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Some thirty paintings by Robert van den Hoecke are conserved in public museums of which only two are dated – :File:Robert van den Hoecke 003.jpg">''Skating on the moat in Brussels'' in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (1649) and ''Military camp'' in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dunkerque.Robert van den Hoecke
at the
at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest
Van den Hoecke is also known for his landscapes, many of which are winter landscapes. His small landscapes typically feature a multitude of small figures with a view of a low horizon. In these works he displayed his style which stood out through its meticulous draftsmanship, fine brushwork and bright tonalities.
Examples of the religious compositions in his oeuvre are the series of twelve paintings on copper depicting the Twelve Apostles, in the collection of the Musée du Mont-de-Piété in Bergues, which is attributed to Robert van den Hoecke. These works were formerly housed in the Saint-Victor church in Bergues. As shown in the ''St. Matthias'' from this series, the landscapes in the religious compositions and their figures are painted with the same attention to detail as in his winter landscapes.
That Robert van den Hoecke was also interested in still life painting is evidenced by a stand-alone ''Still life of household utensils'' (
1878, p. 30 His etchings represent mainly military subjects as well as some religious scenes. They are characterized by a great correctness, a fine touch and a quick point.
A comprehensive Hoecke, Robert van den (attributed to), ''Manuscript florilegium''
at Sotheby’s London on 30 April 2015
The largest collection of his paintings is located in the
Robert van den Hoecke (30 November 1622 in
at the
Volume 2, Antwerp, 1864, p. 157, on
at Barok in Vlaanderen From 1661 until his death in 1668 Robert van den Hoecke resided in Bergues-Saint-Winoc as the ''Côntroleur des fortifications pour le service de sa Maj. en Flandre'' (Controller of fortifications in the service of his Majesty in Flanders). In this position he was responsible for all defence works in Flanders. His fellow Antwerp painter
. The portrait shows van den Hoecke in his official capacity as "Côntroleur des fortifications" wearing a belt and a sword. The artist is holding a painter's palette in hand and in his other a just finished picture of a military camp, which corresponds to the plan of Ostend lying on the table in front of him. The choice of the painter-engraver Robert van den Hoecke as an impersonation of the sense of sight was peculiarly apt, since his delicacy of handling was particularly admired by his contemporaries.
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 ...
– 1668 in Bergues-Saint-Winoc) was a Flemish painter, engraver and architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
. He is principally known for his panoramic battle scenes as well as his landscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
paintings. A single still life
A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...
by his hand is known.
After training and starting his career in Antwerp, the artist moved to Brussels where he entered into the service of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (5 January 1614 – 20 November 1662), younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts.
He held a number of military commands, with limited success, a ...
, the governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...
. Following his appointment by the Archduke to the position of ''Côntroleur des fortifications pour le service de sa Maj. en Flandre'' (Controller of fortifications in the service of his Majesty in Flanders) he lived from 1661 until his death in 1668 in Bergues-Saint-Winoc.
Life
Robert van den Hoecke was born in Antwerp as the son of the painterGaspar van den Hoecke
Gaspar van den Hoecke (c. 1585–after 1648) was a Flemish Baroque painter of small devotional cabinet pieces in the manner of Frans Francken II. His sons Robert and Jan van den Hoecke were also painters.
Van den Hoecke, who studied under J ...
and Margaretha Misson (also known as Margriet Musson).Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 797-478 He was the half-brother of Jan van den Hoecke
Jan van den Hoecke (baptised on 4 August 1611 – 1651) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and designer of wall tapestries. He was one of the principal assistants in Rubens' studio in the 1630s. He later traveled to Italy where he resided for a ...
who became a prominent painter with an international career. Robert was likely a pupil of his father.Robert van den Hoeckeat 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 ...
He was admitted as a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1644–45 in his capacity as a son of a master. Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius, De liggeren en andere historische archieven der Antwerpsche sint LucasgildeVolume 2, Antwerp, 1864, p. 157, on
Google books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
On 23 February 1647 van den Hoecke married Isabella Rosiers.
By 1649 van den Hoecke had left Antwerp for Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
where he became a court painter of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (5 January 1614 – 20 November 1662), younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts.
He held a number of military commands, with limited success, a ...
, the governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...
