Flemish landscape painter born in Antwerp, where he became a master in 1604. He is best known for painting landscape backgrounds for Rubens and for many artists in his circle, but his finest independent work - Winter Landscape with a Hunter (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, 1624) - shows he was an accomplished master in his own right.
The figures in the landscape were painted by the Antwerp artist Hans Jordaens III.
Formerly the painting was owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It was sold in 2014 to benefit future acquisitions.
In his Landscape with Shepherds, Jan Wildens abandoned the bird’s-eye view in favour of a type of realistic, although at the same time idealised and serene slice of nature.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 13 minutes):
Franz Schubert: Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock) D 965
The River Scheldt, the vital artery of the city of Antwerp, divides this balanced composition into two equal parts. On the right bank of the river (the upper half), a panoramic view of the city emerges from the misty depths, dominated by the towers of the Church of St Walburga, the spire of the Gothic cathedral, the church of St Andrew and the abbey of St Michael. On the left bank, in the foreground, there is a small village built up around the chapel of St Anne. A crowd of people has gathered on the riverbanks in order to admire the ships heading out to sea. Several boats under full sail and a richly ornamented galley raise their proud silhouettes against the wind, symbols of the city’s mercantile success.
After his return to Antwerp from Italy around 1616-17, the eclectically oriented Jan Wildens played a great role as a painter of backgrounds in the work of other artists. His production would until his death continue to be based to an important extent on filling in the backgrounds of history pictures by leading Antwerp masters. Besides Rubens, these included Abraham Janssens, Cornelis de Vos, Gerard Seghers and Theodoor Rombouts. In addition he often provided the background decor for animal pictures by Frans Snyders and Paul de Vos, with whom he was connected by marriage.
From about 1620 Wildens’s landscapes were marked by a clearer and at the same time more realistic composition. The viewpoint is lower, and what might be called a classical harmony is apparent in the composition, created by clumps of trees used as structural features. In a few cases, such as the two versions (in Dresden and St. Petersburg) of the Winter Landscape with Hunter and Dogs, monumental an sculpturally accentuated figures also support these well-balanced compositions. In others, such as the Landscape with Shepherds Dancing, the figures are well integrated into the space.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 15 minutes):
Joseph Haydn: The Seasons, Part 4 Winter, excerpts
