Penschilderij. For those of you who read my recent blog post on the wash drawing by the Willem Van de Veldes (https://blog.www.boxorats.com/2020/04/wanted-one-fae-who-knows-dutch/) you might remember my mention of the elder’s specialized art form of ‘penschilderij’ or ‘pen painting.’ While it’s not by Van de Velde we are lucky enough to have a beautiful little pen painting by AdriaenCorneliszSalm (he also went by Van Salm and Van der Salm), in the collection.

The medium of penschilderij was developed in the late 16th or early 17th century. It was born from the efforts of Dutch engraver, publisher and artist Hendrick Goltzius who began drawing with a pen on paper or vellum in order to simulate the characteristics of an engraving. By the early 17th century Goltzius included drawing on a canvas primed with paint–the forerunner of the pen painting–in his oeuvre. In his time Goltzius was quite famous so Van de Velde was probably familiar with his artwork and prints. However, Goltzius only produced three pen paintings during his life so it seems unlikely that Van de Velde was familiar with the medium Goltzius was employing. Consequently, experts like Rijksmuseum curator Friso Lammertse credit Van de Velde as the “true founding father” of the penschilderij.Read more