Jan van Balen (21 July 1611, Antwerp – 14 March 1654) was a Flemish Baroque painter.
He was the son of Hendrik van Balen and brother-in-law to Theodoor van Thulden.[1] and was instructed by his father. After having made considerable progress in the art, his father sent him to Italy, where he had himself derived such advantage from his studies. He remained some years at Rome, and appears to have attached himself to the works of Francesco Albani, whose charming style he has imitated without attending to his purity of design. He returned to Antwerp in 1642, and died there in 1654. In all his pictures the style of his country is discernible; although his colouring is excellent, and his pencil free and flowing, we have always to regret his want of taste, and his inattention to the correctness of his outline. He generally painted cabinet pictures, although he sometimes attempted larger works, in which he was less successful. He had two brothers, Gaspar (born in 1615)[2] and Hendrik (born in 1620),[3] who were both painters.
According to the RKD he returned earlier from Italy, because in 1635-1639 he collaborated with his brother Gaspard, Theodoor van Thulden, Jan de Labare and Erasmus Quellinus II on prints for the Royal Entry or Pompa Introitus of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into Antwerp in 1635, published by Gaspar Gevartius under the direction of Rubens.[1] He is buried in the St. James' Church, Antwerp.[1]
This article incorporates text from the article "BALEN, Jan van" in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers by Michael Bryan, edited by Robert Edmund Graves and Sir Walter Armstrong, an 1886–1889 publication now in the public domain.