Van Dyck & Britain »

Karen Hearn is Tate curator of 16th and 17th Century British Art. Contributors to this volume include: Christopher Brown, Diana Dethloff, Emilie Gordenker, Kevin M. Sharpe, Susan Sloman, and Aileen Ribeiro.

The Flemish Baroque painter Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) first came to Britain in 1620 at the behest of King James. When James died in 1625, his successor, Charles I, recognized van Dyck's skill in capturing the royal image. After a sojourn in Italy, the painter returned to England in 1632, was almost immediately knighted and provided with property and a pension, and became the chief painter of the court.

Imbued with an understated authority and relaxed elegance, van Dyck's portraits of the royal family were an instant success. Charles I was depicted as both a powerful sovereign and "nature's gentleman." Gorgeously illustrated, this comprehensive volume is the most thorough examination of van Dyck's years in Britain to date, and investigates the intriguing ways in which van Dyck influenced British art and culture in the centuries following his death. Well-known contributors include scholars and art historians Christopher Brown, Diana Dethloff, Emilie Gordenker, Kevin M. Sharpe, Susan Sloman, and Aileen Ribero.

Jennifer H. Pollock - Library Journal

This richly illustrated catalog corresponds with an exhibition at Tate Britain of work by Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck that portrays the royal families and members of the court. Both the exhibition and catalog focus specifically on the two periods van Dyck spent in London: his brief visit in 1620 to the court of King James I and his more lengthy visit to serve Charles I, beginning in 1632 and ending almost ten years later with his death in London in 1641. Hearn (curator, 16th- and 17th-century British art, Tate; Nicholas Hilliard) and other distinguished scholars and art historians including Christopher Brown, Diana Dethloff, Emilie Gordenker, Kevin M. Sharpe, Susan Sloman, and Aileen Ribeiro contribute erudite essays. Complete with 200 full-color illustrations, this catalog is pretty enough to sit on any coffee table; the text, endnotes, bibliography, list of works exhibited, "Loans" and "Lenders and Credits" lists, and index make it fit for serious academic inquiry. A great addition to collections focused on early modern England.

Supporters' Statements 6

Director's Foreword 7

Acknowledgements 8

Van Dyck in Britain Karen Hearn Hearn, Karen 10

Van Dyck, the Royal Image and the Caroline Court Kevin Sharpe Sharpe, Kevin 14

Fashioning the Modern Self: Clothing, cavaliers and identity in van Dyck's London Christopher Breward Breward, Christopher 24

Painting in England before van Dyck: His first visit in 1620-1 and its aftermath 38

Van Dyck's Return to England: Royal portraits 64

Other Patrons and Sitters 84

Self-portraits and Life 132

Van Dyck's London Studio 152

Van Dyck's Impact during the Seventeenth Century 170

Van Dyck's Continuing Influence 204

Notes to Essays 238

Select Bibliography 240

Exhibited Works 242

Loans from The National Trust and Other Properties Open to the Public 247

Lenders and Credits 249

Index 250