Düsseldorf 1719 – London 1783
Portrair of a Young Gentlemen
Signed ‘F. Vander Mijn’ and dated ‘1755’ lower left
Oil on canvas
H. 127 cm. W. 101,5 cm.
PROVENANCE
Private collection | Ireland
REFERENCE LITERATURE
Staring, A. (1966). ‘De Van der Mijns in Engeland’. In: Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek. Nr. 17, pp. 201-246
Staring, A. (1968). ‘De Van der Mijns in Engeland’. In: Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek. Nr. 19, pp. 171-203
Niemeyer, J.W. & Mandle, R. (1971). Dutch Masterpieces from the Eighteenth Century. Painting & Drawings 1700-1800. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, pp. 63-64
CATALOGUE NOTE
A portrait of a Young Gentlemen, wearing a brown cloak over a silk waistcoat, holding a tricorne-hat and gloves, standing before a landscape with mountains beyond. The present portrait was painted while Frans van der Mijn lived and worked in London. Traditionary the young man was identified as the English writer and printer Samuel Richardson (1689–1761).Given the fact that the present painting is dated 1755, the date does not correspond with the age of the portrayed man and that of the then 67 year old Richardson. In addition, the attire of the gentleman appears period, so it is unlikely to be a copy of an earlier portrait of Richardson.
Frans van der Mijn (also know as Fran(ci)s van der Myn) was a Dutch painter who came form an important family of artists. He was the son of court painter Herman (or Heroman) van der Mijn (1684–1741) and Susanna Bloemendaal (ca. 1682–1724). His father was a portrait and still-life painter and was court painter to Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, where also the flower painters Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) and Jacoba Maria van Nickelen (1680–1749) worked. Later the Van der Mijn family moved to London, where Herman thought Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, daughter of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach, drawing and painting. Frans’ aunt Agatha van der Mijn was active as a flower painter and accompanied the family to England shortly after 1721. Five of Frans’ siblings became painters, all of whome were taught by their father Herman. He was the younger brother of Gerard van der Mijn (born 1706), Cornelia van der Mijn (born 1710) – who painted flowers still lives – and Andreas van der Mijn (born 1714). Frans was born when his family moved to Düsseldorf to work for the court of Johann Wilhelm. His brother William, baptized 17 September 1723 in London, died at the age of 16 in 1740. The artists biographer Johan van Gool (1685–1763) recorded that Willem could have been a good painter as well, but fell through the ice while skating and died young. Frans was the half-brother of Robert van der Mijn (born 1724) and George van der Mijn (born ca. 1727) who was godson to George II and who were also both active as painters. Out of these six, Frans and George established important reputations. Frans became an accomplished and fashionable portrait painter in Amsterdam and London. George excelled both his father and brother in originality and may be regarded as one of the best Dutch portrait painters of the 18th century. In 1737, Frans’ father returned to the Netherlands and worked for Prince William IV and at Palace Het Loo. Frans worked in Amsterdam during the years 1742-1748 and worked in The Hague where he painted Portrait of Willem IV, prince of Oranje-Nassau, dated 1749 and kept in the collection of the Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch (inv.nr. 11785.125). In 1750 he returned to England where he worked on portraits and submitted work for the exhibitions at the London Society of Artists each year during 1761-1772. As mentioned in the above, in his book De nieuwe schouwburg der Nederlantsche kunstschilders en schilderessen published in 1750 the artists biographer Johan van Gool (1685–1763) wrote about the Van der Mijn family, who he all regarded as good painters. In his Anecdotes of painters who have resided or been born in England: with critical remarks on their productions published in 1808, Edward Edwards (1738 – 1806) wrote the following less favourable statement about him:
“Frank Vandermine, or Vander Mijne: A native of Holland, who lived many years in England, and practiced as a portrait painter, both in London and the country. He was some time at Norwich, where he painted several heads. He had considerable merit as an artist, but was of mean address and vulgar manners: He loved smoking and drinking, nor would forego his pipe, though it was offensive to his employers, so that he never acquired the practice which he might otherwise have obtained. He boasted, that after he had painted a portrait, the likeness remained so strong upon his memory, that if the picture were immediately obliterated, he could repaint the resemblance without the assistance of the sitter. He died in indigent circumstances, at his apartments in Moorfields, some time in 1783. (…) There is a mezzotinto portrait of Frank, from a picture of his own painting, inscribed, The Smoker. It represents himself in profile, with a pipe in his mouth.”
Whatever his character may have been, Frans van der Mijn established himself as both skilled and fashionable artist and was a prolific portraitist. His works are represented in the collections of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, among which the oval portrait he painted of his brother George van der Mijn (inv.nr. A 2376), Portrait of Jan Pranger with a servant (inv.nr. A 2248) and Portrait of Machteld Muilman (inv.nr. SK-A-2249). The Portrait of Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Baronet, dated 1750, is kept in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London (inv.nr. NPG 5275). A pastel on blue-gray paper representing Portrait of an elegant lady can be found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (inv. nr. 2016.590).