#François Xavier Joseph Jacquin

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Francois Xavier Joseph Jacquin - Trompe l’oeil still life of a partridge, woodcock and spotted woodpecker hanging from nails against a white-washed wall -

François Xavier Joseph Jacquin or Frans Jaquin (Brussels, 1756 – Leuven, 1 November 1826) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman known for his portraits, still lifes and landscapes. He was in demand as a portrait painter of religious dignitaries, the nobility and the bourgeoisie. As a still life painter he created game pieces and trompe-l'œil still lifes of game birds.

François Xavier Joseph was mainly a portrait painter but he also created still life paintings and landscapes. He produced accurately observed depictions of birds.

In his portraits, Jacquin aimed to render a realistic portrait of the sitter. He painted the clothes, furniture and architecture in his portraits with great attention to detail. His palette is bright and fresh.

His still lifes were typically closely observed depictions of birds, often draped over the edge of a table. These works are somewhat reminiscent of the works of the Dutch still painter Elias Vonck. His illusionist work continued the tradition of trompe-l'œil still lifes of game of the Netherlandish masters of the 17th century such as Cornelis Norbertus Gysbrechts, Jacob Biltius and Cornelis Biltius. Jacquin's illusionist works of birds against plain walls use natural light and shade effects together with accurate painting of the plumage to create the illusionistic effect that they are real.

Jacquin also painted a few realistic street scenes.

[history-of-fashion]

1819 François Xavier Joseph Jacquin - The De Virieu couple

(Maarten van Rossum Museum)

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Francois Xavier Joseph Jacquin - Street scene - 1821

oil on canvas,  Height: 40.5 cm (15.9 in); Width: 32.5 cm (12.7 in)

François Xavier Joseph Jacquin or Frans Jaquin (Brussels, 1756 – Leuven, 1 November 1826) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman known for his portraits, still lifes and landscapes. He was in demand as a portrait painter of religious dignitaries, the nobility and the bourgeoisie. As a still life painter he created game pieces and trompe-l'œil still lifes of game birds.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

François Xavier Joseph Jacquin - Portrait of Godfried Hermans, abbot of Tongerlo - 1788

François Xavier Joseph Jacquin or Frans Jaquin (Brussels, 1756 – Leuven, 1 November 1826) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman known for his portraits, still lifes and landscapes. He was in demand as a portrait painter of religious dignitaries, the nobility and the bourgeoisie. As a still life painter he created game pieces and trompe-l'œil still lifes of game birds.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Francois Xavier Joseph Jacquin - Portrait of Lady Anna de Jong van Beek en Donk - 1819

oil on canvas, Height: 67 cm (26.3 in); Width: 51.5 cm (20.2 in)

Francois Xavier Joseph Jacquin - Portrait of Jonkheer Hugo van Beresteyn - 1819

oil on canvas, Height: 67 cm (26.3 in); Width: 51.5 cm (20.2 in)

François Xavier Joseph Jacquin or Frans Jaquin (Brussels, 1756 – Leuven, 1 November 1826) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman known for his portraits, still lifes and landscapes. He was in demand as a portrait painter of religious dignitaries, the nobility and the bourgeoisie. As a still life painter he created game pieces and trompe-l'œil still lifes of game birds.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Francois Xavier Joseph Jacquin - Portrait of Henrina Catharina Boogaerts (1773-1849). Wife of F. Hermus - 1817

Francois Xavier Joseph Jacquin - Portrait of Frans Hermus (1779-1829) - 1817

François Xavier Joseph Jacquin or Frans Jaquin (Brussels, 1756 – Leuven, 1 November 1826) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman known for his portraits, still lifes and landscapes. He was in demand as a portrait painter of religious dignitaries, the nobility and the bourgeoisie. As a still life painter he created game pieces and trompe-l'œil still lifes of game birds.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Francois Xavier Joseph Jacquin - Portrait of a boy - 1806

François Xavier Joseph Jacquin or Frans Jaquin (Brussels, 1756 – Leuven, 1 November 1826) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman known for his portraits, still lifes and landscapes. He was in demand as a portrait painter of religious dignitaries, the nobility and the bourgeoisie. As a still life painter he created game pieces and trompe-l'œil still lifes of game birds.

François Xavier Joseph Jacquin was born in Brussels. He commenced his art studies at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in 1768 and later moved to Antwerp where he trained in the workshop of Hendrik-Jozef Antonissen, a painter of landscapes and cattle. Here he also befriended the landscape painter Balthasar Paul Ommeganck. He moved to Leuven in 1776 where he became a student of Laurent Geedts, a still life painter.

