Frans Balthazar Solvyns or François Balt(h)azar(d)Birth name; Franciscus Balthazar Solvyns, also known as: Frans Balthazar Solvijns and Balthazar SolvijnsFrans Balthazar Solvyns
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

Peeters-Van Genechten, ''Jaerboek der vermaerde en kunstryke Gilde van Sint Lucas binnen de stad Antwerpen''
P. th. Moons-Van der Straelen, 1855, pp. 316-317 (6 July 1760 – 10 October 1824) was a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

marine painter, printmaker and ethnographer. While living and working in India from 1791 to 1803, he made many drawings of the manners and customs of the Indians, especially of Calcutta, which he later etched and published.Jan Vandersmissen, ''SOLVYNS (François Balthazar)''
at the Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences He is, along with

Thomas Daniell Thomas Daniell (174919 March 1840) was an English Landscape art, landscape painter who also painted Orientalist themes. He spent seven years in India, accompanied by his nephew William Daniell, William, also an artist, and published several se ...

, considered one of the early pioneers in the field of print-making in India. His collection of etchings provide a portrait of Calcutta's 18th century history, and the people and customs of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. His encyclopaedic and systematic approach made him a pioneer of the systematic ethnography of the Indian population. His work had an important influence on 19th century Indian painting.The Solvyns Project - Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. - The University of Texas at Austin
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Life

Solvyns was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

in 1760 as the son of Maximiliaan (Maximilianus) Solvyns, a merchant, and Maria Elisabeth Abeloos. He studied from 1775 to 1778 at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

in Antwerp under the guidance of

Andreas Bernardus de Quertenmont Andreas Bernardus de Quertenmont (1 February 1750, in Antwerp – 3 June 1835, in Antwerp) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter, copyist, engraver and etching, etch artist. He was also an art educator and administrator as he held positions ...

. On 30 April 1778 he enrolled in Paris at the Ecole de l'

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (; ) was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abolished in 1793 during the French Revolution. I ...

. He pursued a career as a marine painter. His work as a painter and graphic artist enjoyed the appreciation of the Austrian governor-general at the court in Brussels. This led to government commissions to paint harbour views, including paintings of Antwerp shipping companies. The government's appreciation was also reflected in his appointment - at the age of sixteen - as captain of

Fort Lillo Fort Lillo is a former military fort built as part of the Antwerp Defence Line on the right bank of the Schelde, and completely surrounded by the industrial port of Antwerp. History Built between 1579–82 on the orders of William the Silent t ...

on the left bank of the river

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

in Antwerp.

Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (Maria Christina Johanna Josepha Antonia; 13 May 1742 – 24 June 1798), was the fifth child of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Married in 1766 to Prince Albert of Saxony, the ...

, wife of the governor general of the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen Prince Albert Casimir of Saxony, Duke of Teschen (11 July 1738 – 10 February 1822) was a Saxon prince from the House of Wettin who married into the Habsburg imperial family. He was noted as an art collector and founded the Albertina in Vien ...

, particularly favoured him. Thanks to her intervention, he was appointed captain of Laken Castle, the residence of the governor general near Brussels. As his appointment was purely honorary, Solvyns was free to pursue his artistic career.Hostyn, N., "Solvyns, Frans-Balthasar", in ''Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek''], vol. X, Brussels: Koninklijke Academie van België, 1983, col. 594-599 He was commissioned by the government to make a large painting of the port of

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

. The painting was successful and was soon copied and widely distributed through the print he asked the Frenchman

Robert Daudet The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

to make after the painting. The governor general commissioned him to make a painting of the city and port of Antwerp depicting the occasion on which the Imperial banner had been hoisted on the river Scheldt. He was later appointed captain of the frigate that guarded the Scheldt with effect from 10 August 1786. This position carried the benefit of a spacious home in Antwerp. He was one of the founders of a society of artists known as the ''Genootschap ter aanmoediging der Schoone Kunsten'' (known under its short form as the ''Konstmaatschappij'' (the 'Art Society')), which was established in Antwerp on 12 November 1788. Other founders included

Balthasar Paul Ommeganck Balthasar Paul Ommeganck (sometimes also: Paul Balthasar Ommeganck) (1755–1826) was a Flemish painter of landscape painter, landscapes and animal painter, animals active in Antwerp. Through his work and his role as an art teacher and founder o ...

Pieter Faes Pieter Faes or Peeter Faes (14 July 1750 – 22 December 1814) was a Flemish painter of still lifes of flowers and fruit. He worked in a decorative style close to that of Jan van Huysum.Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Walter A. L ...

, Miss Herry,

Jan Josef Horemans the Younger Jan Josef Horemans the Younger (baptised 15 January 1714 – 9 February 1792) was an 18th-century Flemish painter. He is mainly known for his genre scenes but also painted harbor views, equestrian paintings, portraits and still lifes. Life Jan J ...

, Ferdinand Verhoeven,

Hendrik Aarnout Myin Hendrik may refer to: People * Hendrik (given name) * Hans Hendrik (1832–1889), Greenlandic Arctic traveller and interpreter * Tony Hendrik (born 1945), German music producer and composer Others * Hendrik Island, an island in Greenland * Hendrik ...

Hendrik Frans de Cort Hendrik de Cort or Hendrik Frans de Cort (1742 in Antwerp – 28 June 1810 in London) was a Flemish landscape art, landscape painter and draughtsman. His international career brought him to Antwerp, Paris, England and Wales. He is mainly remembe ...

