Jan Boeckhorst

Jan Boeckhorst (c. 1604—21 April 1668) was a German-born Flemish Baroque painter whose style was heavily influenced by Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens.

Biography

Born in Westphalia, in either Münster or Rees, Boeckhorst moved to Antwerp around 1626. He had a close relationship with Rubens's studio, finishing paintings designed by that master as well as assisting with large series such as the joyous entry of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635 and the Torre de la Parada. He also collaborated as a figure painter in landscapes and still lifes by Jan Wildens and Frans Snyders, and sometimes painted lively group portraits. [Vlieghe, "Grove".]

Cornelis de Bie, in his "Gulden Cabinet der Edel Vry Schilderconst" ("The Golden Cabinet of the Honourable Free Art of Painting"; 1662), remarks that Boeckhorst was a student of Jordaens. Works in that master's style include large genre paintings of the 1640s such as "Peasants going to Market" (Antwerp, Rubenshuis), which also acts as an allegory of the four elements. [Vlieghe (1998); pp. 76; 171.]

In the 1650s and 1660s Boeckhorst painted altarpieces for churches throughout Flanders and designed cartoons for tapestries. The expressiveness of Van Dyck's figures and use of colors, such as in "Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes" (Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), is also noticeable in works from this period. [Vlieghe (1998), pp. 95–97.]

References

ources

*Vlieghe, Hans. "Boeckhorst, Jan (van) [Bockhorst, Johann; Lange Jan] ," "Grove Art Online". Oxford University Press, [November 8, 2007] .
*Vlieghe, Hans (1998). "Flemish art and architecture, 1585-1700". Pelican history of art. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300070381