He married Anna Maria Simons of Leuven in 1777. The couple had 14 children of whom only two survived into adulthood.

He initially devoted himself to still lifes and then from 1780 onwards he became in demand as a portrait painter. After gaining a commission to paint Simon Wouters the prelate of the Park Abbey in Heverlee near Leuven, he was able to obtain many further commissions from religious dignitaries including the archbishop of Mechelen Franckenberg and of professors of Leuven University. These portrait commissions kept him particularly busy.

He painted a portrait of the Austrian Emperor Francis II for the city hall of Leuven in 1792. This work was engraved by Antoine Cardon and displayed in the city hall of Leuven where it was burnt on 21 January 1795 by citizens of Leuven. He became the appointed portraitist of the notables and bourgeois of Leuven but also recruited his clientele in Hainaut, Brabant and The Netherlands. After the invasion of the Southern Netherlands by the French in 1794, Jacquin's commission work dried up and he gave up painting to trade in wine and cloth.

Jacquin was together with Josse-Pieter Geedts, Frans Berges, Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen, Pieter Goyers, Martin van Dorne and Antoon Clevenbergh one of the founders of the Academy of Fine Arts of Leuven in 1800. After the founding of the Academy, Jaquin's artistic career took off again and he re-established himself as a portrait painter to the world of merchants and the middle classes of Leuven.

One of his pupils at the Academy was Henri van der Haert. He died on 1 November 1826 in Leuven.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Martin van Dorne - Trompe l'oeil of swags of fruit and flowers pinned to a white wall with moths and other insects - 1770

oil on canvas, Height: 68 cm (26.7 in); Width: 85.6 cm (33.7 in)

Martin van Dorne or Martinus Vandorne (Leuven, baptized on 22 January 1736 - Leuven, 2 May 1808) was a Flemish painter and poet of the 18th-century, specialized in still lifes. He is known for his still lifes of fruit and flower. He was nominated court painter by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, the governor of the Austrian Netherlands. He was also a poet in the Dutch language.

Martin van Dorne was the son of Amandus van Dorne and Elisabetha Annosset. Nothing is known about his training and early career. It is possible that he was self-taught. He was established in his hometown as a painter of floral still lifes and gained a regional reputation. Possibly, like many contemporaries, he was also working as a decorative painter.

He married Petronilla Ekermans on 25 February 1765. Of their children a son called Frans (10 April 1776-30 November 1848) became an esteemed portrait painter.

Prince Charles of Lorraine, governor of the Austrian Netherlands appointed van Dorne as an ordinary painter, by letters patent dated 5 August 1779. In October 1800 van Dorne was, together with Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen, François Xavier Joseph Jacquin, Josse-Pieter Geedts, Frans Berges, Pieter Goyers and Antoon Clevenbergh, a co-founder of the Academy of Leuven.

Van Dorne was an amateur poet who composed occasional poetry at family feasts and meetings of artists. On the return to Belgium of the history painter Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen, who was also his friend, he described in a short didactic poem, all the works executed by the prolific artist Verhaghen.

He died in the Civil Hospital of Leuven on 2 May 1808.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Laurent Geedts - Trompe l’oeil still life of birds hanging from nails against a wooden wall - 1770s

Laurent Geedts (Leuven, 1728 – Leuven, 1813) was a Flemish still life painter active in Leuven. He is known for his trompe-l'œil still lifes of game birds.

Laurent Geedts was born in Leuven where he appears to have been active throughout his career. He is the first artist in the Geedts family and was followed by a large number of painters, sculptors and engravers. His nephew Josse-Pieter Geedts was a genre, history and religious artist and Josse-Pieter’s son Pieter Paul was a portrait painter, lithographer and sculptor. The artists in the Geedts family further included Guillaume-Auguste (1802–1866) and his three sons Auguste, Hippolyte and Paul.

Laurent Geedts was the master of François Xavier Joseph Jacquin (1756–1826).

Laurent specialised in still life paintings and in particular trompe-l'œil still lifes of game. He was active as a decorative artist whose works were designed to be displayed over a chimney or as an over-door. He produced accurately observed depictions of birds.

