The Collector : Le Goût Français
Henri-Joseph van Blarenberghe was a French painter.
During the reign of Louis XVI of France Henri-Joseph became a specialist of battle scenes, due to the fact that he was a military painter in the retinue of the French army, as was his father.
He also devoted himself to painting miniatures, to decorate boxes for smoking tobacco, made of wood or precious metals: gilded silver, gold, even gold and platinum. Excellent at capturing the details of clothing and decorations, he finished his little boxes with particular accuracy and grace.
During the period of the French Revolution Henri-Joseph Van Blarenberghe devoted himself to painting historical scenes. He made gouaches with court scenes, with pleasant animated landscapes. His paintings are a testimony to the life of the time in France.
Anthonie Jansz. van der Croos was a Dutch painter and draughtsman of the Golden Age of Dutch painting. He mainly painted landscapes, often in combination with castles or country houses, as well as cityscapes. He was a pupil of Moyses van Uyttenbroeck.
Antoni Jans van der Kroes lived and worked in The Hague from 1634. He became a member of the local St. Luke's Guild in 1647. He was a neighbour of Jan van Goyen, whose work had a great influence on him, so much so that their works were sometimes confused with each other.
In 1656 he became co-founder and secretary of the Confrerie Pictura in The Hague.
Andrea Locatelli was an Italian painter of landscapes (vedute).
The subject matter most popular with the academic artists of this time was mainly sacred, historical or mythological themes. Locatelli broke with these traditions and concentrated on landscapes, a genre thought to be inferior by the art critics of his day. In fact, he was never allowed induction into the Accademia di San Luca, a very prestigious mark of honor, even though his work was in great demand.
