Cornelis Pronk

Cornelis Pronk (also Cornelis Pronck ; * December 10, 1691 in Amsterdam ; † September 28 or 29, 1759 ibid), was a Dutch draftsman , painter and porcelain designer . He was best known for his numerous drawings of cities, towns and buildings (so-called topographical drawings ) and for his porcelain designs.

Cornelis Pronk, self-portrait drawing around 1730

life and career

Cornelis Pronk was the son of an Amsterdam wheat merchant who later opened an administrative office. After working in his father's office for several years, Pronk began to take lessons in drawing and painting from Jan van Houten (1679–1713) on the advice of the scholar and art connoisseur Lambert ten Kate . From 1712 to 1715 he studied with the portrait painter Arnold Boonen (1669–1729). In 1715 he established himself as an independent painter and joined the Guild of St. Luke . At the beginning of his career he was primarily a portrait painter and copyist for Dutch masters of the 17th century . He was also known as a painter of theatrical sets. At first he worked in Alkmaar , but later settled in Amsterdam. From 1722 he concentrated mainly on "topographical" drawings that were used as illustrations for atlases, although he was also active as a portrait painter. The drawings were almost exclusively commissioned by wealthy Amsterdam patricians , above all by the textile merchant and amateur historian Andries Schoemaker (1660–1735) and by his son Gerrit Schoemaker (1692–1736), who sometimes accompanied him on his travels.

Cornelius Pronk belonged to a Mennonite congregation and was baptized at the age of 23. He apparently remained single because it was forbidden in his community to marry non-Mennonites and only a few Mennonite women were considered for marriage.

plant

For many years Pronk traveled to the Dutch Republic in the summer, mostly on foot, to sketch cityscapes, to document cities and landscapes as well as castles, mansions and other buildings in detail, including when and where the sketch was made. Each of these field sketches should serve as the basis for one or more drawings that he created in his studio. On his travels he occasionally crossed the border into Germany, as he did in 1729, for example, when he made drawings of Kleve , Cologne and the surrounding area.

His trip in 1732 with Abraham de Haen through Noord-Holland , Gelderland , Overijssel , Drenthe and Friesland was artistically productive .

With his students Jan de Beijer (1703–1780) and Abraham de Haen (1707–1748) he made more than 700 drawings for Het chaerlykt Nederland ( The Glorified Netherlands ), a multi-volume work published by Isaak Tirion in 1745–1774 . It documents all provinces of the Dutch Republic. Many of his drawings were transposed into engravings by other artists such as Hendrik Spilman and Simon Fokke . Pronk also contributed drawings to an atlas of the province of Zeeland from 1760: Een en twintig zzigen der stemmende Steden van Zeeland en derzelver voorname gebouwen .

Pronk's drawing technique developed rapidly from 1727 to 1731. He began to use subtle lighting and shadow effects and also added numerous anecdotal details to his drawings. As a result, the drawings achieved not only documentary, but also artistic value. He made a name for himself in miniature painting . Pronk's drawings are characterized by clear, simple lines that capture the essence of the building. He also knew how to leave out the details that would clutter the drawings.

His student and close friend Abraham de Haen wrote numerous poems in his honor. Pronk himself then tried poetry as well.

Four of Pronk's sketchbooks are in the collection of the Rijksprentenkabinet (National Printing Cabinet), now part of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam . In 1997, an exhibition of Pronk's works took place in the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem .

porcelain

In 1734 the Dutch East India Company ( Netherland . Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie ) commissioned Cornelis Pronk to design a series of porcelain plates. This porcelain ( chine de commande ) was made in China , then exported to Europe and sold there at an extremely high price. A series of blue and white plates and platters, for example, produced the sum of 1160 Dutch guilders with which one could buy a house in Amsterdam. Pronk created four different themes, of which "The ladies with a parasol" were very popular. In 1740, the East India Company stopped trading because production and shipping from China were no longer worthwhile. However, Pronk's designs remained popular and were frequently copied. Some of his designs are still in production.

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  Colored self-portrait around 1715

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  Self-drawing around 1750

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  Ammersoyen Castle 1730

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  Old East Gate (De Oude Oosterpoort (1531–1818)) in Hoorn 1727, at the time a prison, Gevangen Poort - prisoner's gate

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  Appelenburg Castle 1728

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  Haus Spijkerbosch 1611 near Olst, Abraham de Haen based on a model by Cornelis Pronk 1731

literature

• Jonkheer Arnoldus Johannes Gevers, Albertus Jans Mensema: Over de Hobbelde Bobbelde Heijde, Andries Schoemaker, Cornelis Pronk en Abraham de Haen op reis door Overijssel, Drenthe en Friesland in 1732 . Canaletto, Alphen aan den Rijn 1985 (ndl.)
• Leonard Kasteleyn: Een Pronkende Haen . In: "Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum", Volume 44, 1996, No. 2, Amsterdam 1996 (ndl.)
• Luuc Kooijmans: Pronk met Pen en Penseel: Cornelis Pronk (1691–1759) tekent Noord-Holland . In: De Bataafsche Leeuw , Amsterdam 1997 (ndl.)
• Hugo Gajus Scheltema: Ships van Den Haag. Grandchildren aspects of a series Schetsen van Cornelis Pronk uit 1741–1742 . In: "Delineavit et Sculpsit" ( Latin : has drawn and designed), No. 29 (December 2005), The Hague 2005 (ndl.)
• Hugo Gajus Scheltema: Pronk, Bentinck en Trembley schetsen uit achttiende-eeuws Den Haag . In: "Jaarboek, Die Haghe '", Den Haag 2005 (ndl.)

Web links

Commons : Cornelis Pronk  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Cornelis Pronk in the catalog of the German National Library
• Biography of Cornelis Pronk (nl)
• Palaces and castles, drawn by Cornelius Pronk

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} "Pronk met pen en penseel: Cornelis Pronk (1691–1759) tekent Noord-Holland", Provinciale Atlas Noord-Holland ( Memento of March 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (ndl.)
2. ^ ^{A b c} "Pronk, Cornelis", Grove Dictionary of Art
3. ↑ ^{a b} "Cornelis Pronk (1691–1759)", Cultuurarchief.nl (ndl.)
4. ^ "Abraham de Haen", Bijdragen tot de historical topografie van Nederland , Historischetopografie.nl
5. ↑ ^{a b c} "PRONK (Cornelis)" in Van der Aa et al., Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden , Vol. 15, pp. 477-478 (ndl.)
6. ^ "Cornelis Pronk (Amsterdam 1691-Amsterdam 1759)", Thuis in Brabant (ndl.)
7. ↑ "Voorwerpen van de maand december", Aziatische Keramiek ( Memento of the original from July 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (ndl.)  
8. ↑ Pretty Dutch: 18de-eeuws Hollands porselein Ank Trumpie, Pretty Dutch: 18de-eeuws Hollands porselein , 010 Publishers, 2007, p.66 (ndl.)
9. ↑ "Cornelis Pronk", Pronk Personal Porcelain ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (ndl.)