Philips Koninck
(1619 - 1688) |
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Portraiture, Historic Narratives Art Work
| Name: |
Philips Koninck |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Amsterdam |
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| Birth: |
1619 |
| Death: |
1688 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Portraiture, Historic Narratives |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
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| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| Though famous in his own day for portraits and history paintings (most of which were commissions), Philips Koninck is now celebrated for his large-scale panoramic landscapes featuring unending vistas over expansive stretches of flat land, with meandering rivers and infinite, moody skies (done mainly to please himself). Inspired by the tradition established by Goltzius, Hercules Segers, and Rembrandt, Koninck transformed those sources into a personal, inimitable vision, at once highly imaginative and compellingly convincing. Born in Amsterdam, Koninck began his studies (probably in 1637) as the pupil of his brother Jacob in Rotterdam. A document recording the last payment for lessons in 1640 is preserved. In 1641 Philips returned to Amsterdam. Documents record him there until 1688. Scholarly opinion is divided as to whether Philips actually studied with Rembrandt. Though he is considered too old to have been formally enrolled in Rembrandt's studio, it is possible that Koninck was active in the somewhat casually structured "academy" Rembrandt fostered. Certainly, the evidence of surviving drawings (numbering nearly 300, some of which are particularly close to Rembrandt's manner) as well as Koninck's portraits and history paintings show that Rembrandt was a strong inspiration. Philips also socialized in Rembrandt's circle. He was married to Cornelia Furnerius, sister of Abraham (a pupil of Rembrandt), from 1640 until her death in 1642; he remarried in 1657. Koninck's ownership of a hostel and shipping line between Rotterdam and Amsterdam provided a steady income, supplemented by a successful career as a portrait and history painter. Joost van den Vondel, an important Amsterdam poet, wrote laudatory poems praising Philips's portraits of him as well as his histories. Though occasional likenesses, such as his Portrait of Heyman Dullaert (St. Louis Art Museum) and those of van Vondel are considered masterworks, Koninck's portraits lean too heavily on Rembrandt's manner of the 1640s and 1650s to be considered completely original. Occasional genre piaures featuring card players, music parties, and so on also appear from the 1640s to the 1670s but are often dismissed as too steeped in the tradition of Adriaen Brouwer. Few histories by Koninck have survived – a group dates from the 1640s, while the next dated group comes after 1660. Biblical, mythological, and allegorical themes are treated in a manner clearly dependent on Rembrandt and later on Flemish painting. Only in his landscapes does Philips find his most personal vision. Koninck's earliest known landscapes date from 1645, though records state he began as early as 1639 to paint landscapes. A small signed and dated (1647) example in the Victoria and Albert Museum depicts the basic formula Philips would apply to landscapes for the remainder of his career (with some variation): a well-defined horizon describing a vast distance, which is reached with various paths and rivers diagonally traversing the flat landscape, and a luminous, infinite sky. Both parts imply greater distances beyond the picture plane and pull the onlooker compellingly into the picture. Koninck's landscapes, with their restrained palette and elemental components, are a remarkable fusion of invention and natural observation. Though imaginary on the whole (in the manner of Rembrandt and Segers), Koninck's visions are convincing because not only is his memory of the essence of nature excellent, but Koninck also includes occasional elements taken from nature studies. By the mid-165Os Koninck translated his panoramic landscapes into a large format, where they took on an epic, grandiose overtone. Here Koninck worked against the general approach of Dutch landscape artists to show nature as a happy extension of the human realm; he overpowered the human element of his vision by the grand scale of nature. In that sense, his landscapes are equal in impact to those of Ruisdael* and rank Koninck among the masters of the genre. In the 1660s Koninck simplified his structure, tending to deemphasize the diagonal elements leading through his panorama and concentrating on a few components, such as a sandy hillock or a stream. His palette lightened and his gradations of colors became refined. One of his most famous works, the Landscape with Hawking Party (London, National Gallery), dates from the 1670s. Koninck's production seems to have slowed during the last decade of his life, perhaps owing to the financial security he enjoyed. Occasionally other painters contributed staffage for him. |
Samples of Work
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