Bartholomeus Johannes (‘Bart’) van Hove

1790 – The Hague – 1880

In the early 19th Century, the city of The Hague was the cultural epicenter for Dutch Romanticism. It produced two of its key figures, who notably were also relatives: cityscape painter Bartholomeus Johannes (‘Bart’) van Hove (1790-1880) and his cousin Andreas Schelfhout (1787-1870), famous for his landscapes and ice scenes. Although Schelfhout’s reputation appears to be far greater than that one any other painter from The Hague, the importance of van Hove should not be underestimated. Van Hove was considered as one of the best painters of his time. He had many pupils, including famous artist as Johannes Bosboom, Charles Leickert and Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch. Van Hove was co-founder of artists’ society Pulchri Studio. According to the Kunstkronijk from 1847 he, together with Andreas Schelfhout and Hendrik van de Sande Bakhuyzen, should be noted as ‘those who raised the art of the end of the previous [the 18th century] and the start of the present century [19th century] from its compressed state and gave it a free and independent direction’.

Bart van Hove himself was taught by Joannes Breckenheijmer, who was a stage painter at the theatre of The Hague. Two of the most important skills that he learned during his apprenticeship was one, how to manufacture and apply paint and second, studying lineair perspective and how to incorporate it in a painting. In turn, Van Hove would give his own students the same drills over and over again.
Van Hove’s father, Hubertus van Hove, guilder by profession, had actually given young Bart his first drawing lessons. From 1812 Van Hove also studied at the Royal Art Academy of the Hague. However, his apprenticeship at the studio van Breckenheijmer would define Van Hove’s further career. Eventually, in 1829 he succeeded his master and became a highly regarded stage painter himself.

Characteristic for his work are his precision and eye for detail, particularly visible in the architecture and the rendering of light. Although Van Hove has painted many views of home town, most cities or places that he depicted are unknown to us. The artists made so-called capriccio views, placing together buildings in fictional combinations. This was quite common in the 18th and early 19th Century. Although capriccios may also contain ruïnes and complete architectural fantasies, this was not the case with Van Hove’s work. His vivid depictions of cities and towns, filled with figures and their everyday activities, appear quite natural in a way that they could truly exist somewhere nearby. And if not in the Netherlands, then perhaps in Germany.

Bartholomeus Johannes ‘Bart’ van Hove was the of father of Hubertus ‘Huib’ van Hove Bz and Johannes van Hove, who both became painters. His grandson Bart van Hove (1850-1914) became a well-known sculptor.

Bartholomeus Johannes (‘Bart’) van Hove

1790 – The Hague – 1880

Paintings and watercolours by Bart van Hove in the collection of Kunsthandel Bies:

A view of a Dutch town