Vinckboons Circle, 1620-1630

Circle of DAVID VINCKBOONS (Mechelen, 1576 - Amsterdam, 1629).
"Kermesse", Holland, 1620-1630.
Oil on canvas adhered to board.
Measurements: 72 x 104 cm; 83 x 115 cm (frame).

The present canvas drinks directly from the models established by David Vinckboons, so it could have been made by someone of his artistic circle. We are in front of a work contextualized in a Flemish village where a feast of peasants or villagers is celebrated. All of them eat, drink and dance to the sound of music. The costumbrist themes enjoyed great strength during the seventeenth century, thanks mainly to Teniers and his followers, and were strongly recovered in the nineteenth century, taking the Dutch masters as a model. The naturalistic look of the Baroque turned to everyday life, depicting it in great detail, in a typically Flemish manner. A typical feature of Vinckboons painting was precisely the descriptive and narrative composition, developed in depth with ample space in the foreground, thus clarifying and organizing the scene. In addition, the Flemish style was cheerful and festive, and therefore very appropriate for the representation of scenes such as the one presented here.

David Vinckboons, a Dutch Golden Age painter with Flemish roots, emerged as one of the most prolific and appreciated artists of his time. Today he is recognized as a central figure, along with Hans Bol and Roelant Savery, in the flowering of genre painting in the northern region. Vinckboons distinguished himself for his elegant compositions of figures in landscapes reminiscent of idyllic parks, as well as for his lively depictions of country festivals. His pictorial style evidences the clear influence of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, while his landscapes show a dialogue with the work of Gillis van Coninxloo. Son of the watercolorist Philip Vinckboons, he began his training in Mechelen. His family settled in Antwerp around 1580, then emigrated to Middelburg after the Spanish occupation in 1585, and finally to Amsterdam in 1591. Throughout his career, he trained a large number of pupils, most notably Gillis d'Hodecoeter and Claes Janszoon Visscher, as well as his own sons such as Johannes (watercolorist) and the architects Justus and Philip. Vinckboons' vast oeuvre currently enriches private collections and prominent institutions such as the Geelvinck-Hinlopen Huis Museum in Amsterdam, the National Museum in Warsaw, the Rijksmuseum, the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon, the Museum of Fine Arts in Quimper and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Belgium, among others.