Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 20

51. Aert Schouman

Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

The most famous painters from Dordrecht were :

Abraham Bloemaert, Ferdinand Bol, Abraham van Calreat, Albaert, Benjamin Gerritz and Jacob Gerritz CUYP, Pieter Fontijn, Aert de Gelder, Samuel van Hoogstraten, Arnold Houbraken, Willem de Klerk, Frans Lebret, Jacobus Leveck, Nicolaes Maes, Ary Scheffer, Aert and Martinus Schouman, Abraham van Strij, Jan Veth and many, many others.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

Aert Schouman

Dordrecht 1710 - Den Haag 1792

Aert Schouman was a prolific and versatile Dutch painter, glass engraver, printmaker, collector and dealer, who produced still lifes, biblical and mythological themes, natural history studies, genre, historical works, portraits, sketches, etchings and mezzotints. He designed tapestries, painted wall-hangings and decorated objects such as fans, snuffboxes and even the glass windows of a magic lantern

When 15 years old he served as apprentice to the Dordrecht artist Adriaen van der Burg (1693-1733). Schouman was unusual among painters in that he kept a detailed diary of his professional life from 16 October 1733 to 16 November 1753. He took on his first art pupil in 1733 and continued teaching for the rest of his life. In 1736 he founded the Brotherhood of St. Luke, a fraternity of amateur art lovers from Dordrecht and environs. Schouman was a leading artist in Zeeland between 1735 and 1785. During that period he lived and worked in Dordrecht, The Hague and Middelburg and taught pupils in Dordrecht and The Hague. He traveled to England twice and assembled an important collection of paintings.

By 1762 he had been appointed principal of the academy and included among his pupils was the great Dutch flower painter Jan van Os. Schouman was fortunate to receive royal patronage and completed many works for Prince Willem V at the summer palace of Het Loo, at Apeldoorn. The Prince owned a zoological cabinet and a menagerie which contained mammals, snakes and birds from various parts of the world. Although newly arrived exotic birds were popularly depicted, the favorite bird subjects in the eighteenth century were still live domestic poultry, followed by dead partridges and other species. Among the domestic birds, new breeds were being developed and bantam cocks began to appear. Hens with their chickens were very popular, although the young of most every other species (with the exception of ducklings and goslings) were ignored.

Between 1765 and 1768, Schouman was employed in the pictorial recording of the animals at Willem V's palace at Het Loo. Over one hundred drawings by him can be found in one of the few surviving complete recueils, the "Vogel Boek" (Bird Book). Moreover, Schouman's depictions of the animals housed in the royal menagerie, along with those of Simon Fokke, formed the core of thirty-four treatises on foreign animals, published between 1767 and 1787 by Arnout Vosmaer. Their illustrations were accompanied by descriptions written by Peter Simon Pallas. In this composition of an Alpine Cough, the full range of Schouman's skill is spectacularly shown as he forges a remarkable synthesis between a concern for scientific truth and the decorative and exotic aspects of natural history that were highly prized by royal and private clients. In his ornithological presentations, Schouman places the bird in a setting that provides a strikingly accurate impression of scale. It is one of the masters of natural history's best paintings and is a valuable record showing the eighteenth-century synthesis of science and the aesthetic.

Christ and the Samaritan woman Aert Schouman, 1738 Oil on canvas and panel 125,7 x 102,2 cm Dordrechts museum   In the Gospel of John is written how Jesus, completely against the use, speaks with an infidel, Samaritan woman. Schouman gave this event again in a decorative, elegant style that reveals the increasing influence of Rococo and Classicism.

The flight to Egypt Aert Schouman, 1737 Oil on canvas 134 x 111 cm Dordrechts museum   Especially in the first period of his artistry Schouman painted several historical scenes. From these paintings with historical, biblical or mythological scenes have just a few survived. With the flight to Egypt Schouman painted a topic from the New Testament. He emphasized not the drama of the flight, but the relationship between Mary, Joseph and the Christ Child. Striking is the turban, one of Rembrandt known attribute, that was rare used by Joseph.

Self portrait Aert Schouman, 1754 Oil on canvas 81,7 x 65 cm Dordrechts museum   Around 1748 Aert Schouman moved from Dordrecht to The Hague, where his reputation as a great portraitist and wallpaper painter took flight. In 1751 he was elected as regent of the Hague art academy, the following year as he became President of the Hague painter society Pictura. Schouman here depicted himself as artist-regent. In his left hand he holds a gilded woman statue and the insignia of Pictura that he shortly before was given.

Self portrait Aert Schouman, 1750 Oil on panel 28,8 x 23,3 cm Dordrechts museum

Birds in a park landscape Aert Schouman, 1766 Oil on canvas 187 x 123 cm Dordrechts museum   Schouman was in the second half of the 18th century, much demanded as painter of decorative landscapes with birds. His models were caged or stuffed birds in the bird cabinets of collectors. These two paintings belonged to a five-piece wallpaper that Schouman made for a Country house in Oostkapelle. In 1809, the entire series moved to a house in Middelburg, in a bombing in May 1940 they were severely affected. These two paintings were temporarily housed elsewhere and were spared. Since 1961 they are in the Dordrecht Museum.

