David III Ryckaert

Variant namesprimary name: David III Ryckaert

DatesBiographical dates: 1612 - 1661 Dead: dead 1661 Born: born 1612

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BiographyBiography: Genre painter. Son of the landscape painter David Ryckaert II, David III belonged to an extended family of artists: his grandfather David I was a painter, as was his uncle, the landscapist Marten Rijckaert. The younger Ryckaert was a pupil of his father; Gonzales Coques was his co-pupil and later became his brother-in-law. He enrolled as a free master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1636/1637. In 1647 he joined the Chamber of Rhetoricians “De Violieren”, and in 1651 he was named Dean of the painters’ guild. Among his many distinguished patrons was the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, who owned several of his paintings. Ryckaert was a versatile painter of genre scenes, and dated paintings are extant from 1637 until the year of his death. His earliest works are rustic peasant companies in the manner of the Dutch-born genre painter Adriaen Brouwer, usually painted in warm colours and with the use of a powerful chiaroscuro, frequently with particular attention lavished on still life elements. Later he came under the influence of David Teniers II, the most important Flemish genre painter of his age, and his palette became lighter and his colours grew cooler. Like Teniers II, Ryckaert also painted alchemists and fantastical demons in scenes of witchcraft and temptation. Under the influence of Gonzales Coques and others, from about 1650 Ryckaert increasingly depicted high-life scenes, predominantly musical companies.

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