. Here he joined up with his half-brother Jan, court painter of the Archduke since 1644 when the Archduke was still residing in Austria.Matthias Depoorter, ''Jan van den Hoecke''at Barok in Vlaanderen From 1661 until his death in 1668 Robert van den Hoecke resided in Bergues-Saint-Winoc as the ''Côntroleur des fortifications pour le service de sa Maj. en Flandre'' (Controller of fortifications in the service of his Majesty in Flanders). In this position he was responsible for all defence works in Flanders. His fellow Antwerp painter
Gonzales Coques
Gonzales Coques (between 1614 and 1618 – 18 April 1684) was a Flemish painter of portraits and history paintings.Veronique van Passel, "Coques ocks; Cox Gonzales onsael; Gonsalo, ''Grove Art Online''. Oxford University Press, ccessed ...
painted van den Hoecke's painted van den Hoecke's portrait in the form of an five senses
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as su ...Work
Some thirty paintings by Robert van den Hoecke are conserved in public museums of which only two are dated – :File:Robert van den Hoecke 003.jpg">''Skating on the moat in Brussels'' in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (1649) and ''Military camp'' in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dunkerque.Robert van den Hoeckeat the
Dorotheum
The Dorotheum () is one of the world's oldest auction houses and is the largest auction house of art items in Continental Europe. Established by Emperor Joseph I in 1707, it has its headquarters in Vienna on the Dorotheergasse and branches in ...
As controller of the fortifications of Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
, he painted many views of camps, battles and cities. As the court painter of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, the governor of the Southern Netherlands, Robert van den Hoecke created various compositions showing the participation of the Archduke in the daily life of the territory in his charge. These works with an obvious propagandistic intent include paintings such as the ''Skating on the moat in Brussels with Archduke Leopold Wilhelm watching'' and the ''Archduke Leopold Wilhelm at a nocturnal fire''.
Many of his works depict battles as well as scenes from military life such as camps. These were painted on small canvases, often set at night and including a great many figures.Adam Bartsch, ''Le peintre graveur, Volume 5'', Van Degen, 1805, p. 147-150 Robert van den Hoecke was a gifted staffage and still life painter and this may be the reason why he collaborated with the court battle painter 
Peter Snayers
Peter Snayers or Pieter Snayers (1592–1667) was a Flemish painter known for his panoramic battle scenes, depictions of cavalry skirmishes, attacks on villages, coaches and convoys and hunting scenes. (p. 241-243, v.1; plate 92, v.2)Hans V ...
on a ''Military scene'' presumably depicting the siege by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Armentières in 1647 ( Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest). The large figures and the elaborate still life are the work of van den Hoecke, while the smaller figures in the second plane depicting the siege of the city are by the hand of Snayers.Peter Snayers and Robert van den Hoecke, ''Military scene''
at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest
Van den Hoecke is also known for his landscapes, many of which are winter landscapes. His small landscapes typically feature a multitude of small figures with a view of a low horizon. In these works he displayed his style which stood out through its meticulous draftsmanship, fine brushwork and bright tonalities.
Examples of the religious compositions in his oeuvre are the series of twelve paintings on copper depicting the Twelve Apostles, in the collection of the Musée du Mont-de-Piété in Bergues, which is attributed to Robert van den Hoecke. These works were formerly housed in the Saint-Victor church in Bergues. As shown in the ''St. Matthias'' from this series, the landscapes in the religious compositions and their figures are painted with the same attention to detail as in his winter landscapes.
That Robert van den Hoecke was also interested in still life painting is evidenced by a stand-alone ''Still life of household utensils'' (_Robert_van_den_Hoecke,_(1622–68)_Musee_Municipal,_Bergues.jpg.html){kind=link}
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
in Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
). Various of his paintings also incorporate extensive still life elements as demonstrated in his contribution to the collaborative effort with Peter Snayers on the ''Military scene'' ( Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest), to which he added a still life of pottery, vegetables, food and dead game.
He engraved about 21 etchings.Édouard Fétis, ''Galerie du Vte du Bus de Gisignies''1878, p. 30 His etchings represent mainly military subjects as well as some religious scenes. They are characterized by a great correctness, a fine touch and a quick point.
A comprehensive florilegium
In medieval Latin, a ' (plural ') was a compilation of excerpts or sententia from other writings and is an offshoot of the commonplacing tradition. The word is from the Latin '' flos'' (flower) and '' legere'' (to gather): literally a gathering ...
(at Sotheby's London on 30 April 2015, lot 30), containing detailed studies of European flora such as narcissi, irises and capsicums, was attributed by a previous owner to Robert van den Hoecke. The spine label of the book is contemporary with the work and indicates the artist as "van den Hoecke". It is therefore possible that the artist responsible for the work was not Robert but his father Gaspar or his brother Jan.at Sotheby’s London on 30 April 2015
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
in Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
.
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoecke, Robert van den 1622 births 1668 deaths Flemish Baroque painters Flemish landscape painters Flemish genre painters Flemish still life painters Flemish war artists Painters from Antwerp Artists from Antwerp Flemish court painters