HONDIUS, ABRAHAM(1625-1695)
Paintings by the artist available for purchase
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Biographical Details |
Abraham Hondius was a Dutch painter, etcher and draughtsman. Hondius was born at Rotterdam, the son of a city stone mason, Daniel Abramsz de Hondt. It is said that Hondius received his first training from Pieter de Bloot ( 1601 – 1658) and Cornelis Saftleven. This is confirmed by parallels between early paintings by Hondius and Saftleven who worked in Rotterdam from 1637. Hondius successfully combined various stylistic influences in his compositions and developed his own distinctive style. More than two thirds of his paintings, etchings and drawings are animal pieces: hunting scenes, animals fighting and animal studies. He also represented landscapes, genre scenes, religious and mythological scenes such as Pyramus and Thisbe ( Rotterdam Boymans van Beuningen) for which there is a rare preparatory drawing of the two main figures ( sold Amsterdam Sotheby's 1984). Hondius lived in Rotterdam until 1659, but as early as 1652, works such as Hunter offered Refreshment outside and Inn, 1651 reveal the influence of Flemish painting, in particular animal pieces by Frans Snyders and Jan Fyt. It is likely that Hondius knew etchings by Fyt and prints after compositions by Snyders, which he could have seen in the studio of Cornelis Saftleven, who stayed in Antwerp for some time around 1632. A Flemish influence can also be seen in Hondius' Bear Hunt (1655, ex Delaroff private collection 1908), which bears resemblance to engravings after Reubens, in particular those by Pieter Soutman. The source of the Flemish elements in his Adoration of the Shepherds, (1663 Amsterdam Rijksmuseum) is the representation of the same theme by Adriaen van Stalbemt (1622, Berlin, Gemaldegalerie). Hondius was also influenced by Dutch artists, including, Joachim Wtewael, Gerrit van Honhorst, Herman Saftleven and Karel Dujardin. It is generally assumed that Hondius moved to London in 1666 where he spent the rest of his life. He painted views of London such as The Frost Fair on the Thames at Temple Stairs and London Bridge ( 1677 both at The London Museum ). The latest dated work is Ape and Cat Fighting over Dead Poultry, 1690. Hondius produced the majority of his rare 14 animal etchings in London. A series of eight appeared in 1672, ( Hollstein nos 1-8) but a Wild Boar Attacked by Dogs ( Hollstein , no 10) might be earlier. In the etchings and paintings of this period, Hondius enlarged his animal representations in proportion to the picture surface area thus intensifying the effects of the painting. MUSEUMS AMSTERDAM ( RIJKSMUSEUM) - THE ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS |
