Jan Weenix was the son of Jan Baptist Weenix (1621-1659) and Josyntgen d'Hondecoeter (1619-1664), daughter to Gillis Claesz. d'Hondecoeter (1575-1638). Just like his cousin Melchior d'Hondecoeter (1636-1695), who joined the family in 1653 after his father Gijsbert d'Hondecoeter died (1603/4-1653), Jan was apprenticed to his father-teacher who tought him the beginnings of panting and drawing.[1] Jan joined the Painters' Guild in Utrecht in 1664-1668 and after the death of his mother the 23 year old young artist took care of his younger brother Gillis, left with no heritage as their father had died leaving the family bankrupt in 1659. Jan marries Pieternelle Backer(s) (1659-1732) on the 7th of October 1679 and the couple would have no less than thirteen children. When Jan Weenix died on the 19th of September 1719 he was a well-to-do man who owned two houses "de Kalckton" numbers 1 and 2, most probably one of which served as his studio. Dirk Valkenburg (1675-1721) seems to have been the only pupil of Jan Weenix.
The early works by Jan Weenix are Italianate landscapes and genre scenes in the style of his father and teacher, Jan Baptist Weenix (1621-1659), his earliest dated painting dated 1660. When developing further, Jan specialized in animal and hunting still lifes with landscape or park-like settings. In 1684 he portraits Agnes Block (1629-1704) with her Family at het country seat Vijverhof proudly displaying the pineapple, of which she was the very first to have cultivated one in Holland. Around 1668 he is his own inventor and transforms towards the hunting still lifes we know him best for. Influenced by the French Baroque style of the 1680's and Gerard de lairesse (1640-1711) Weenix' paintings become more Classical with the latest fashions on garden design, classical architecture, urns and statues. Luxury objects like velvet hunting bags become part of his paintings and from 1687 Jan introduces living animals in his paintings as well. His paintings transform into idealized gardens with exotic flowers and birds. The one exception of these is Dead Goose, Birds, Hares and Fruit at a Vase, with a Monkey, a Dog and Two Doves; in the Background Rijksdorp at Wassenaar of which the preparatory drawing is with the Rijksmuseum. Rijksdorp was designed for Jacob Emmery, Baron Wassenaar (1674-1724) by the famous Classicist architect Pieter Post (160801669). Jean-Baptiste Deschamps (1753-1763) was the first to mention Jan surpassing his father. Jan held close connections with Anthonie Waterloo (1609-1690) whose country seat in Maarssen he visited frequently. Houbraken notices Weenix painted animals and decorative objects for Waterloo's paintings.
Our drawing with studies of parrots most probably dates after 1687, when Jan started painting live stock for his paintings. As the drawing is signed nor dated and we haven't found a (dated) painting where the parrots return, it is hardly possible to date the drawing. Just like other drawings by Jan Weenix, in the present drawing he highlighted small details like the contours of the parrot's leg and eyes. Only few drawings by Weenix appear to be the preparatory drawings for a related painting, one of which is the aforementioned drawing in the collection Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.[2]
The present drawing is a recently discovered addition to the drawn oeuvre of Jan Weenix and will be published in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the drawings of Jan Weenix by Dr. Anke A. van Wagenberg-Ter Hoeven.
A warm thank you to Dr. Anke A. van Wagenberg-ter Hoeven for confirming the authorship for Jan Weenix.[3]
[1] Dr. Anke A. Van Wagenberg-Ter Hoeven, Jan Weenix, The Paintings. Master of the Dutch Hunting Still Life. Waanders Publishers, Zwolle, 2018.
[2] Jan Weenix, Dead Game, a Monkey, a Dog and several Birds.
Black chalk, pen and brown ink, watercolour, 185 x 156 mm.
Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam, inv. no. RP-T-1898-A-3518
[3] Dr. Anke A. van Wagenberg-Ter Hoeven has confirmed the authorship for Jan Weenix.
Correspondence by e-mail, 13 December 2023.
