David Teniers II is an Antwerp painter, draftsman and print artist. Teniers comes from an artistic family. He is the son of David Teniers I (1587-1649) and father of David Teniers III (1638-1685). He marries Anna Brueghel, a daughter of Jan Brueghel I (1568-1625).
Teniers maintains a good relationship with Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and receives important commissions from, among others, the Ghent bishop Antonius Triest (1576-1657), Stadtholder Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange (1584-1647) and Philip IV (1605-1665), King of Spain. He is the court painter of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614-1662) and his work was quickly imitated and copied.
Around 1630, Teniers completes genre pieces that are strongly in line with those of Adriaen Brouwer (1605/06-1638). They are paintings with a satirical character and personages in dark, smoky interiors. Teniers himself makes copies of Brouwer's work, but is never as biting with respect to expression or composition.
Between 1640 and 1650 Teniers paints village carnivals in open air that are no longer as negatively charged such as his early work. The palette also becomes more luminous. At the end of his career, the Arcadian and Idyllic expression is present in his works.
For his liege Leopold Wilhelm, in the capacity of conservator of his collection, Teniers paints between 1651 and 1653 various and fairly realistic art chambers. Theatrum Pictorium, an illustrated inventory catalog, is the first of its kind. In connection with this, Teniers painted small copies of the Italian paintings in Leopold Wilhelm's collection. They serve as examples for the etching in the famous Theatrum Pictorium.
December 1610
David Teniers II is born in Antwerp.
1625-1650
Teniers is active in Antwerp. As of 1626, he is a student of his father David Teniers I.
1632-1633
Teniers receives the status of Free Mastership in the Saint Luke Guild in Antwerp. He paints the early work Smokers (KMSKA, Antwerp).
22 June 1637
Anna Brueghel and David Teniers II are married. Rubens is a witness. The couple has 7 children.
1642
The artist lives in the house, De Meerminne on the Lange Nieuwstraat in Antwerp.
1643
Teniers paints a group portrait for the Gilde van de Oude Voetboog.
1644-1645
Teniers is dean of the Antwerp Saint Luke Guild.
Circa 1650
The painter lives and works now in Brussels. He is in the service of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria.
21 October 1656
Isabella de Fren and David Teniers II marry after Teniers' first wife Anna Brueghel dies earlier that year.
1660
Teniers' Theatrum Pictorium is published in Brussels. He purchases real estate in Perk and in the vicinity of Vilvoorde.
1662-1663
On the request of his Antwerp colleagues of the Saint Luke Guild, Teniers calls upon his contacts to found an Academy in Antwerp.
10 January 1663
The artist is elevated to nobility.
25 April 1690
David Teniers II dies in Brussels.
Matthias Depoorter
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