numerous national collections, including the Rijksmuseum
, Amsterdam
, the Louvre
, Paris (attr.), the Hermitage
, St Petersburg, the Nationalmuseet, Stockholm
, the Bowes Museum
, England, and in the USA the Getty Museum, Malibu, the Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco, and the Utah
Fine Arts Museum; also in public collections in Antwerp, Belgrade, Brussels, Cambrai, Cologne, Copenhagen, Lithuania, Munich, Tokyo, Vienna, etc.
Flemish Baroque painting
Flemish Baroque painting is the art produced in the Southern Netherlands between about 1585, when the Dutch Republic was split from the Habsburg Spain regions to the south by the recapturing of Antwerp by the Spanish, until about 1700, when Habsburg authority ended with the death of King Charles II...
still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
painter of the Antwerp school
Antwerp school
The Antwerp School is a term for the artists active in Antwerp, first during the 16th century when the city was the economic center of the Low Countries, and then during the 17th century when it became the artistic stronghold of the Flemish Baroque under Peter Paul Rubens.-History:Antwerp took over...
.
Career
Herman de Neyt
Herman de Neyt was a painter and art dealer active in Antwerp. At the time of his death the probate inventory of the items in his home, which included both his personal collection and art for the market, listed over 850 paintings...
, painter and art dealer, as an apprentice, and was early influenced by Frans Snyders (and later his pupil Jan Fyt
Jan Fyt
Jan Fyt was a Flemish Baroque animal painter and etcher.-Life:...
). He travelled in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where he absorbed Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
influences and mastered strong chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....
light effects. After his return to Antwerp in 1625, he was entered as a free master of the Guild of Saint Luke
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 identified by John of Damascus as having painted the...
. In 1628 he married the painter and poetess Constantia, daughter of the painter and poet Willem van Nieulandt II
Willem van Nieulandt II
Willem van Nieulandt II was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver from Antwerp.-Biography:His father Adrien van Nieulandt the elder was born to a family of artists of Flemish origin from Antwerp. He probably moved with his family to Amsterdam in 1589 after the Siege of Antwerp, because they were...
, a few months after his sister Catharina had married the painter Simon de Vos
Simon de Vos
Simon de Vos was a Flemish Baroque painter of genre and cabinet pictures.-Biography:De Vos studied with Cornelis de Vos , to whom he is not related, from 1615 until 1620. In 1620 he joined Antwerp's guild of St...
. The artist ran his own studio with at least seven known pupils from 1626 to 1646, including Philip Gyselaer
Philip Gyselaer
Philip Gyselaer, also Giselaer , was a Flemish Baroque painter specializing in history painting in the tradition of Willem van Herp. He was a student of Adriaen van Utrecht and became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1634.-Sources:*J. de Maere, Jennifer A. Martin, and Marie Wabbes....
(1634/35), and Cornelis van Engelen. He influenced Jan Davidsz de Heem, Evaristo Baschenis
Evaristo Baschenis
Evaristo Baschenis was an Italian Baroque painter of the 17th century, active mainly around his native city of Bergamo. He was born to a family of artists. He is best known for still lifes, most commonly of musical instruments. This could explain his friendship with a family with notable violin...
, and Nicolas de Largillière
Nicolas de Largillière
Nicolas de Largillière was a painter born in Paris, France.-Early life:Largillière's father, a merchant, took him to Antwerp at the age of three. As a boy, he spent nearly two years in London. Sometime after his return to Antwerp, a failed attempt at business led him to the studio of Goubeau...
.
Van Utrecht specialized in still lifes, in particular monumentalised animal pictures and lush displays of game, fruits and vegetables; also hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
trophies, vanitas
Vanitas
In the arts, vanitas is a type of symbolic work of art especially associated with Northern European still life painting in Flanders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries, though also common in other places and periods. The word is Latin, meaning "emptiness" and loosely translated...
themes, fish stalls, game larders, garlands and farmyard scenes, typically including poultry – turkeys, parrots and peacocks. Van Utrecht collaborated with other artists, and is known to have provided the still life elements to paintings by David Teniers the Younger
David Teniers the Younger
David Teniers the Younger was a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, the son of David Teniers the Elder. His son David Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters...
, Jacob Jordaens
Jacob Jordaens
Jacob Jordaens was one of three Flemish Baroque painters, along with Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, to bring prestige to the Antwerp school of painting. Unlike those contemporaries he never traveled abroad to study Italian painting, and his career is marked by an indifference to their...
, Erasmus Quellinus II
Erasmus Quellinus II
Erasmus Quellinus II was a Flemish Baroque painter specializing in architectural perspective studies. He worked in the studio of Peter Paul Rubens.-Biography:He was born in Antwerp as the son of Erasmus Quellinus I and Elisabeth van Uden...
, Theodoor Rombouts
Theodoor Rombouts
Theodoor Rombouts was a Flemish Baroque painter specializing in Caravaggesque genre scenes of card players and musicians.-Biography:...
, Theodoor van Thulden
Theodoor van Thulden
Theodoor van Thulden was a Dutch Baroque artist from 's-Hertogenbosch in North Brabant who was active in that city and in Antwerp.-Biography:...
, Jan van den Hoecke
Jan van den Hoecke
Jan van den Hoecke , also known as Johannes or Giovanni and van Hoek, van Hoeck, or Vanhoek, was a Flemish Baroque painter and draughtsman. He was born and died in Antwerp.-Biography:...
, and Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1613/14–54); he also contributed to tapestry
Tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
designs. He painted several works with Willeboirts Bosschaert, commissioned by Constantijn Huygens
Constantijn Huygens
Constantijn Huygens , was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist Christiaan Huygens.-Biography:...
, for the Huis ten Bosch
Huis ten Bosch
Huis ten Bosch is one of the three official residences of the Dutch Royal Family, located in The Hague in the Netherlands. It has been home to Queen Beatrix since 1981. The other Royal palace in The Hague, Noordeinde Palace, is used for work-related purposes...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
in 1646.
He was popular with his contemporaries, a large number of his paintings finding their way to Spain, where he was patronised by Philip IV
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
and is today represented in the Prado Museum. He was also commissioned to paint for the Austrian and German courts. His work is represented in numerous national collections, including the Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or simply Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, located on the Museumplein. The museum is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, Paris (attr.), the Hermitage
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
, St Petersburg, the Nationalmuseet, Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, the Bowes Museum
Bowes Museum
The Bowes Museum has a nationally renowned art collection and is situated in the town of Barnard Castle, Teesdale, County Durham, England.The museum contains an El Greco, paintings by Francisco Goya, Canaletto, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, François Boucher and a sizable collection of decorative art,...
, England, and in the USA the Getty Museum, Malibu, the Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco, and the Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
Fine Arts Museum; also in public collections in Antwerp, Belgrade, Brussels, Cambrai, Cologne, Copenhagen, Lithuania, Munich, Tokyo, Vienna, etc.