Jacob van Loo

Self-portrait of Jacob van Loo, ca. 1660.

Jacob van Loo (1614, Sluis – 26 November 1670, Paris) was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age, chiefly active in Amsterdam and, after 1660, in Paris. Van Loo is known for his conversational groupings; particularly his mythological and biblical scenes generally attributed to the genre of 'History painting'. He was especially celebrated for the quality of his nudes to the extent that, during his lifetime, particularly his female figures were said to have been considered superior and more popular than those of his Amsterdam rival Rembrandt. In 1663, three years after fleeing to Paris, Jacob van Loo was accepted into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture.

Though his father also painted, Jacob's success ensured that he would forever be referred to as the founder of the Van Loo family of painters; a dynasty which was influential in French and European painting from the 17th to the beginning of the 19th century.

Biography

File:Van Loo Dynastic diagram.jpg

Van Loo family of painters.

Van Loo was born in the Dutch town Sluis, the Dutch Republic. Some sources have speculated that his father, Jan van Loo, may have been a notary, but more often his father is described as a painter from whom Jacob van Loo received his early training. Little is known of Van Loo's early history due to the destruction of the city archives in Sluis during World War II.

Ariadne (1652). Wilanów Palace, Warsaw

His early influences included Thomas de Keyser and Jacob Adriaensz Backer. In 1635, van Loo moved to Amsterdam, where his contemporaries included Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Bartholomeus van der Helst. In 1643 he married Anna Lengele, the sister of the painter Martinus Lengele (1604–1668). The couple had six children. They lived on Rozengracht in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam. Eglon van der Neer became one of his pupils. In 1660, Van Loo fled the city after fatally stabbing someone during an altercation at an inn. He was sentenced to death in absentia which forever prevented his return to the Dutch Republic. Van Loo settled in Paris, where he was admitted to the Académie de peinture et de sculpture. He died in Paris in 1670.

Van Loo's work was done in the Baroque style that had originated in Rome and popular throughout Europe. He was a major influence on Johannes Vermeer as can be seen in Vermeer’s painting, Diana and Her Companions.

Van Loo painted many portraits. Among his subjects were Johan Huydecoper van Maarseveen; his sister, Leonara Huydecoper, who was married to Jan J. Hinlopen; Joan Ortt, who was later involved with Antoinette Bourignon; and his wife Lucretia Boudaen.

Jacob van Loo's son, Louis Abraham van Loo, was also a painter, as were his grandsons, Jean-Baptiste van Loo and Charles-André van Loo.

Gallery

• Works by Jacob van Loo
• 
  Meebeeck Cruywagen Family, c. 1640-45.
• 
  A concert, 1652.
• 
  Danaë, after 1640.
• 
  Melancholy, after 1660.
• 
  Young woman going to bed, c. 1650.
• 
  Male and Female nudes, 1650s.
• 
  Diana and her Nymphs, 1654.
• 
  Portrait of a gentleman, 1668.
• 
  Danae, 1650.
• 
  Bacchic Scene, 1653.
• 
  The French Royal Family, circa 1663.
• 
  Diana, 1648.

External links

• Record at Getty Research
• Biography from Kresge Art Gallery
• Biography at Daphne Alazraki Fine Art
• Works and literature on Jacob van Loo