Resting Hunters

David Teniers the Younger prints bring lively Flemish tavern scenes, village feasts and smoky guardrooms into your home. Teniers was the leading Flemish genre painter of his day and court painter to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels. Our collection of fine art prints covers his peasant scenes, smokers, alchemists, kitchen interiors, Temptations of Saint Anthony and views of the Archduke's gallery.

About David Teniers the Younger

David Teniers the Younger was born in Antwerp, the son of the painter David Teniers the Elder and Dymphna de Wilde, and was baptised at St. James' Church on 15 December 1610. From 1626 he trained under his father and worked with him on early projects. Three of his brothers also became painters.

On 22 July 1637 he married Anna Brueghel, daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder. Peter Paul Rubens, who had been her guardian, was a witness at the wedding, and Teniers was invited to take part in Rubens' Torre de la Parada commission for King Philip IV of Spain. His reputation grew quickly, and in 1643 he painted a group portrait of the Old Arbalest guild in Antwerp.

When Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria became Governor General of the Spanish Netherlands in 1647, he became Teniers' patron. Around 1650 Teniers moved to Brussels as the Archduke's court painter and keeper of his art collection, which he painted many times. His printed catalogue of the collection, the Theatrum Pictorium, appeared in 1660. After Anna died in 1656, he married Isabella de Fren. He tried to be admitted to the nobility but gave up when told he would have to stop selling his paintings. He founded the Antwerp Academy to revive Flemish art and died in Brussels on 25 April 1690.

Style and Subjects

Teniers was extremely versatile and prolific, painting history, landscape, portraits and still life, but he is best remembered for developing the peasant genre: tavern scenes with smokers and drinkers, village kermesses and card players. He also painted guardroom scenes, alchemists and physicians at work, and images of art collections.

His picture-gallery paintings, like Archduke Leopold William in his Gallery at Brussels, record the Archduke's paintings in careful detail and carry allegorical meaning. He also helped spread the singerie, comic scenes of monkeys dressed and behaving as people. His influence reached the next generation of Northern genre painters and French Rococo painters such as Antoine Watteau.

Famous Works

• Guardroom (1642), Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. Soldiers at rest among armour and weapons.
• Portrait of the Members of the Old Arbalest Guild in Antwerp (1643), Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. A group portrait of the Antwerp crossbow guild.
• The Kitchen (1646), Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. A busy kitchen piled with food.
• Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery in Brussels (1650), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The Archduke among the paintings Teniers looked after.
• Village Feast (1651), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Peasants celebrating in a village.
• Heron Hunting with the Archduke Leopold William (1654), Louvre, Paris. The Archduke hunting with falcons.

Decorating with Teniers Prints

Teniers' tavern and kitchen scenes, like Kitchen Interior or The Smokers, are a natural fit for a kitchen, dining room, bar or den, and their warm browns suit traditional, rustic and library-style rooms.

His alchemist pictures, such as Alchemist, and the Archduke's gallery views work well in a study or home office. Village kermesses like A Kermesse With Villagers Making Merry In A Town Square bring life to a living room or hallway.

FAQ

Who was David Teniers the Younger?

David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter and printmaker from Antwerp, best remembered as the leading Flemish genre painter of his day.

What is Teniers known for?

Developing the peasant genre and the tavern scene, as well as guardroom scenes, alchemists, physicians and paintings of art collections.

What was Teniers' connection to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm?

From around 1650 he was the Archduke's court painter in Brussels and the keeper of his art collection, which he painted many times and catalogued in the Theatrum Pictorium of 1660.

Was Teniers related to the Brueghel family?

Yes. In 1637 he married Anna Brueghel, daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Related Artists

• Jan Brueghel the Elder: father of his first wife, Anna
• Peter Paul Rubens: witness at his wedding and collaborator
• Jean-Antoine Watteau: French Rococo painter he influenced
• Adriaen Brouwer: fellow Flemish painter of tavern scenes