Johan-Barthold Jongkind (1819-1891)
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Johan-Barthold Jongkind was born in the Netherlands, but spent most of his life and career as an artist in France. Jongkind was one of the initial artists to contribute to the Impressionist movement. It is said that Monet even referred to Jongkind as his “true master.” He moved to Paris in 1846, but received much of his early training at The Hague in Holland. Jongkind’s first exhibits were with the Barbizon School, and he received some of his first Parisian training from Isabey and Picot. Jongkind also exhibited with Cezanne, Pissaro, Latour and others at the Salon des Refuses in 1863, which proved to be a breakthrough exhibition.
River scenes and landscapes would eventually become Jongkind’s specialty, though he also would paint figure studies, portraits and still life paintings. The painter Manet hailed him as “the father of the modern landscape.” Though his loose style was a pre-cursor to Impressionism, as we know it, it is amazing that Jongkind painted in his own unique style at all. Being of Dutch origin, Jongkind certainly received rigid training in the style of the old masters like Vermeer. However, instead of implying chiaroscuro methods, he opted for loose brush strokes and an airy color palette. However, windmills were constant subjects in his compositions, painted during his return to the Netherlands in the 1850s and 60s.
Even though Jongkind gained great acclaim as a painter early on, his life was dotted with bouts of alcoholism and depression. In one of these low periods, his work was even rejected by the Impressionists in their first official exhibit of 1874. He eventually moved with his wife, painter Josephine Fesser to the south of France where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. He would typically sign his work “Johan Jongkind” and date it in the bottom corner of his paintings.
Today Jongkind’s work is housed worldwide in New York, Paris and London. Though his students surpassed him in fame, he is still remembered as one of the founders of Impressionism. Still wondering about a beautiful early Impressionist French seascape? It may be by Johan Jongkind. Contact us to find out.
