Marten van Cleve

A Flemish Household, ca. 1555-60.

Marten van Cleve the Elder (Antwerp, c. 1527 – before 24 November 1581),[1] also called Martin van Cleve, Maerten van Cleve, Martin van Cleef was a Flemish painter and draftsman active in Antwerp between 1551 and 1581.[2] He is referred to as "the Elder" to distinguish him from his son Marten the Younger (before 1560–after 1604). He was the son of Willem van Cleve the Elder, and the younger brother of Hendrick Van Cleve III and the elder brother of Willem van Cleve the Younger.[3]

The elder Marten studied under Frans Floris, and at first exhibited a strong predilection for landscape work.[4] Later on, however, persuaded by Hendrick, he devoted himself wholly to figure-painting. Historical subjects were his favourites, but he also achieved success in genre painting. The latter has been stigmatized as vulgar and suggestive, but while coarse, it reflects the peasant life of the Flemings. After a few early attempts in large compositions after the Italian manner of Floris, he painted small pictures only.

Marten van Cleve painted in the landscapes the figures of many eminent contemporaries, Pierre Gilles and Franz Floris among them, and he continually collaborated with his brother Hendrick in that way. Hendrick reciprocated and added to Marten's figure-pieces landscape backgrounds. On many of his works Marten painted, as a mark, a small ape—playing thus on his name—and in consequence has frequently been called the "Master of the Ape". He was admitted to the Antwerp Academy, and in 1551 became a member of the St. Luke's Guild of Artists. He never travelled from his native Flanders, and died of gout at the age of fifty, leaving four sons—all of them painters. According to the RKD, Hans Jordaens was his pupil.[2]

A catalogue raisonné of Marten van Cleve's paintings and drawings was published in German in 2014.[5]

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Van de Velde, Carl (2003). "Marten van Cleve (I)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 5 November 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Marten van Cleve (I)". RKD. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Van de Velde, Carl (2003). "Hendrik van Cleve (III)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 5 November 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  4. ↑ Hendrick, en Marten van Cleef biography in Schilder-boeck (1604) by Karel van Mander, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
  5. ↑ Ertz, Klaus; Nitze-Ertz, Christa (2014). Marten van Cleve 1524-1581 : Kritischer Katalog der Gemälde und Zeichnungen [Marten van Cleve 1524-1581: catalogue raisonné of paintings and drawings] (in German). Lingen: Luca Verlag. ISBN 9783923641581.

External links