PAULUS HENNEKYN (Amsterdam circa 1614 – Amsterdam 1672)
Portrait of a Young Girl Holding a Fan
oil on an unlined canvas
31 ¼ x 25 ¾ inches (79.4 x 65.4 cm.)
PROVENANCE
General John Julius Johnstone (1839 – 1898) to
Lt. – General the Hon. Sir Frederick William Stopford (1854 – 1929) to his nephew
Lt. – Colonel W.J. Stopford, M.C.
His sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, June 11, 1971, lot 49 (as by Verspronck), where purchased by
Hancock
Private Collection, Oregon until 2023
A young girl is shown in three-quarter length wearing a sumptuous satin dress with gold trim over a white underskirt with two black stripes down the center. The grayish green color of her dress is particularly striking, nicely contrasted against the wide linen and lace collar fastened with a large bow with matching cuffs and lace shirt. Her satin striped cap is ornamented with golden foliage. She wears a gold bracelet on each wrist, a four-strand gold necklace, and a pinkie ring. Both costly and fashionable, her fan is a further token of wealth and status. Her opulent outfit defines this as a portrayal for the ages, with such splendor undoubtably marking her as a member of a very wealthy family.
Paulus Hennekyn was the son of the silversmith François Hennequin and Anna Begin. Paulus married twice, first with Cornelia de Swart in 1636 and sometime prior to 1668 with Anna van Neck. From his first marriage he had a son David who is known to have painted some fruit still lifes, and whom he probably trained.[1]
The instructor of Paulus is unknown. He specialized in portraits and florals, as well as paintings depicting fruit. He also served in the Amsterdam Civic Guard as he is depicted in a group portrait by Bartholomeus van der Helst of the Signing of the Peace of Munster in 1648. We further know that contact between them continued from existing documents, including in 1653 both artists made a deposition for Hendrick Ulyenburgh about the authenticity of a work by Paul Brill. The influence of Van der Helst on Paulus’ portraits is evident.[2]
His entire career was in Amsterdam, with the exception of a short period in Alkmaar where he joined the Guild of St. Luke in 1649. There are not a great number of portraits known by Paulus, the majority being half or three-quarter length dated between 1645 – 1665. [3] Dr. Fred G. Meijer dates this work to to circa 1650. This is also the only portrait of a child by the artist known to exist.
Paintings by Paulus formed part of the permanent collections of museums in Amsterdam; Hamburg; Oxford; and Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
We would like to thank Dr. Fred G. Meijer for confirming this painting to be by Paulus Hennekyn after viewing and dating it to circa 1650.
[1] Adriaan van der Willigen & Fred G. Meijer, “David Hennekyn” and “Paulus Hennekyn” in A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Painters Working in Oils, 1525 -1725, Primavera Press, Leiden, 2003; and “Paulus Hennekyn” on rkd.nl (RKD Explore) website.
[2] “Paulus Hennekyn” on rkd.nl, op.cit.; and Richard Harmanni, “Paulus Hennekyn, Portrait of Anna van der Does” on rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection, 2022.
[3] Richard Harmanni, op.cit.; and “Paulus Hennekyn, Portrait of a Young Man” at ashmolean.org/collections.