Frans Post facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frans Post
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Portrait of Frans Post by Frans Hals
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| Born |
Frans Janszoon
1612 |
| Died | February 17, 1680 (aged 67) |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Education | Haarlem Guild of St. Luke |
| Known for | Painting |
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Notable work
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Landscape art |
| Movement | Baroque |
| Patron(s) | Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen |
Frans Post (born November 17, 1612 – died February 17, 1680) was a famous painter from the Netherlands. He lived during a time known as the Dutch Golden Age, when Dutch art was very popular.
Frans Post was special because he was the first European artist to paint landscapes of the Americas. He traveled to Dutch Brazil in South America in 1636. He went there because the governor, Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, invited him. His paintings of Brazil were collected by many people in Europe and Brazil. They often showed a beautiful, almost perfect, view of the Dutch rule there.
Frans Post's Life Story
Frans Post was born in a city called Haarlem in the Netherlands. His father, Jan Janszoon Post, was a skilled glass painter. Frans also had an older brother, Pieter Post, who became a very important architect. We don't know much about Frans's early life before he went to Brazil.
He probably learned to paint from his father and older brother. He lived at the same time as other famous Haarlem painters. These included Frans Hals, who even painted a portrait of Frans Post. It's thought that another Dutch master, possibly Pieter de Molijn, taught him before he left for Brazil.
Frans Post got a special job through his brother's connections. He was asked to travel to Brazil by John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen. At that time, there was a serious illness in Haarlem, so going to Brazil seemed like a good idea.
Frans Post lived in Brazil from 1637 to 1644. He was paid well for his landscape paintings of the West Indies. After his time in Brazil, he returned to the Netherlands. In 1646, he joined the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, which was a group for artists. He later held important positions in the guild.
In 1650, he married Jannetje Bogaert. They had two sons who sadly died before him. He also had a daughter who survived him but passed away soon after. Frans Post continued to paint scenes of Brazil until about 1669. He died in Haarlem on February 17, 1680. He was buried in the St. Bavochurch.
What Frans Post Painted
Frans Post created about 140 paintings during his life. Many of these paintings have dates, which helps us see how his art changed. We can track his work from 1637, when he arrived in Brazil, to 1669, when he painted his last known work.
His paintings from when he was in Brazil look very different from those he painted after he left. While in Brazil, he made many sketches and drawings. But he only finished six paintings there. These paintings were later given to King Louis XIV of France.
His Brazilian paintings look a lot like the landscapes painted by other artists in Haarlem at the time. They show specific places in Dutch Brazil. You can often recognize the land and buildings in his art. Most of these paintings also include water. Post added Brazilian plants, and sometimes birds or small animals, in the front of his pictures. These might have been inspired by Georg Marcgraf, a scientist who traveled with him.
The skies in these paintings are often a gray color, as if it's about to rain. The sky usually takes up at least half of the painting. The colors are not very bright, especially compared to his later work. This gives them a serious and respectful feeling, like many Dutch landscape paintings from that time.
Brazilian Landscapes from Haarlem
Frans Post kept painting pictures of Brazil even after he returned to the Netherlands in 1642. However, his art changed a lot. As he got further away from Brazil, his paintings became more imaginative. He started using brighter colors and added more exotic things.
The paintings he made in the Netherlands have brighter colors. Dark plants often frame the picture, creating a beautiful, almost dreamlike scene. These later works are very different from the realistic style of his early paintings. The landscapes look open and full of life. They show a deeper view with greener plants, bluer skies, and brighter horizons.
When Post returned to the Netherlands, he also started including more people in his paintings. Nearly every painting he finished in the Netherlands shows a group of people. They might be dancing or working in sugar mills. Often, these figures are slaves. Unlike his Brazilian work, the people in his later paintings are not just in the front. They seem to become a part of the landscape itself.
Four of the six paintings he finished in Brazil only have a few people. One painting, The River of São Francisco (1638), doesn't have any people at all. While Post was busy painting the land, another artist named Albert Eckhout was in charge of painting the native people for Governor Nassau.
See also
- Albert Eckhout
- Dutch Golden Age painting
- List of paintings by Frans Post
- Gillis Peeters the Elder
- Zacharias Wagenaer
- Ricardo Brennand Institute
In Spanish: Frans Post para niños
