Artistvan Ceulen, Cornelis I Janssens (Cornelius Jonson)

Artist Years1593-1661

Artist NationalityBritish, Dutch

TitlePortrait of a Lady in a Black Dress and White Lace Collar

Year1632

MediumPainting > Oil

DimensionsCanvas: 30 X 25 inches

ProvenanceWith Leggatt Bros, October 1925; Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 10 December 1948, lot 160; Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 6 June 1984, lot 62; Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 17 October 1986, lot 92; With Wilkins & Wilkins, London; Sotheby sale 26 May, 2023, Lot 315; Private collection, Tokyo, Japan, 2024

Accession NumberRC1510

NotesCornelius Johnson or Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen (also Cornelius Jonson van Ceulen, Cornelis Jansz. van Ceulen and many other variants) (bapt. 14 October 1593 – bur. 5 August 1661) was an English painter of portraits of Dutch or Flemish parentage. He was active in England, from at least 1618 to 1643, when he moved to Middelburg in the Netherlands to escape the English Civil War. Between 1646 and 1652 he lived in Amsterdam, before settling in Utrecht, where he died.

Johnson was born to Dutch or Flemish parents in London – his father had been a religious refugee from Antwerp, and his paternal grandfather had come from Cologne. He was baptized at the Dutch Church at Austin Friars much used by the Netherlandish community in London. He was the son of Johanna le Grand and Cornelius Johnson. He may have been trained in the Netherlands, possibly under Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt. He was certainly influenced by other artists from the Netherlands, and his early works follow the design and mood of Dutch painters.

He had returned to England by 1619 when he was a witness at the baptism of his nephew, Theodore Russell – Johnson' sister was married to Nicholas Russell of Bruges. He was active in England, from then until 1643. In the 1620s, he lived and had his studio in Blackfriars, London, as did Anthony van Dyck and Peter Oliver; it was within the boundaries of the City of London, but was a liberty and so avoided the monopoly in the City of members of the London painters' Guild. He married Elizabeth Beke of Colchester on 16 July 1622 at the Dutch church in London. Their son James (who presumably died young) was baptized on 30 September 1623 at St Anne's Church. Another son Cornelius Johnson, junior who also became a painter, was baptized on 15 August 1634.

Johnson wished to be regarded as an English gentleman, registering his pedigree with the College of Arms. His arms were three gold parrots on a gold background, and had a crest of a silver Catherine wheel with two parrot wings behind it. Apparently winged crests are common in German heraldry which may show the arms previously used by the family.

Johnson moved to Canterbury in the mid-1630s, living with Sir Arnold Braems, a Flemish merchant, and continued to live in England until after the outbreak of the English Civil War, but in October 1643, apparently at the insistence of his wife, he moved to Middelburg, joining the Guild of St. Luke there. He was given parliamentary permission to travel " ... and to cary with him such pictures and colours, bedding, household stuff, pewter, and brass as belongs to himself". Between 1646 and 1652 he lived in Amsterdam, before settling in Utrecht, where he was buried.

Johnson' first dated work is 1617, and may be of a Dutch subject; 1619 marks the beginning of his English portraits, which were initially heads only, although he later painted full-length and group portraits.

There are hundreds of portraits of the emerging new gentry by Johnson, including Lady Rose MacDonnell of Antrim. "Johnson's art was best suited to the relative intimacy of the bust length portrait in which, with a certain detachment, he captured the reticence of the English landed gentry and minor aristocracy". One of his earliest surviving portraits is of Susanna Temple, grandmother of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (Tate). This portrait was subsequently engraved by Robert White towards the end of the seventeenth century. A copy of the engraving was among the prints owned by Samuel Pepys which subsequently passed to Magdalene College, Cambridge. His royal portraits include Charles I as well as Charles II and James II, painted as children, both of which are in the National Portrait Gallery (London). He collaborated with Gerard Houckgeest on a portrait of Charles I's wife, Queen Henrietta Maria.

The identity of many of his sitters has been lost. Despite having only received a few commissions from the crown, in 1632, Johnson was appointed as "his Majesty's servant in the quality of Picture drawer" by Charles I. This appointment was perhaps in connection with the arrival of Van Dyck and the departure from England of Daniel Mytens – Johnson may have been found a role as a back-up for van Dyck.
(source: wikipedia.org)