Richard Brakenburgh
Encyclopedia
Richard Brakenburgh or Brakenburg (1650, Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

 – 1702, Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

), was a Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...

 painter.

Biography

According to Houbraken he was a light-hearted poet from Haarlem. He was the pupil of Hendrik Mommers who went on to paint clever genre scenes in the manner of Adriaen van Ostade
Adriaen van Ostade
Adriaen van Ostade was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works.-Life:...

. Though some said he was the pupil of Bernard Schendel
Bernardus van Schijndel
Bernardus van Schijndel was a Dutch Golden Age painter of small scale genre works.-Biography:According to Houbraken, he was a Haarlemmer who lived alongside Reinier Brakenburg in Leeuwarden for a period, where he taught Jelle Sibrandsz, a young painter who later travelled to Italy in 1669.Though...

, they were the same age and painted in similar styles. He was successful enough at his art that his Frisian widow was able to purchase an annuity after his death in Friesland.

According to the RKD he is registered in Leeuwarden during the years 1670-1687. He is known for both Italianate landscapes and portraits. He painted similar subjects to those of Schendel, representing merry-makings and drunken assemblies. His pictures are ingeniously composed, and well coloured, something in the manner of Adriaan van Ostade
Adriaen van Ostade
Adriaen van Ostade was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works.-Life:...

, though greatly inferior. They are painted with facility, although they have the appearance of being very highly finished; and he perfectly understood the management of chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....

. His greatest defect is his incorrect drawing of the figure, which he appears not to have studied from nature. The Vienna Gallery
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, it is crowned with an octagonal dome...

 has two 'Peasant Scenes' by him, said to have been painted in 1690; the Berlin Museum
Alte Nationalgalerie
The Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin is a gallery showing a collection of Classical, Romantic, Biedermeier, Impressionist and early Modernist artwork, all of which belong to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The museum is situated on Museum Island, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site.- Founding...

 one, and the Amsterdam Gallery one. In the Brussels Gallery
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium , is one of the most famous museums in Belgium.-The museum:...

 is a 'Children's Feast,' signed and dated 1698; and the Rotterdam Museum
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans . Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire...

 has a 'Doctor's Visit,' signed and dated 1696. In Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...

 are two good 'Artists' Studios ' by him. He also sometimes practised the art of engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

.

He was the teacher of Wigerus Vitringa
Wigerus Vitringa
Wigerus Vitringa , was a Dutch seascape painter.-Biography:Vitringa was born in Leeuwarden. According to the RKD he was the son of a prominent lawyer who could financially permit himself a career in the arts. He was the pupil of Richard Brakenburg and possibly also the pupil of Ludolf Bakhuizen,...

, Abraham Pardanus, and Gillis de Winter. He was followed by Jan Steen
Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century . Psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour are marks of his trade.-Life:...

 and Bernardus van Schijndel
Bernardus van Schijndel
Bernardus van Schijndel was a Dutch Golden Age painter of small scale genre works.-Biography:According to Houbraken, he was a Haarlemmer who lived alongside Reinier Brakenburg in Leeuwarden for a period, where he taught Jelle Sibrandsz, a young painter who later travelled to Italy in 1669.Though...

. He died at Haarlem in December 1702 and was buried in January 1703.
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