Mattheus Ignatius van Bree Mattheus Ignatius van Bree (Antwerp, 1773 – Antwerp, 1839) was a Belgian Painting, painter. He was one of the founders of the historical school of painting in Belgium and played an important role as a teacher in the development of 19th-century ...

Maria Jacoba Ommeganck Maria Jacoba Ommeganck (1760 – 16 December 1849) was a Flemish neoclassicistic animal painter, specializing in pictures with cattle. Ommeganck was born in Antwerp in 1760 and baptized on 14 August of that year. She was a daughter of Paul and ...

Marten Waefelaerts Marten Waefelaerts (1748 - 1799) was a Flemish 18th century landscape painter living most of his life in the Holy Roman Empire. He was probably born in Antwerp, but little is known about his early years. He worked in the years 1790–1800. In 179 ...

and many others. The objective of the society was the promotion and appreciation of the artworks of its various members in an informal settingReginald Howard Wilenski, ''Flemish Painters: 1430–1830'', Viking Press, 1960, p. 418 Ramsinga

After the

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (, ), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed revolution, insurrection that occurred in the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) between O ...

and the forced departure of the Austrians from the Austrian Netherlands in 1789, he decided to board in Ostend the ship ''Etrusco'' which set sail for Bengal in 1790. He arrived in Calcutta in 1791. He initially worked as journeyman artist making decorations for the upper middle class in the British

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

, ensuring the luster of their festivals and spectacles, restoring works of art and decorating carriages. Solvyns made several trips through the interior of the Indian subcontinent. Inspired by the British Orientalist and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

scholar

Sir William Jones Sir William Jones (28 September 1746 – 27 April 1794) was a British philologist, orientalist, Indologist and judge. Born in Westminster, London to Welsh mathematician William Jones, he moved to the Bengal Presidency where Jones served as ...

who had founded the

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...

, he devised in 1794 the scheme to create a series of etchings that depict the everyday life of the inhabitants of the subcontinent. Richard Goodlad house in India 1793 2

He published his first collection of about 250 etchings under the title ''A Collection of Two Hundred and Fifty Coloured Etchings: Descriptive of the Manners, Customs and Dresses of the Hindoos'' in Calcutta in 1796. More etchings followed in 1799. His etchings covered the

castes A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), foll ...

and their professions, costumes, means of transportation, modes of smoking, fakirs, musical instruments, and festivals. The project was a financial failure. The reason for the failure may have been that according to the prevailing European artistic tastes of his time his drawings were too monotonous and somber in colour. The themes themselves appealed to the popular imagination, and Edward Orne, a publisher in London, published in 1807 without permission of Solvyns a successful pirate version, dedicated to the costumes, with redesigned prints in warmer colours. After the failure of his project Solvyns returned to Europe in 1803. Solvyns married the wealthy Mary Anne Greenwood, daughter of an English family residing in Ghent. The couple had three children. Their youngest son Hendrik (Henri) Solvyns acquired fame as a Belgian diplomat and was later ennobled. In France, he reworked his etchings for a bilingual French/English edition (translated into English by his wife) entitled ''Les Hindous'', which was published in Paris in four volumes between 1808 and 1812 with the financial assistance of his wife. The publication comprised 48 parts with a total of 288 colour-printed plates, all finished by hand.SOLVYNS, Frans Balthazar (1760-1824) Les Hindoûs
at Donald A. Head This publication was again a commercial failure possibly as a result of the unrest caused by the

Napoleonic wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, its high cost of production and the lack of interest among the local populace. The publication was to become an influential model for the so-called '

Company style Company style, also known as Company painting (Hindi: ''kampani kalam'') is a term for a hybrid Indo-European style of paintings made in British India by Indian artists, many of whom worked for European patrons in the East India Company or other ...

' of Indian painting in the 19th century with its drawings of 'occupations' for the British serving in India. After the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

, which included the former Austrian Netherlands, was formed in 1814 Solvyns returned to his birthplace Antwerp.

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was King of the Netherlands and List of monarchs of Luxembourg, Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1815 until his abdication in 1840. Born as the son of William V, Prince of Orange, ...

appointed him Captain of the Port in recognition of his accomplishments as an artist. Solvyns died in Antwerp on 10 October 1824.

Works

* ''A Collection of Two Hundred and Fifty Coloured Etchings: Descriptive of the Manners, Customs and Dresses of the Hindoos'', Calcutta, 1796
1799
* ''A Catalogue of 250 Coloured Etchings; Descriptive of the Manners, Customs, Character, Dress, and Religious Ceremonies of the Hindoos'', Calcutta: Mirror Press, 1799 (a 28 page-brochure). * ''Les Hindoûs'', 4 vols. Paris: Chez L'Auteur, 1808–1812. * ''The Costume of Indostan'' irated edition London: Edward Orme

804-05 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

1807.

References and notes

External links

*
Portrait of the Hindus: Balthazar Solvyns & the European image of India, 1760-1824
'. Oxford University Press in association with Mapin Pub., 2004. , 9780195220414

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solvyns, Frans Balthazar 1760 births 1824 deaths Flemish marine artists Flemish landscape painters Flemish engravers Artists from Antwerp Ethnographers Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni 18th-century Flemish painters 19th-century Flemish painters 19th-century Belgian artists 19th-century Belgian male artists

Life

Works

Further reading

References and notes

External links