Paul de Vos
Paul de Vos (1591—1592, or 1595 in Hulst – 30 June 1678 in Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter who specialized in still lifes and animal and hunting scenes.[1]
Life
De Vos was born in Hulst near Antwerp, now in the Dutch province of Zeeland. Like his older brother Cornelis and younger brother Jan, he studied under the little-known painter David Remeeus (1559–1626).[2] De Vos became a master and joined the guild of St. Luke at a late age in 1620, probably because he had previously worked in the workshop of his brother-in-law Frans Snyders, the husband of his sister Margaretha. Paul de Vos married Isabella Waerbeek, a notary’s daughter, on 15 Nov 1624 and the couple had 10 children.[1] Rubens was the godfather oF one of their sons named Peter Paul born in 1628. The de Vos family prospered and acquired a lot of real estate in Antwerp.[3]
De Vos enjoyed the patronage of influential aristocrats in Spain such as the marquis the Leganes, head of the Council of Flanders in Madrid and Philippe-Charles, 3rd Count of Arenberg, then residing in Madrid. In 1637-1638 he worked on the decorations for the Spanish royal residences, Buen Retiro and Torre de la Parada. Most of the decorations at the Torre de la Parada involving animal scenes without humans were by his hand. The governor of the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand visited his workshop.[3]
He had two pupils: Alex Daempt in 1627 and Lancelot van Daelen in 1636.[2]
Work
He often signed his paintings but never dated them which makes it difficult to establish a precise chronology. He painted scenes of pantries, quarrelling dogs, bird concerts and animal fights.[1] He specialized in monumental animal scenes, especially hunts for aristocratic patrons, that are heavily influenced by Frans Snyders. In the past, a lot of his works have been misattributed to Snyders.[3] De Vos was able to develop his own personal style that accentuated abrupt movement, the gruesome aspects of hunts, used warmer colours and a broader brush stroke than Snyders.[1]
As was common amongst artists in Antwerp, De Vos frequently collaborated with other painters such as Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, Rubens, Adriaen van Utrecht, Erasmus Quellinus II, Anthony van Dyck, and Jan Wildens. De Vos would typically contribute the animals or still-life elements to the compositions of these painters. The collaborations with Rubens consisted mainly of hunting scenes.[1] One art historian has compared Paul de Vos' contributions to Rubens' hunting scenes with those of Paul Snyders' and found de Vos to be less accurate in the animal anatomy and less accomplished in the psychological expression of the animals. Other art historians regard the hunting scenes of de Vos as more dynamic and evidencing a more personal style when compared with those of Snyders, who was more a still life painter. In their collaboration with Rubens, Snyders and de Vos often worked from sketches made by Rubens while in other cases they were given the freedom to develop their own ideas. The expressive style and motifs of Rubens' animal paintings had an important influence on both Snyders and de Vos.[4]
De Vos introduced new motifs into the iconographic tradition in his scenes of fighting cats and horses attacked by wolves.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Katlijne Van der Stighelen and Arnout Balis. "Vos, de (i)." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 9 Jul. 2014
- ^ a b Paul de Vos at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
- ^ a b c Peter C. Sutton, Northern European Paintings in the Philadelphia Museum of Art: From the Sixteenth and the Nineteenth Century, Philadelphia Museum Of Art, 1 January 2000, p. 346-349
- ^ Arnout Balis, Rubens hunting scenes, Part 18, Harvey Miller, 5 Mar, 1987, p. 70-87
