Sir Anthony Van Dyck
1599-1641
Influences -Rubens,
Titian,
Paolo Veronese
Education - at age 11 apprenticed to Hendrick van Balen, two years studio assistant to Rubens
Medium - oil on canvas, etching
Burial Place - St. Paul Cathedral
Van Dyck was a brilliant painter. His style differs radically from that of his old teacher, Rubens, although it is similar in technique. He developed his own strong style of Baroque intensity which incorporated the fiery sense of drama he learned from the his old master. The artist enjoyed great financial success, employed as a court painter to Charles I of England. He enjoyed courtly life and excelled at portraiture as well as shining in mythological and biblical themes. According to art historian, S. Spooner "His high living had brought on the gout during his latter years, and luxury had considerably reduced his fortune, which he endeavored to repair by the study of alchemy. He left property amounting to about £20,000. In his private character, Vandyck was universally esteemed for the urbanity of his manners, and his generous patronage to all who excelled in any science or art, many of whose portraits he painted gratuitously."
Throughout his lifetime he was in great demand not only because of his brilliant technical abilities but his sharp intellect. Van Dyck also produced a beautiful series of etched portraits known as the Iconography.
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