Juno and Argus Aert Schouman Oil on canvas on board 90,1 x 85,7 cm Dordrechts museum   From the Metamorphoses of the Roman writer Ovid, Schouman took the story of Juno and Argus as inspiration. In the story changed the Roman supreme Jupiter his beloved Io into a white cow to avoid his wife Juno to find his adultery. But Jupiter could not mislead Juno. She asked Jupiter the cow as a gift and claimed Argus, the giant with a hundred eyes, as guardian of the animal. Ultimately the god Mercury killed Argus. His hundred eyes he gave to Juno, who put them on the feathers of the peacock. The loose style and elegant treatment of the painting points to the influence of the French rococo style.

Portrait of Cornelis van Lil and his son with Schouman himself Aert Schouman Oil on panel 49,3 x 41 cm Dordrechts museum

Still life with ox-head Aert Schouman, 1747 Oil on canvas 83,5 x 70 cm Dordrechts museum

Portrait of Albertus de Jonck and his wife Maria Verpoorten and son William Aert Schouman, 1746 Oil on canvas 89,5 x 116,5 cm Dordrechts museum

View at Dordrecht made like Aelbert Cuyp in 1647 Aert Schouman, 1759 Pencil, brush and colors 15,5 x 29,5 cm Dordrechts museum

Stone quarry of the earl of Kassel Aert Schouman, 1753 Aquarelle 10 x 15,9 cm Dordrechts museum

Three birds in a tree Aert Schouman Aquarelle 42,4 x 26,5 cm Dordrechts museum

Wallpaper with a scene from "il pastor fido" Aert Schouman Aquarelle 20,6 x 6 cm; 26,5 x 44,9 cm; 20,6 x 6 cm Dordrechts museum

Birds in a landscape Aert Schouman Aquarelle 16,5 x 21,7 cm Dordrechts museum

A bergamot-plant Aert Schouman, 1753 Aquarelle on gouache, 43,3 x 28 cm Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Gold-Pheasants with chickens and black grouse chicks in a landscape Aert Schouman Oil on canvas 99 x 151 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Portrait of Frans Groenewoud (1680-1761/62) Aert Schouman Oil on copper oval 11 x 9.2 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam   Miniaturist, glass engraver and poet in Dordrecht

Zelfportret Aert Schouman, 1787 Oil on panel 45 x 37 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Turkeys, Chicken and a Guinea Fowl by a Wooden Fence Aert Schouman Black chalk, watercolor, pen and ink framing lines 23.1 x 33 cm Private collection

An Agouti Aert Schouman, 1758 Pen and black ink and watercolor within brown ink framing lines 30.5 x 25.4 cm Private collection   On the other side is written "een westindies Conijn levensgroote als een klyne kat"

An Alpine Cough on a Branch Aert Schouman, 1778 Watercolor within brown ink framing lines, in black chalk and again in brown ink 36.1 x 25.9 cm Private collection   The bird was seen by the artist in the collection of the Stadtholder Willem V

Three Birds in a Tree: A Weaverbird, a Redbilled Quelea and a Red Bishop Aert Schouman Watercolor over traces of black chalk, within remains of black brown ink framing lines 30.7 x 20.3 cm Private collection   On the backside is written “Deeze drie Vogeltjes, Alle na Leevende geteekent/+ Rotterdam bij de Heer Arnoud gevers/door de fijn schilder A Schouman”

An Adult and Juvenile Night Heron Aert Schouman Watercolor over traces of black chalk 36,1 x 25,1 cm Private collection

Decorative birds in a park Aert Schouman Oil on Canvas 197 x 162 cm Private collection

Parrots and other exotic birds in a landscape/h5> Aert Schouman Oil on Canvas 133.5 x 141 cm Private collection

Exotic birds in a parkland setting; A mallard and a spaniel beside a lake in a park, pair (2) Aert Schouman Oil on Canvas 170 x 83 cm Private collection

Two red faced lovebirds and a waxbill Aert Schouman Black chalk, watercolor 31,6 x 22,2 cmbr /> Private collection

A Merganser Standing on Rocks Aert Schouman Black chalk watercolor 13 x 10 inches Private collection

A Beaver by a River Aert Schouman Black chalk watercolor 14.4 x 10.2 inches Private collection

A Crested Oropendula Aert Schouman Watercolor, 7.3 x 11 inches Private collection

A Crown bird at the foot of a tree, a terrace in the background Aert Schouman Black chalk, watercolor, 11.6 x 15.9 inches Private collection

A peacock, a pheasant, a cockerel and other birds in a landscape Aert Schouman, 1746 Oil on canvas 123.2 x 100.3 cm Private collection

Portrait of a family Aert Schouman, 1749 Oil on panel 58.3 x 49.6 cm Private collection Portrayed full-length, said to be Yoan van Wageningen (b. 1704) and children, Yan (b. 1733) and Cornelia (b. 1734), in an interior.

Portrait of a nobleman Aert Schouman, 1774 Oil on canvas, oval 60.6 x 51.6 cm Private collection   Portrayed half-length, in a blue embroidered vest, lace collar and cuffs and a dark blue coat, holding a drawing of a bird in his right hand

A drinking party in a garden Aert Schouman, 1739 Oil on copper 35.3 x 43.2 cm Private collection

Next : Famous painters from Dordrecht, Part 21