Architectural painting
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"The branch of architectural painting was comparatively early of development. Jan Fredemann de Vries was born at Leeuwarden in 1527. This artist went through a scientific study of the works of Vitruvius and Serlio, and devoted himself, with no common result, to this class of art. Like the landscape-painters before noticed, his works take their title from the figures in the foreground, though the rich architecture which occupies the surrounding space, and in which the laws both of lineal and aerial perspective are effectively observed, forms the real subject. The tone in which these architectural forms are treated is generally delicate, clear, and cool. The best works I know by him are a series of pictures in the fine summer council chamber in the Hotel de Ville at Dantzic, in which, however, the figures are in the mannered taste of his time. Architectural painting was further developed by Hendrik van Steenwyck, born 1550, died 1604, who was scholar of the preceding master. He painted chiefly interiors of Gothic churches, on a small scale, generally enlivened with figures by some of the numerous Francken family. He was the first to represent the effect of the light of torches and tapers on architectural forms. The fine perspective, both lineal and aerial, observed in his pictures, gives them a lasting value, though the execution of his architectural detail is somewhat hard and metallic. Admirable specimens of his art are in the Vienna Gallery."--Handbook of Painting: The German, Flemish, and Dutch Schools (1860) by Gustav Friedrich Waagen |
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Architectural painting (also Architecture painting) is a form of genre painting where the predominant focus lies on architecture, including both outdoor and interior views. While architecture was present in many of the earliest paintings and illuminations, it was mainly used as background or to provide rhythm to a painting. In the Renaissance, architecture was used to emphasize the perspective and create a sense of depth, like in Masaccio's Holy Trinity from the 1420s.
In Western art, architectural painting as an independent genre developed in the 16th century in Flanders and the Netherlands, and reached its peak in 16th and 17th century Dutch painting. Later, it developed in a tool for Romantic paintings, with e.g. views of ruins becoming very popular. Closely related genres are architectural fantasies and trompe-l'oeils, especially illusionistic ceiling painting, and cityscapes.
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Western artists specialized in architectural painting
16th century
The 16th century saw the development of architectural painting as a separate genre in Western art. The main centers in this period were Flanders and the Netherlands. The first important architectural painter was Dutch Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527-1607), who was both an architect and a painter. (Handbook of Painting: The German, Flemish, and Dutch Schools) Students of Hans Vredeman de Vries, both in Flanders and in the Netherlands, include his sons Salomon and Paul, and Hendrik van Steenwijk I. Through them the genre was popularized and their family and students turned it into one of the main domains of Dutch Golden Age painting.
Flanders
- Salomon Vredeman de Vries (1556-1604)
- Paul Vredeman de Vries (1567-1617)
- Hendrick Aerts (between 1565 and 1575 - 1603)
Netherlands
- Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527–1607)
- Hendrik van Steenwijk I (1550–1603), the first to specialize in church interiors
17th century
Flanders
- Pieter Neefs the Elder (1578-1656)
- Hendrik van Steenwijk II (c.1580–1649)
- Lodewijck Neefs (1617-1649)
- Wolfgang de Smet (1617–1685)
- Pieter Neefs the Younger (1620-1675)
- Erasmus de Bie (1629-1675), between cityscapes and architectural painting proper
- Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg (1630–c. 1676)
- Jacobus Ferdinandus Saey (1658 – after 1726)
- Lievin Cruyl (1634-1720)
Italy
- Viviano Codazzi (1606-1670)
- Ascanio Luciano (1621-1706)
- Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709), mainly illusionistic paintings
- Luigi Quaini (1643-1717), not a pure architectural painter, but a contributor of architecture to other paintings
Netherlands
In the 17th century, architectural painting became one of the leading genres in the Dutch Golden Age, together with portrait painting and landscapes. Notable Dutch painter of the genre include:
- Hendrik van Steenwijk II (1580-1649)
- Bartholomeus van Bassen (1590-1652)
- Pieter van der Stock (1593-1660)
- Pieter Jansz. Saenredam (1597-1665)
- Gerard Houckgeest (1600-1661)
- Susanna van Steenwijk (1601-1664)
- Dirck van Delen (1605-1671)
- Daniël de Blieck (c. 1610-1673)
- Hendrick Cornelisz. van Vliet (1612-1675): mainly church interiors
- Emanuel de Witte (1617-1692)
- Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde (1630-1693)
- Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712)
- Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde (1638-1698)
- Caspar van Wittel (1652 or 1653-1736)
18th century
France
- Jacques de Lajoue (1687-1761)
Italy
Architectural paintings, and the related vedute or cityscapes, were especially popular in 18th century Italy. Another genre closely related to architectural painting proper were the capriccios, fantasies set in and focusing on an imaginary architecture.
