Anthony Van Dyck at a Glance

Anthony Van Dyck (1599 - 1641) was a Flemish artist whose work is classified as part of the Baroque movement.

Image: Self portrait with Sunflower, 1632, Van Dyck.

Public Domain image.

In 1615, when Van Dyck was only 16 years old, he was already an accomplished portrait artist in Italy and in the Southern Netherlands, having learnt directly from Peter Paul Rubens. By the young age of 21, Van Dyck was commissioned to work for King James I of England. In his paintings he used bright colours and lots of reds, as in this example below, combined with a dark background, which was popular in europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Image: Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini, by Anthony Van Dyck, 1621

Public Domain Image

Van Dyck also used a beautiful glaze to give his work shine and depth. He made this glaze by mixing Cassel earth, from Germany, with bitumen, which is a sticky tar substance used on roads. A century later, this colour was called “Vandyke brown”.

Image: Charles I in Three Different Positions, 1635 - 1636. Van Dyck.

Public Domain Image

Van Dyck is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court. It is said that he painted with a relaxed elegance that was to influence portrait painting in England for the next 150 years. He also painted biblical and mythological subjects, and was a avid draughtsman, as well as a watercolor and etching innovator.

Image: James Stuart, Duke of Richmond and Lennox, 1633 - 1634. Van Dyck.

Public Domain Image

References and Great Things for Further Reading

Books

The Brilliant History of Color in Art, Finlay, V. 2014. J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Publications.

Websites

http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/history/vandyke.html#:~:text=History%20of%20Van%20Dyke%20brown%3A&text=Originally%20obtained%20from%20the%20Cologne,precise%20qualities%20of%20this%20color.

https://colourlex.com/project/vandyke-brown/

https://www.wikiart.org/en/anthony-van-dyck/self-portrait-with-a-sunflower-1632