His work continued the tradition of trompe-l'œil still lifes of game of the Netherlandish masters of the 17th century such as Jacob Biltius, Cornelis Biltius and Cornelis Norbertus Gysbrechts. His illusionistic works of game birds against a plain or wooden wall use natural light and shade effects, combined with a very detailed and precise rendering of the plumage to create the trompe-l'œil effect that they appear to be real.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Frans van Dorne - Portrait of Jean Baptiste Ghislain Joseph Plasschaert, mayor of Leuven - 1811-14

oil on canvas, Height: 21 cm (8.2 in); Width: 16 cm (6.2 in)

M van Museum Leuven, Belgium

Frans van Dorne or François van Dorne (Leuven, baptized on 10 April 1776 - Leuven, 30 November 1848) was a Flemish painter of portraits and religious subjects. He is known for his still lifes of fruit and flowers. He trained in Paris with the famous French Neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David. Van Dorne worked in Paris until 1822, the year in which he returned to his hometown Louvain.

Frans van Dorne was the son of Martin van Dorne and Petronilla Ekermans. His father was an eminent painter of still lifes of fruit and flowers who was nominated court painter by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, the governor of the Austrian Netherlands.

Frans trained initially with his father. Later he studied under Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen, a prominent history and portrait painter in the Baroque style and a court painter of Maria Theresa of Austria. Verhaghen was then a teacher at the Academy of Leuven, which had been founded in October 1800 by van Dorne's father, together with Verhaghen, François Xavier Joseph Jacquin, Josse-Pieter Geedts, Frans Berges, Pieter Goyers and Antoon Clevenbergh.

Van Dorne won the prize for drawing after the antique at the Academy in 1802. Thanks to the prize he disposed of the necessary financial resources to continue his studies in Paris. In Paris he became one of a selected number of pupils of Jacques-Louis David, the famous French Neoclassical painter. He worked in Paris for a long time.

In 1806, he received from the magistrates of his native city Leuven a commission to paint a full-length portrait of Emperor Napoleon. Van Dorne submitted a mythological picture representing Venus to the Paris Salon of 1808. The painting was not well received by the critics and from that time onwards the artist decided to dedicate himself to portrait painting.

Van Dorne married Maria Theresia Bastiné who was the sister of the painter Jean-Baptiste Bastiné of Louvain, an artist who had also studied under David in Paris around the same time as van Dorne.

Van Dorne remained in Paris until 1822, the year in which he returned to his hometown Louvain. He produced a large number of portraits until the end of his career. He received a commission from a monastic institution in England to paint four religious compositions representing various episodes of the life of the Virgin. He also painted a copy of a masterpiece of the Flemish Baroque master Gaspar de Crayer for the St. Peter's Church in Leuven.

He died in Leuven on 30 November 1848.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Pieter Jozef Verhaghen - Presumed self-portrait - 

Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen (19 March 1728 in Aarschot – 3 April 1811 in Leuven) was a Flemish painter of large-scale religious and mythological scenes. He is regarded as the last representative of the so-called Flemish School of painting. In particular, he is seen as continuing the artistic tradition of Flemish Baroque painting as exemplified by Rubens in the late 18th century and into the 19th century. He was highly regarded during his lifetime and enjoyed the patronage of eminent patrons and religious institutions. He was appointed first court painter to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria who also provided him a stipend to travel abroad to further his artistic studies.

Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen was born in Aarschot on 19 March 1728. Grandfather and father Verhaghen belonged to the notables of the city and practised as surgeons. The two sons of the family broke with the family tradition and opted to become painter. Jan-Jozef Verhaghen, older brother of Pieter-Jozef, is known in the history of 18th century painting as Potteke (little pot) Verhaghen, because in his works he often depicted kitchen utensils, pots and bowls of earthenware, copper and tin.

Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen thanked his artist career to a chance meeting. As a young boy, he very much enjoyed drawing. When in 1741 he learned that the traveling painter and art restorer Jan-Baptist van den Kerckhoven (c. 1709-1772) was working to restore a painting in the Church of Our Lady in in Aarschot he showed van den Kerckhoven some of his drawings. Van den Kerckhoven immediately recognized the boy's artistic talent and convinced father Willem Verhaghen to let his son study the principles of painting. The young Verhaghen stayed with Van den Kerckhoven and travelled with him to other cities nearby working on decorations and restorations. When van den Kerckhoven was called to some job further away, Verhaghen was not allowed by his father to travel with him due to his young age. He spent the next two years studying art by making copies after prints. In 1744 he moved to Antwerp where he continued his training with Balthasar Beschey. Beschey was an upcoming painter who worked in the style of Rubens and even made direct copies after the famouns Antwerp master. As part of his training in Beschey's workshop Verhaghen made studies after 17th-century works. He was simultaneously enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp where he learned to draw after models. His brother Jan-Jozef later also moved to Antwerp where he worked while taking art classes. In 1747 Pieter-Jozef left Antwerp to return to Aarschot to live with his parents.

