Taaffeite collectibles will expand its collection with more etchings by known and unknown artists. We will look and select based on fame, talent, rarity and condition. Several etchings by Guido Reni (1575-1642) will be auctioned, some etchings by Romeyn de Hooghe (1645-1708) and Domenico Maria canuti (1625-1684) have already been sold among our regular clientele. Works by Jan Luyken (1649-1712) are available in our online shop from today. Would you like to know more about Jan Luyken? Then read on and enrich yourself with new information about this well-known artist.
‘Refusal of a Christian soldier to fight’, etching on paper
By Jan Luyken (1649 -1712).
Jan Luyken is regarded as one of the most successful etchers of his time and was born in Amsterdam on April 16, 1649. After a successful career as a poet, painter and etcher Luyken died on April 5, 1712.
The Luyken family was well known in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They were among the most important book illustrators. This was not only due to Jan Luyken (1649-1712) himself, but also to his father Casper Luyken and his son Caspar Luyken (1672-1708). Jan Luyken’s son, Caspar Luyken (1672-1708), was also an illustrator and engraver and often collaborated with famous names such as Christoph Weigel (1654-1725) and Romeyn de Hooghe (1645-1708).
Jan Luyken took painting lessons with Martinus Saeghmolen. He had such an eye for female beauty that he translated this eroticism into a controversial collection of poems called ‘Duytse lier’, which appeared at the end of 1671. In 1672 he married Maria de Ouden (1647 – 1682) and had 5 children, almost all of whom died young. Son Caspar Luyken became the oldest of the 5 children and also the most successful. Jan Luyken and his son Caspar made his most famous book, ‘Spiegel van het Menselyk Bedryf’.
‘Alexander de Koolbrander’, etching on paper
By Jan Luyken (1649 -1712).
In 1677 Jan Luyken mainly focused on etchings and engravings, and he made a name for himself as an etcher in 1680 with 24 illustrations of the book Oorsprongk, begin, and vervolgh der Nederlandsche oorlogen, a very popular history book. Luyken’s etchings are of very high quality, he knows how to reproduce the liveliness of smoke and flames very realistically in his etchings. Through the targeted hatching of the figures and the thoughtful use of groups of people in relation to each other, jan luyken creates spatiality and realisticity.
Other very famous works by Jan Luyken:
Jesus and the soul, emblem book from 1678
Voncken der Liefde Jesu, collection of devotional poems from 1687
The Unworthy World Shown in Symbols from 1710
The Bijekorf des Gemoeds, collection of devotional poems from 1711
Des menschen begin, middle and end, collection of etchings of phases of life from 1712
