Hendrick Govaerts

Hendrick Govaerts or Hendrik Govaerts (baptised 28 February 1669 - 10 February 1720) was a Flemish painter. He is known for his genre scenes of interior scenes, elegant merry companies, theatre scenes, allegories and history paintings. He principally worked in Antwerp except for a period of a few years when he worked in central Europe.

Life

Hendrick Govaerts was born in Mechelen as the son of Peeter Goovaerts and Maria Wagies. He was baptised on 28 February 1680 in the home of his parents. He travelled abroad and is recorded in Frankfurt am Main in 1689 and Prague and Vienna in the period of 1689 - 1690. He was called the "Flemish Longhi" because of the light brush and bright color of his works.

His merry company scenes typically depict elegantly dressed people entertaining themselves with music, dance, masquerades, theatre performances etc. in a theatrical setting either outdoors among monumental ruins or indoors in grand ballrooms with high ceilings and monumental sculptures. An example is Party with Music and Actors Entertaining the Company (c. 1710, Wellcome Library) attributed to Govaerts. It shows an elegant party in a grand hall with monumental arcades and columns. A band is playing music while actors parody the antics of Italian medicine vendors and quack doctors as entertainment for the company.

Another subject that Govaerts returned to a few times is that of the artist's studio. An example is the Visit to the painter's studio in the National Museum, Warsaw. It depicts a rich patrician interior, illuminated on the left by high, double windows, decorated with a monumental portal and a sculptural group of Hercules fighting a Nemean lion, situated above the fireplace. This room is the painter's studio which is at the same time a gallery in which he exhibits his paintings for sale. A group of visitors are viewing a portrait in a rich, gilded frame. Two officers in exotic Polish-Hungarian costumes attract attention among visitors to the studio. The painting belongs to the genre of images of galleries and collectors' offices popular in the mid-17th century and of which David Teniers the Younger was one of the principal practitioners.