Jan Baptist Herregouts
Jan Baptist Herregouts[1] (c. 1646 in Roermond – November 25, 1721 in Bruges) was a Flemish portrait and history painter, etcher and brewer mainly active in Bruges.
Life
Jan Baptist Herregouts was likely born in Roermond in or after 1646 as the son of painter David Herregouts from Mechelen who had moved to Roermond in 1646. Here David Herregouts had built a successful career as a painter thanks to the support of the local Catholic Church. Jan Baptit’s mother was Cecile Geniets, a daughter from a family of butchers in Mechelen.[2][3][4]
Jan Baptist had three brothers who were painters:
- Hendrik Herregouts (Mechelen, 1633 – Antwerp, 1704) who had a peripatetic career as a painter including stints in Antwerp and Bruges.
- Willem Herregouts who emigrated to Amiens in France where he was known i.a. as Guillaume Herregosse or Guillaume Hergosse.
- Maximilian Herregouts about whom currently nothing much is known other than two works, one entitled Kitchen, in which a woman is busy baking pancakes (1674) and a second entitled Eliezer and Rebecca at the well.[2][5]
Jan Baptist likely first trained under his father and may have made a study tour to Italy. He then worked for several years in Antwerp probably in the workshop of his brother Hendrik. He became a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1677. He subsequently moved to Bruges, possibly assisting his brother Hendrik with some of the commissions he was completing in that city. He became a master in the Bruges Guild of Saint Luke in 1684. He subsequently filled various leadership positions in the guild. In 1717 he was one of the four artists who contributed funds to the creation of a drawing academy in Bruges. [5]
Jan Baptist became a successful history and portrait painter. He married Anna-Pieternelle Timmermans. The couple had two children: Marie-Anne Herregouts (1685-1749) and Jan Baptist Herregouts (1688-1717).
Jan Baptist or his wife likely operated a beer brewery in Bruges. He died in Bruges where he was buried in the St James Church.[2]
Work
Jan Baptist is mainly known for his many altar pieces and religious works that he produced for the churches of Bruges. He also produced a number of portraits although there are some doubts about the authorship of some of the portraits attributed to him, in particular his self-portrait and the portrait of his father, which may possibly be the work of his brother[4]
The following works of Jan Baptist Herregouts are preserved in Bruges:
- Portrait of his father (Groeningemuseum)
- Self-portrait (Groeningemuseum)
- Portrait of Laurentius van de Velde, King of the Guild of St. George in Bruges (Groeningemuseum)
- The Ascension of Mary (Seminary Church)
- The Coronation of Our Lady (Godelieveabbey)
- The Circumcision (St. Anne's Church)
- The Raising of Lazarus (St James' Church)
- The Ecstasy of the St Dominic (Church of Our Lady)
- The Martyrdom of St Peter of Verona (Church of Our Lady)
- The Ascension of Mary (Public Centre for Social Welfare Bruges)
Jan Baptist Herregouts was regarded as a capable painter in the style of the late 17th century. His palette was much admired.[6]
Jan Baptist Herregouts was also active as an engraver. Etches by his hand are executed in a pleasant and loose style.[5][7]
References
- ↑ Alternative name spellings: 'Jan Baptist Herregoudts' and 'Jan-Baptist Herregouts'.
- 1 2 3 Andries Van den Abeele, Jan-Baptist Herregouts, kunstschilder en brouwer, in: Biekorf, 1995, blz. 87-92 (Dutch)
- ↑ The RKD article on Jan Baptist Herregouts places his place of birth in Dendermonde at c. 1640 but this is likely due to a misreading of the names for the cities Dendermonde and Roermond (Dutch)
- 1 2 Andries Van den Abeele, De Herregoudts-portretten en Joseph Van Praet, in: Biekorf, 1995, blz. 286-288 (Dutch)
- 1 2 3 E. Baes. Jean-Baptiste Herregouts in: Biographie Nationale, Volume 9, 287-288 (French)
- ↑ Familie Herregouts at Mechelen MAPT (Dutch)
- ↑ Etches of Jan Baptist Herregouts at the Rijksmuseum
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