Talk given by Sander Karst, Lecturer in Art History
During the last decades of the seventeenth century, several dozens of painters migrated from the Dutch Republic to England.
Many of them had a specific goal in mind: they wanted to become court artists. After all, working for a King or Queen was seen as the fulfilment of a successful artist’s career. Since the Dutch Republic had no monarch at its head – but just a stadtholder – England was a logical destination.
In his talk, Sander Karst will show how these Dutch artists strategically tried to come to the attention of the English court. As he will show, they did so by means of networking – by strategically establishing relationships with courtiers who could further their careers at court. These types of relationships were called ‘friendships’ at the time, which had a slightly different connotation than nowadays.
As it was described at the time, friends were ‘honourable people from whose dealings one can also benefit.’ In addition to the Van de Veldes, Karst will specifically discuss Samuel van Hoogstraten, Sir Peter Lely and Sir Geoffrey Kneller; all artists from the Dutch Republic who worked in Stuart England.
