Painting by Jan van Goyen. Wikimedia Commons.

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Jan van Goyen


 

Jan van Goyen was a renowned Dutch landscapist in the 17th century. He was born on 13 January 1596, in Leiden to a shoemaker. Goyen began taking painting lessons during his childhood by the age of ten, and it is said that he was an apprentice to four painters. He painted hundreds of pieces, mostly genre, and his style was characterized by the use of light and shadow. He used oil and wood panels. He was also a member of the Guild of Saint Luke. His surviving pieces can be viewed in several museums. Here are the top 10 fascinating facts about Jan van Goyen.

Jan van Goyen studied painting at Haarlem

Jan van Goyen-Rijksmuseum. Wikimedia Commons.

The Dutch Golden Age was characterized by an appreciation of Dutch art, and many painters thrived in this era, Goyen being one of them. Most of these went to study painting in Haarlem, a town in the Netherlands. It was here that Goyen studied under Dutch painter Esaias van de Velde. Historians also indicate that he took instruction from four teachers in his training. Van de Velde, however, is cited as his main teacher. He was a landscape painter too.

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He painted a wide range of landscapes

Jan van Goyen. Wikimedia Commons.

Most of his works deal with water landscapes such as rivers, canals, and beach scenes. He also painted cityscapes, especially after moving to The Hague. One of his works, ‘An evening river landscape with a ferry’ is simply breathtaking, showing a faint but bright horizon over a lake, with a ferry in the background. Goyen included genre subjects from daily life interactions in his landscape paintings. While at The Hague, he painted several canals in and around the city. He also painted some of the villages surrounding Rotterdam and Leiden. Although he is considered primarily a landscape painter, he ably captured genre scenes in his works, blending elements of nature with day-to-day features.

He moved to The Hague in 1634

Goyen was born in Leiden, where he spent most of his childhood before studying painting in Haarlem. In 1634, he moved to the Hague, where he set up a studio. He was 35 years old when he established his working studio. There, he painted numerous landscapes using inexpensive materials and sold them. His pieces, however, rarely sold at high prices. Goyen made up for it by producing many pieces and using cheap materials.

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He worked several jobs besides painting

Satire on the Tulip Mania by Jan Brughuel. Wikimedia Commons.

To increase his income sources, Goyen took up several ventures at the Hague. He not only painted and dealt with art, but he also invested in the tulips business and real estate. He worked as an auctioneer as well. Unfortunately, however, the tulips trade crashed in 1637 and he incurred huge losses. Tulip Mania is the term usually used to refer to the frenzy among the Dutch over tulip bulbs in the 17th century. These had been introduced from Turkey, and the high demand attracted many Dutch families into the trade. However, around early 1637, prices dropped drastically and the trade collapsed. Many incurred great losses. Goyen never recovered and he got into debt eventually.

He died in great debt

While Goyen was a Jack of many trades, he did not have much luck in his business. Despite real estate being a lucrative venture at the time, he ended up in great debt. Not much is documented about why he did, but one of the tragedies that befell him was the crash of the tulips business. At the time of his death, he had been forced to sell his paintings and move to a smaller house. He was in so much debt that his widow had to sell their furniture and remaining paintings to settle some of the debt.

Some of his works are greatly influenced by Esaias van de Velde

Winter landscape by Esaias van de Velde. Wikimedia Commons.

Esaias was a 17th-century Dutch painter as well, and his specialty was landscapes. Goyen took painting instruction from him as well, and some of his works have been cited to portray considerable influence from Esaias’ style. He adopted quite a naturalistic touch to his landscapes, and his use of a low viewpoint is also apparent in some of Goyen’s work. Esaias was born in Amsterdam and studied painting under Gillis Van Coninxloo, a painter of landscapes. During his stay in Haarlem between 1610 and 1618, he interacted with Goyen. Some of his other pupils include Pieter de Molyn, Pieter van Laer, and Jan Martszen. Esaias was himself influenced by his cousin, Jan van de Velde and Roelant Savery.

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Van Gogh mentions Goyen in a letter

Vincent van Gogh. Sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter in the 19th century, and one of the most famous to date. His influence on Western art history is notable, and his surviving pieces are some of the most expensive despite having died poor. There’s even a museum in his honor in Amsterdam; the Van Gogh Museum. He is said to have had severe depression at some point, and he spent time in psychiatric institutions. In his second letter from an asylum, he mentions van Goyen, acknowledging the latter’s painting style. He writes, ‘Through the iron-barred window I can make out a square of wheat in an enclosure, a perspective in the manner of Van Goyen, above which in the morning I see the sun rise in its glory.’

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Van Goyen had three registered pupils

Having set up a workshop in the Hague, Goyen did his painting and apprenticeship there. His registered pupils were Jan Steen, Adriaen van der Kabel, and Nicolaes van Berchem. The three were part of the Dutch Golden Age movement. Steen is revered as one of the greatest genre painters of the 17th century and is known for his impeccable use of color and humor. Van der Kabel painted landscapes, just like Goyen but he was active in France and Italy. Berchem was a landscape painter too, who got most of his inspiration from traveling to Italy.

He influenced many landscape painters in the 17th century

The Ferry- Jan van Goyen. Wikimedia Commons.

Apart from his pupils, Goyen’s style and works bore a remarkable influence on many landscape painters of his century. These include Herman Saftleven, Abraham van Beijeren, Cornelis van Noorde, Abraham Susenier, Cornelis de Bie, and Jan Coelenbier. This is according to the Netherlands Institute of Art History.

Some of his works are on display at the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum

Jan van Goyen. Wikimedia Commons.

This museum is located in Madrid, Spain, near the Prado Museum. It is the second-largest private collection in the world, with over 1,600 paintings. The British Royal Collection ranks first. The ‘Winter landscape with figures on ice, 1643’ and the ‘River landscape with Ferry boat and Cottages, 1634’ are some of Goyen’s works housed here. The museum has a vast collection of paintings from hundreds of renowned painters from around the world, including Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Picasso.