Jan Boeckhorst (called Lange Jan)
The Snyders Triptychcirca 1659-1660

On view:

David Geffen Galleries, Drawn to Devotion: Piety in Practice

Triptych oil painting with three vertical panels: left shows an angel kneeling before a robed woman; center shows a luminous male figure rising above fallen soldiers at a stone tomb; right shows angels ascending above a group of upward-gazing figures

Oil painting in grisaille with golden-ochre tones, presented as two hinged panels in a black frame. Left panel: a winged angelic figure in flowing robes holds an unfurled scroll, with a lion resting below. Right panel: a recumbent ox with an open book, and a large bird with spread wings descending from above.

Oil painting of the Annunciation: a kneeling winged angel holding a lily gestures upward toward a standing woman in blue robes beside a lectern; a white dove radiates light from above amid clouds with a small cherub, warm golden tones throughout.

Oil painting of a luminous, partially draped male figure rising upward holding a white banner, above three soldiers in armor recoiling below, set against dramatic clouds with loose Baroque brushwork.

Oil painting, vertical format in black and gilt frame. A robed female figure ascends heavenward amid blue-white rays of light, flanked by two winged angels, while a group of figures below gestures upward in varied poses of awe. Warm golden and ochre tones in the lower figures contrast with the luminous sky above. Fluid Baroque brushwork throughout.

Artist or Maker: Jan Boeckhorst (called Lange Jan)
Germany, Munster, 1605-1668, active Southern Netherlands
Title: The Snyders Triptych
Date Made: circa 1659-1660
Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions: Overall (open): 53 1/2 × 92 × 2 in. (135.89 × 233.68 × 5.08 cm) Overall (closed): 53 1/2 × 46 × 4 in. (135.89 × 116.84 × 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation
Accession Number: M.2008.90a-c
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: European Painting and Sculpture
Curatorial Notes: Born in Muenster, Germany, Jan Boeckhorst settled in Antwerp around 1626. He trained with both Jacob Jordaens and Peter Paul Rubens, becoming eventually a close collaborator of the latter. This triptych is one of the artist's most famous works. It was painted as a memorial tribute to Mary Snyders (1588-1659), the sister of Frans Snyders, the famous still-life painter.
The commission illustrates further the links that united the various members of the Rubens circle of which Snyders and Boeckhorst were illustrious members. Mary Snyders was a beguine or nun and the altarpiece was put above her tomb in the church of the Begijnhof where it remained until 1798, at which date the church was sold. The painting however remained the property of the religious community until 2007.
The triptych illustrates the Annunciation on the left panel and two scenes from the Life of Christ: The Ascension on the right panel, and in the center one a grandiose Resurrection. The triptych shows the artist's mature style characterized by an awareness of van Dyck from whom the artist borrows a free brushwork and chromatic brilliance. The reverse of the wings are painted in gold-brown camaieu and show symbols of the four Evangelists, surrounded by decorative arabesques reminiscent of designs executed by contemporary silversmiths.
This triptych joins the museum's collection of Flemish seventeenth century paintings and illustrates with eloquence the close relationship between Rubens, his pupils, and collaborators.
Provenance: Chapel of the Begijnhof, Antwerp, memo-rial of Maria Snyders, until 1789; collection of the Begijnhof, Antwerp (sale, Antwerp, Amberes, 16 Oct. 2007, lot 156, sold to); [Moatti Fine Arts Ltd., London and New York, sold 2008 to]; LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Marandel, J. Patrice. Abecedario: Collecting and Recollecting. Los Angeles: Art Catalogues; LACMA, 2017.
Lehmbeck, Leah, editor. Gifts of European Art from The Ahmanson Foundation. Vol. 3, Dutch Painting, Flemish Painting, Spanish Painting and Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.

Jan Boeckhorst (called Lange Jan)
The Snyders Triptychcirca 1659-1660

On view:

David Geffen Galleries, Drawn to Devotion: Piety in Practice

Artist or Maker: Jan Boeckhorst (called Lange Jan)
Germany, Munster, 1605-1668, active Southern Netherlands
Title: The Snyders Triptych
Date Made: circa 1659-1660
Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions: Overall (open): 53 1/2 × 92 × 2 in. (135.89 × 233.68 × 5.08 cm) Overall (closed): 53 1/2 × 46 × 4 in. (135.89 × 116.84 × 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation
Accession Number: M.2008.90a-c
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: European Painting and Sculpture
Curatorial Notes: Born in Muenster, Germany, Jan Boeckhorst settled in Antwerp around 1626. He trained with both Jacob Jordaens and Peter Paul Rubens, becoming eventually a close collaborator of the latter. This triptych is one of the artist's most famous works. It was painted as a memorial tribute to Mary Snyders (1588-1659), the sister of Frans Snyders, the famous still-life painter.
The commission illustrates further the links that united the various members of the Rubens circle of which Snyders and Boeckhorst were illustrious members. Mary Snyders was a beguine or nun and the altarpiece was put above her tomb in the church of the Begijnhof where it remained until 1798, at which date the church was sold. The painting however remained the property of the religious community until 2007.
The triptych illustrates the Annunciation on the left panel and two scenes from the Life of Christ: The Ascension on the right panel, and in the center one a grandiose Resurrection. The triptych shows the artist's mature style characterized by an awareness of van Dyck from whom the artist borrows a free brushwork and chromatic brilliance. The reverse of the wings are painted in gold-brown camaieu and show symbols of the four Evangelists, surrounded by decorative arabesques reminiscent of designs executed by contemporary silversmiths.
This triptych joins the museum's collection of Flemish seventeenth century paintings and illustrates with eloquence the close relationship between Rubens, his pupils, and collaborators.
Provenance: Chapel of the Begijnhof, Antwerp, memo-rial of Maria Snyders, until 1789; collection of the Begijnhof, Antwerp (sale, Antwerp, Amberes, 16 Oct. 2007, lot 156, sold to); [Moatti Fine Arts Ltd., London and New York, sold 2008 to]; LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Marandel, J. Patrice. Abecedario: Collecting and Recollecting. Los Angeles: Art Catalogues; LACMA, 2017.
Lehmbeck, Leah, editor. Gifts of European Art from The Ahmanson Foundation. Vol. 3, Dutch Painting, Flemish Painting, Spanish Painting and Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.