Dirk Langendijk
Encyclopedia
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
draughtsman, painter and etcher. He produced mainly depictions of land and sea battles and other military scenes from the Dutch Patriottentijd
Patriots (faction)
The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
(circa 1780-1800) and the French Revolutionary
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
(from 1792).
Life
Born on the Bierhaven quay in the port of Rotterdam, he was the son of Hendrik Langendijk, who had come to Rotterdam from the village of WijheWijhe
Wijhe is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Olst-Wijhe, about 12 km south of Zwolle on the banks of the river IJssel.Wijhe was a separate municipality until 2001, when it merged with Olst....
in Overijssel
Overijssel
Overijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...
, and had been named garbuleur by the Rotterdam chamber of the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
in 1772. A garbuleur was someone who removed dirt and dust from a cargo of spices, and also sorted spices by quality. Dirk's mother was Hendrik's second wife, Hendrina van der Kamp, who hailed from Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
.
Langendijk learned his trade from Dirck Anthonie Bisschop (1708–58), a painter of interiors, coats of arms and coaches.
He was unhappily married and sought comfort in narcotics use. He died in 1805, at a relatively young age. His son Jan Anthonie Langendijk (1780–1818) followed in his father's footsteps and became a draughtsman.
Career
As an artist, Langendijk quickly focused on military scenes, evidenced by his early sketches of horses and soldiers (1769–1777). He almost never portraited individuals but almost exclusively depicted groups, especially soldiers, officers, and horses. He was much admired in his day for his depictions of horses in battle, and a number of contemporary artists copied his work, including his pupil Johannes Adriaansz. Bemme (1775–1841).His only dated paintings were produced in the period 1771/72-1780. They show scenes from the lives of the landed gentry and soldiers, such as a painting from about 1774 of an army camp with soldiers and horses. This painting is now in the collection of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans . Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire...
. In 1799, he made a drawing of the landing at Callantsoog on 27 August by British troops during the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland refers to the campaign of 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and Russian troops invaded the North-Holland peninsula in the Batavian Republic...
. Langedijk was most likely present at this event, as the painting carries the inscription ad vivum 1799 ("from the life 1799"). The drawing is now in the British National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
. A watercolour version of the drawing was purchased by the Prince of Wales
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
in 1803 and is now in the royal library at Windsor
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
.
An undated Langendijk painting displays a scene from the Raid on the Medway
Raid on the Medway
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
by admiral Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably...
in 1667. It gives a closeup view of the naval battle, with hand-to-hand combat taking place in the left foreground and an English ship on fire and keeling over in the centre of the painting. This work is now in the collection of the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is a free-to-view municipally-owned public museum and art gallery in the city of Brighton and Hove in the South East of England...
.
One of the few non-military subjects depicted by Langendijk was the fire that struck the windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
Spaarn en Wind on the Spaarne
Spaarne
The Spaarne is a river, in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam....
river near Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
. A group of people is watching the blaze, and a few men are crossing the Spaarne to help put out the fire. In another drawing, now at the Courtauld Gallery in London, we see ships in a storm near the Dutch coast. One of the ships has been beached and the local populace is busy looting the ships' cargo.
Exhibitions
In 1953, the Rotterdam city archives held an exhibition of drawing and watercolour paintings by Langendijk, collaborator Christoffel Meijer and son Jan Anthonie Langendijk. Work by Langendijk was also included in the exhibition "Hartstochtelijk Verzameld — Beroemde Tekeningen in 18de-Eeuwse Hollandse Collecties" ("Passionately Collected — Famous Drawings in 18th-Century Collections") at the Teylers MuseumTeylers Museum
Teyler's Museum , located in Haarlem, is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. The museum is in the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst . He was a wealthy cloth merchant and Amsterdam banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art and science...
in Haarlem in 2001 and the Institut Néerlandais in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 2002.
Further reading
- M.E. Deelen et al., Dirk Langendijk (1748-1805): tekenaar tussen kruitdamp en vaderlands gevoel, Stichting Historische Publicaties Roterodamum, Rotterdam, 1982 (Dutch)