In 1749, he was summoned to Leuven where brewer Guilliam Vrancx asked him to decorate the salons of his house on the Mechelsestraat with decorative paintings in Louis XV style. Vrancx was an influential business man and later mayor of Leuven who provided the young artist with an excellent introduction to the bourgeois milieu in Leuven. Not long after his move to Leuven, Verhaghen met and fell in love with Johanna Hensmans, the daughter of a brandy distiller. Rather then return to Antwerp to take up his studies again, the artist decided to stay in Leuven where the couple were married in 1753. Seven children (four sons and three daughthers) were the issue of this marriage. The couple settled in Leuven where Verhaghen opened a small workshop while his wife ran an yarn and linen shop. In 1754 the artist became formally a citizen of Leuven. In these early years of his career Verhaghen was mainly active as a decorative painter. He counted among his patrons members of the bourgeoisie as well as from the circle of the University of Leuven. For the University's graduates who were not from the aristocracy he painted coats of arms, which they could hang above their house door. He also started to receive commissions for larger works with religious themes, in which he was be able to give free rein to his creativity. These works include 11 paintings for the chapel of Leuven University, two canvases for the chapter hall of the Park Abbey and a series of paintings for the Dominican church in Leuven. These works show that his artistic aspiration was to paint in the style of his artistic examples, Rubens and Gaspar de Crayer. He took de Crayer as his example as there were multiple works of this artist present in the churches of Leuven. He gradually also found patronage outside Leuven and its immediate surroundings and painted altarpieces for churches in Turnhout, Halle and Ghent. He was also active as a portrait painter.

The Brussels banker and art lover Daniel Danoot introduced Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen to Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Governor of the Austrian Netherlands. At the time Verhaghen had been working on a commission for the duke Karl von Koblenz depicting the Hungarian king St Stephen receiving the Pope's envoys bringing him the crown. When von Koblenz died before Verhaghen had delivered the commission, he offered the finished work to Prince Charles. Prince Charles wrote to Austrian Empress Empress Maria Theresa to ask for permission to purchase the work. The Austrian Empress Empress Maria Theresa agreed to the request and when she later was sent the work, she was taken by its qualities. She decided to support the artistic development of the artist by funding a study trip to Italy. He as awarded a stipend that would cover the living expenses of the artist and his family for a period of two years.

In May 1771 Verhaghen was made the ordinary painter of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. In the same month he set out on his trip together with his eldest son Willem who would later become a priest. Travelling first to Paris he then continued via Lyon to Turin. Here he was received at the court of Sardinia. He then travelled on to Milan, Parma, Piacenza, Bologna to arrive in Rome at the beginning of August 1771. He stayed in Rome for one and a half years and visited Napels during that period. While in Rome, Pope Clement XIV granted the artist an audience and he offered plenary indulgence to him, his family in the third degree, and thirty other people of his choice. The pope also personally gave the artist's son Willem a tonsure.

Subsequently Verhaghen travelled to Vienna via Tuscany and Venice. He arrived in Vienna on 9 June 1773. Here the Empress received him in audience two times. She honored him by bestowing the title of 'first court painter' on him. When he returned home in October 1773, he was welcomed as a kind of national hero in various cities, including his native city Aarschot, his hometown Leuven and Antwerp. The Leuven painter and poet Martin van Dorne composed a short didactic poem, in which he evoked all the works executed by the prolific Verhaghen. His reputation had increased enormously and many institutions wanted to own paintings by his hand. His reputation grew also outside his own country. His success were supported by his ability to paint quickly and his efficient workshop organization in which he followed the example of his teacher Balthasar Beschey.

Religious institutions were his most important customers, so his career suffered from the Austrian government's efforts to curb the influence of the Catholic Church. The invasion of the Southern Netherlands by French troops in the 1790s further affected the artist's career. Two of his sons, Willem, parish priest in Schaerbeek, and Joris-Jozef, canon of the Park Abbey had to shelter in the artist's home to escape persecution of the French administrators. After the Concordat of 1801 entered into between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII in 1801, the religious tensions decreased and Pieter-Jozef was able to get some new orders, especially from private individuals. But the time for his great historical compositions had passed.

After on 26 October 1800 artist from Leuven such as Martin van Dorne, François Xavier Joseph Jacquin, Josse-Pieter Geedts, Frans Berges, Gillis Goyers and Antoon Clevenbergh had established a society for the establishment of an academy in Leuven, Verhaghen was elected its honorary director. After suffering a stroke in 1809, the artist was no longer to work in the last years of his life. He also lost his oldest son and wife in the year 1810.

By the time he died on 3 April 1811, the interest in his work had been in decline for a while.