Joachim Wtewael

Mars and Venus Discovered by the Gods 1605

Joachim Anthonisz Wtewael (also spelled Uytewael) (1566 – 1 August 1638), was a notable Dutch painter and engraver.

Wtewael was born and died in Utrecht, where he began his career engraving glass with his father. In 1586, he began six years of voyaging through France and Italy, specifically Padua, where he began to paint.

Returning to Utrecht in 1592 at the age of twenty-five, Wtewael joined the saddlemakers’ guild as a painter and began producing paintings, drawings, engravings, and stained glass. One of the last Mannerist painters, Wtewael stuck to the tradition even as most painters adopted the naturalistic style. In 1596 he had a son Peter Wtewael, who became a painter as well.

He became one of the leading Dutch exponents of Northern Mannerism. His highly distinctive, charmingly artificial style, which remained untouched by the naturalistic developments happening around him, was characterized by acidic colours and elegant figures in wilfully distorted poses. The best collection of his work, including a self-portrait (1601), is in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht.

Kitchen Scene 1604

References

• Lindeman, Catharinus Marius Anne Alettus (1929) Joachim Anthonisz Wtewael Oosthoek, Utrecht, OCLC 560609176
• Myers, Bernard Samuel (ed.) (1969) "Wtewael, Joachim Anthonisz (1566?-1638)" McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art McGraw-Hill, New York, ISBN 0-07-079724-2
• Lowenthal, Anne W. (1986) Joachim Wtewael and Dutch mannerism Davaco, Doornspijk, The Netherlands, ISBN 90-70288-24-9
• Chilvers, Ian and Osborne, Harold (editors) (1988) "Wtewael, Joachim (1566-1638)" The Oxford Dictionary of Art Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, ISBN 0-19-866133-9
• Lowenthal, Anne W. (1995) Joachom Wtewal: Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California, ISBN 0-89236-304-5
• Brigstocke, Hugh (editor) (2001) "Wtewael, Joachim (1566-1638)" The Oxford Companion to Western Art Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, ISBN 0-19-866203-3