Hendrick Ter Brugghen Biography | Oil Painting Reproductions

Hendrick Ter Brugghen earliest brief reference to the painter is in Het Gulden Cabinet of Cornelis de Bie, where he is alluded to as Verbrugghen. Another short record is found in the Teutsche Academie by Joachim von Sandrart, where he is referred to as Verburg. Here we discover that he studied with Abraham Bloemaert, a Mannerist painter.

Cornelis de Bie, in his Spiegel Vande Verdrayde Werelt, and Arnold Houbraken, in his De Groote Schouburgh, produced biographies where they repeated Richard's claims that the painter met Peter Paul Rubens in Rome and Naples. There was a cadet of the same name serving in the army of Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz in the spring of 1607, and thus, Ter Brugghen is thought to have been in Italy, but only in that year, rather than as believed in 1604. This would imply that he never met Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio in Rome; that artist had fled Rome on a murder allegation in 1606. In any case, it is sure that he was the only Dutch painter in Rome during Caravaggio's lifetime.

Hendrick Ter Brugghen studied Caravaggio's work, as well as that of his devotees, the Italian Caravaggisti, such as Orazio Gentileschi. Caravaggio's work had caused a significant buzz in Italy. His works were characteristic for their intense chiaroscuro technique, the contrast produced by clear, bright surfaces alongside somber, dark sections, but also for the social realism of the subjects, at times enchanting, now and again stunning or out and out disgusting. Other Italian painters who had an impact on Ter Brugghen during his stay in Italy were Annibale Carracci, Domenichino, and Guido Reni.

Upon returning to Utrecht, Hendrick Ter Brugghen worked with Gerard van Honthorst, another of the Dutch Caravaggisti. Ter Brugghen's most loved subjects were half-length figures of drinkers or performers, but he also produced large-scale religious images and group portraits. He carried with him Caravaggio's influence, and his paintings have a strong utilization of light and shadow, as well as emotionally charged subjects. Even though he passed away young, his work was well received and had a great influence on others. His treatment of religious subjects can be seen reflected in the work of Rembrandt, and components of his style can likewise be found in the paintings of Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer and Peter Paul Rubens.

Art Movement: Dutch Golden Age.
Artists Influencing Ter Brugghen: Caravaggio, Abraham Bloemaert, Annibale Carracci, Domenichino, Guido Reni.
Painters Hendrick Ter Brugghen Influenced: Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Peter Paul Rubens.
He Traveled To Italy.
Artist's Biography compiled by Albert L. Mansour at The World's Artist, with text adapted from Wikipedia.