Thursday, January 18, 2018

Cornelis van Poelenburgh

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Italianate Landscape
ca. 1620-27
oil on copper
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

"Cornelis van Poelenburgh (ca. 1594/95-1667) was a founder of Dutch Italianate landscape painting.  He studied under Utrecht Mannerist Abraham Bloemaert, but his years in Rome, from 1617 to 1625, were more decisive for his development.  An early member of the schildersbent, the club for Rome's Netherlandish painters, he was nicknamed "Satyr."  In Rome, a friend noted that Poelenburgh "exerted himself to the utmost to paint his figures in the manner of Raphael."  Poelenburgh also copied German artist Adam Elsheimer's Italianate landscapes, which were usually painted on copper.  In addition to his years in Rome, Poelenburgh spent time in Florence working for the grand duke of Tuscany.  After returning from Italy, he became one of Utrecht's leading artists, honored as Peter Paul Rubens's guide during his 1627 visit to the city.  At the invitation of Charles I, Poelenburgh worked in England from 1638 to 1641.  He probably remained in Utrecht from that point onward.  Poelenburgh painted some history paintings, but his fame rests on the enamel-smooth landscapes, often depicting romantic ruins and statuary fragments, that he created after 1620.  He was among the first northern artists to render Italian sunlight and atmosphere convincingly.  His highly detailed figures were so admired that he was hired to paint them in other artist's works.  The careers of Poelenburgh's many followers stretch into the 1700s."

 biographical notes from the Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Satyrs spying on Nymphs
ca. 1627-67
oil on copper
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Landscape with bathing nudes
ca. 1640-50
oil on copper
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Young women bathing
ca. 1646
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Young men bathing
ca. 1646
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Expulsion from Paradise
ca. 1646-67
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Shepherd approaching a sleeping nymph
before 1667
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Interior of Roman ruin with figures
ca. 1622-24
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Colosseum, Rome
ca. 1622-24
drawing
British Museum

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Colosseum, Rome
ca. 1622-24
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Landscape with Roman ruins
ca. 1622-24
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Ruin on the Palatine Hill, Rome
1622
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Arch of Titus, Rome
1621
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Arch of Septimius Severus, Rome
1623
drawing
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Study of a young man
before 1667
drawing
British Museum