- Stefano Orlandi (1681-1760)
Netherlands
- Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759)
- Jan ten Compe (1713-1761)
19th century
Austria
- Rudolf von Alt (1812-1905)
Belgium
- Jules Victor Génisson (1805-1860)
- Jean-Baptiste Van Moer (1819-1884)
Denmark
- Heinrich Hansen (1821-1890)
- Jacob Kornerup (1825-1913)
- Martinus Rørbye (1803–1848)
France
- Charles Marie Bouton (1781-1853)
Germany
- Wilhelm Barth (1779-1852)
- Michael Neher (1798-1876)
- Eduard Gaertner (1801-1877)
- Max Emanuel Ainmiller (1807-1870)
- Friedrich August Elsasser (1810-1845)
- Hermann Gemmel (1813-1868)
- Adolf Seel (1829-1907)
Italy
- Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837)
- Federico Moja (1802-1885)
United Kingdom
- Samuel Prout (1783-1852), watercolours
- Thomas H. Shepherd (1792-1864), watercolours
Modern art
- Colin Campbell Cooper, paintings of skyscrapers
- Eugeniusz Molski, Polish painter
Chinese architectural painting
In China, architectural painting was called "jiehua", and mainly seen as an inferior type of painting. Known masters of the genre include the 10th century painter Guo Zhongshu, and Wang Zhenpeng, who was active around 1300.
See also
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Abel Grimmer, Adolf Heinrich-Hansen, Adolf Seel, Andrea Pozzo, Architectural coatings, Ascanio Luciano, Carl August Heinrich Ferdinand Oesterley, Carl Emanuel Conrad, Carl Theodor Reiffenstein, Christen Købke, Christian Mali, Colin Campbell Cooper, Daniël de Blieck, Danish art, Danish Golden Age, Dirck van Delen, Domenico Quaglio the Younger, Eiffel Tower (Delaunay series), Ernest George, Eugeniusz Molski, Fernand Sabatté, Figurative art, Flemish Baroque painting, Friedrich Gärtner, Gennaro Greco, Giuseppe Quaglio, Grete Waldau, Gustav Klimt, Hendrick Aerts, Hendrick Cornelisz. van Vliet, Hendrik van Steenwijk I, Hendrik van Steenwijk II, Hermann Gemmel, Hoca Ali Rıza, Index of painting-related articles, Jacob Kornerup, Jacobus Ferdinandus Saey, Jacques de Lajoue, Jan Baptist van der Straeten, John Scarlett Davis, Jonathan Pike, Jørgen Roed, Jules Victor Génisson, Luise Begas-Parmentier, Martinus Rørbye, Mauro Antonio Tesi, Michael Neher, Niccolò Codazzi, Oxford, Paul Ritter (painter), Paul Vredeman de Vries, Robert Streater, Rudolf von Alt, Salomon Vredeman de Vries, Samuel Prout, Stanisław Tondos, Susanna van Steenwijk, Thomas H. Shepherd, Valerie Petts, Vicente Giner, Viviano Codazzi, Wilhelm Brücke, William Nicholson (artist, born 1781)