Anglo-Dutch painter

Haarlem 1644 – 1702 Mortlake (England)

 

Painter of landscapes with hunting scenes, of battle scenes and of equestrian portraits.

 

Son and pupil of Thomas Wyck (Beverwijk circa 1616 – 1677 Haarlem). He was a painter of Italianate scenes (harbour scenes and genre scenes set in popular quarters of Rome). During the last years of his life he specialised in Dutch interior scenes, especially with alchemists.

 

Jan is documented in Utrecht between 1658 and 1664. 

He travelled with his father to London, where both joined the Painter -Stainer’s Company in 1674 and where he established a studio in Covent Garden.

Jan remained active in London from 1664 until his death in 1702.

 

In England Jan Wyck established a reputation as a painter of battle scenes. He recorded a number of the military campaigns of Dutch-born King William III, including the Battle of the Boyne (1690) and the Siege of Namur (1695). 

 

Jan Wyck travelled extensively throughout England and Scotland; detailed sketches of the environs of London, Bristol and Oxford exist.

These drawings were used as a basis for the paintings of elegant hunting parties and stag hunts for which Wyck achieved great fame and success.

Wyck was the master of John Wootton (circa 1682 – 1764), the first important English painter of hunting scenes.