David Teniers the Younger | Baroque painter | Tutt'Art@ | Pittura * Scultura * Poesia * Musica

Biography from: Museo del Prado

Teniers the Younger, David (Antwerp, 1610 - Brussels, 1690) was born into a family of artists and his father, David Teniers "the Elder", was his first master; indeed, he is referred to by scholars as "David Teniers II".

He joined the Guild of St Luke in 1633 and began to sign and date his paintings that same year.

During the early stage of his career his genre paintings were inspired by Brouwer and his landscapes display the influence of Momper and Bril.

However Teniers' artistic career was marked by two decisive events: his marriage to one of Jan Brueghel's daughters, who was also Rubens' goddaughter, in 1637; and his entering the service of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in 1647.

Teniers also enjoyed excellent relations with a host of patrons and painting collectors, who commissioned numerous works from him, a fair number of which were sent to Spain.

He first worked in Antwerp and subsequently established himself in Brussels, where he purchased a magnificent house next to the government palace, converting it into a spacious residence-cum-studio.

His marrying into the Brueghel family led him to pay greater attention to folk themes.

Rural scenes of farms and interiors were already part of his repertory but he now began to paint "kermesses", popular celebrations, heightened his palette and produced works that were more joyful and abundant in landscapes.

This change influenced his maturing process and in 1644 he was elected dean of the Guild of Antwerp.

The arrival of the archduke in Flanders and Teniers' appointment to his service as court painter and curator secured him a rise in status.

After his great protector left and his first wife died, both in 1656, he remained in Brussels, remarried and his fame continued.

His classical works -landscapes, rural and folk scenes and interiors- were still greatly sought after.

In 1664 he succeeded in founding the Academy of Antwerp after Philip IV of Spain granted his request as court painter.

Teniers lived to a very old age for the period, as he was 80 when he died.

He was celebrated in his lifetime in Cornelis de Bie's book on artists published in 1661 and subsequently held in high esteem by 18th- and 19th-century critics and writers. There are many studies on his life and oeuvre (Luna, J. J.: From Titian to Goya. Great Masters of the Museo del Prado, National Art Museum of China-Shanghai Museum, 2007, p. 395).

Biography from: National Gallery, London

David Teniers was the most famous 17th-century painter of peasant life. He enjoyed international popularity in his own lifetime and during the 18th century, especially in France.

Teniers's success was marked by the acquisition of a country house in 1662 and by the grant in 1680 of a patent of nobility.

His work was imitated by many followers, including his son, David Teniers III.

Teniers was born in Antwerp and probably trained by his father, David Teniers the Elder.

The work of Brouwer was an important influence. Teniers produced a more refined version of Brouwer's peasant scenes, and later created scenes of fashionable life.

His work was also influenced by his father-in-law Jan Brueghel.

In 1632-3 Teniers became a master in the guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp.

By 1649 he was probably already working for the King of Spain, as well as for Prince William of Orange and the Governor of the Netherlands, the Archduke Leopold William.

In 1651 Teniers moved to Brussels where Archduke Leopold became his main employer.

The archduke had assembled a famous collection of paintings, which became the nucleus of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Teniers' picture gallery paintings were based on this collection. | © National Gallery, London

David Teniers, detto il Giovane (1610-1690), è stato un pittore Fiammingo.

Figlio del pittore David il Vecchio, e fratello più noto di altri tre pittori, iniziò la sua attività ad Anversa, dove nel 1637 sposò la figlia di Jan Brueghel dei Velluti.

Fu allievo del padre, tramite il quale apprese lo stile di Adam Elsheimer e le novità apportate da Pieter Paul Rubens.

Si interessò alle opere del gruppo di Frans Francken II, che trattavano argomenti storici o sacri.

Fu soprattutto pittore di dipinti di genere (scene rustiche, di taverna, di stregoneria, feste paesane, laboratori di alchimisti ed interni di galleria), inizialmente vicine allo stile di Frans Francken II, poi a quello di Adriaen Brouwer.

Il suo periodo più fertile fu quello che va dal 1633 al 1640, nel quale dipinse alcune delle sue opere più riuscite, quali Il figliol prodigo, I cinque sensi, in cui la caratterizzazione dei tipi umani raggiunge una elevata acutezza, così come la vena umoristica e grottesca.

Trasferitosi a Bruxelles nel 1651, venne nominato pittore di corte e direttore delle collezioni dall'Arciduca Leopoldo Guglielmo d'Austria, governatore dei Paesi Bassi spagnoli.

La raccolta da lui curata divenne il nucleo principale del Kunsthistorisches Museum.

In questa seconda parte della carriera, la sua produzione perse un po' di genialità, assumendo caratteri di maniera, ancora brillanti nell'esecuzione, ma parzialmente ripetitivi per tema e programma, la pennellata era tecnicamente ineccepibile ma spersonalizzata.

Da ricordare ancora i quadri satirici con la presenza di animali antropomorfizzati e le gallerie, ossia raffigurazioni di raccolte di quadri.

Sue opere arrivarono anche in Italia. Due in particolare custodite al tempo a Roma presso la collezione della famiglia Borghese.

Si tratta di due tavole 24x30, olio su tela, raffiguranti Scene di Taverna. Una di esse, si distingue dalle altre di medesimo soggetto.

In essa Teniers ritrae sotto le mentite spoglie di un occasionale avventore, in forma caricaturata, un potente dell'epoca.

Quando venne restaurata e ripristinata la Galleria Borghese, vi fecero per breve tempo ritorno, gentilmente concesse in prestito dal curatore della pinacoteca di proprietà di un'importante famiglia piemontese.

Tale famiglia, legata in via di parentela con i Borghese, li ebbe in eredità per via diretta.

Grande conoscitore dell'oprea di David Teniers il Giovane, fine restauratore, fu il prof. Tullius Kuiper, direttore dell'"Academie de la peinture flamande d'Anverse".