Carel Fabritius

Carel Pietersz. Fabritius (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkaːrəl ˈpitərs faːˈbritsijɵs]; bapt. 27 February 1622 – 12 October 1654) was a Dutch painter. He was a pupil of Rembrandt and worked in his studio in Amsterdam. Fabritius, who was a member of the Delft School, developed his own artistic style and experimented with perspective and lighting. Among his works are A View of Delft (1652; National Gallery, London), The Goldfinch (1654), and The Sentry (1654).

For the German politician, see Bernd Fabritius.
Carel Fabritius
Self-portrait (c. 1645)
Born
Carel Pietersz. Fabritius

baptised 27 February 1622
Middenbeemster, Dutch Republic
Died12 October 1654 (aged 32)
Delft, Dutch Republic
EducationRembrandt
MovementDelft School
Spouse(s)Agatha van Pruyssen

Biography

Carel Pietersz. Fabritius was born in February 1622 in Middenbeemster, a village in the ten-year-old Beemster polder in the Dutch Republic, and was baptized on 27 February of that year.[1] He was the son of Pieter Carelsz., a painter and schoolteacher, and he had two younger brothers Barent and Johannes, who also became painters.[1][2][3]

Initially he worked as a carpenter (Latin: fabritius). In the early 1640s he studied at Rembrandt's studio in Amsterdam, along with his brother Barent. In the early 1650s he moved to Delft, and joined the Delft painters' guild in 1652.

Fabritius died young, caught in the explosion of the Delft gunpowder magazine on 12 October 1654, which destroyed a quarter of the city, along with his studio and many of his paintings. Only about a dozen paintings have survived.[4] According to Houbraken, his student Mattias Spoors and the church deacon Simon Decker died with him, since they were working on a painting together at the time.[4]

In a poem written by Arnold Bon to his memory, he is called Karel Faber.[4]

Painting

Of all Rembrandt's pupils, Fabritius was the only one to develop his own artistic style. A typical Rembrandt portrait would have a plain dark background with the subject defined by spotlighting. In contrast, Fabritius' portraits feature delicately lit subjects against light-coloured, textured backgrounds. Moving away from the Renaissance focus on iconography, Fabritius became interested in the technical aspects of painting. He used cool colour harmonies to create shape in a luminous style of painting.

Fabritius was also interested in complex spatial effects, as can be seen in the exaggerated perspective of A View of Delft, with a Musical Instrument Seller's Stall (1652). He also showed excellent control of a heavily loaded brush, as in The Goldfinch (1654). All these qualities appear in the work of Delft's most famous painters, Vermeer and de Hooch; it is likely that Fabritius was a strong influence on them.

List of works

Notes
  1. (in Dutch) Carel Fabritius, Netherlands Institute for Art History. Retrieved on 21 August 2014.
  2. (in Dutch) Barent Fabritius, Netherlands Institute for Art History. Retrieved on 21 August 2014.
  3. (in Dutch) Johannes Fabritius, Netherlands Institute for Art History. Retrieved on 21 August 2014.
  4. Karel Fabricius biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
  5. Self-portrait, Carel Fabritius, c. 1645, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Retrieved on 21 August 2014.
  6. A Girl with a Broom, National Gallery of Art. Retrieved on 21 August 2014.
  7. Portrait of Abraham de Potter, Amsterdam Silk Merchant, Carel Fabritius, 1649, Rijksmuseum. Retrieved on 21 August 2014.
  8. 4 paintings by or after Carel Fabritius at the Art UK site

References
  • Carel Fabritius 1622–1654. Het complete oeuvre Frederik J. Duparc, Ariane van Suchtelen, Gero Seelig. ISBN 978-90-400-8987-9
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Art ISBN 0-19-280022-1
  • Biography at Residenzgalerie Salzburg
  • Olga's Gallery
  • Adventure's in Cybersound interest in unusual perspectives.

Media related to Carel Fabritius at Wikimedia Commons

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