IGNATIUS VAN DER STOCK
Painter, printmaker, and draftsman, Ignatius van der Stock is, along with Lodewijk de Vadder, Jacques d'Arthois, and Lucas Achtschellinck, one of the four major figures - and the most discreet - of the 17th-century Brussels School of Landscape Painters, also known as Painters of the Sonian Forest.
Unlike de Vadder, d'Arthois and Achtschellinck, van der Stock does not seem to have been active in tapestry design.
Little is known about van der Stock's biography, possiby due to his tragically short life and therefore the limited body of work he left behind. There is no known portrait of him.
Born on January 12, 1636, in Brussels, Ignatius van der Stock was the son of Antoon van der Stock, a senior civil servant in the municipal government and a principal of the charity at the cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula.
Ignatius van der Stock became an apprentice to Lodewijk de Vadder (d. 1655) in December 1653 and attained master status on June 24, 1660.
On September 12, 1658, van der Stock married Barbara Achtschellinck, a sister of Lucas Achtschellinck, in the English Covent in Brussels. They lived in a house in the Rue Neuve, in the parish of Our Lady of Finisterrae, close to his brother-in-law Lucas Achtschellinck. They had three children: Lucas, Maria-Anna and Anna. None of these became artists. However, their grandson Lucas van der Stock (1688-1729), named after Lucas Achtschellinck, his godfather, will become a painter and dean of the Brussels’ guild in 1727.
Several documents indicate that at the beginning of his career, van der Stock, his master Lodewijk de Vadder and his brother-in-law Achtschellinck worked closely together, which explain the stylistic and technical similarities in their work.
Notably, Jacques Fouquières (d. 1659) also influenced the Sonian Forest painters at the time. Ignatius van der Stock made at least two prints after his work: "Wood" (CWD 8066) and "Wooded Landscape with a River" (CWD 8069).
Tragically, van der Stock's promising career was cut short, possibly by plague during the major epidemic that struck Brussels in 1667-1669, leading to his untimely demise at the age of 32. His funeral was held in Brussels on December 9, 1668.
During his brief professional tenure, van der Stock mentored two apprentices: in 1661 Gelaude Cannaut, now forgotten and in 1665 Adriaen François Baudewijns, who will become famous.
From van der Stock's artistic output, limited due to his short life, we know to date of 21 signed works: 13 paintings of which 3 are dated (1660, 1661, and 1666), and 8 prints. Most of his known paintings are small or medium-sized, and no very large ones are known, except for the Map of the Sonian Forest (CWD 8020).
Ignatius van der Stock drew inspiration from the Sonian Forest, the essence of which he captured in his landscapes using a naturalistic approach.
He employed a warm palette with reddish tones, applying paint with a subtle, light, and soft touch that imparted a spontaneous, lively, and vibrant quality to his works.
The recurring motifs that characterize his compositions include:
- Isolated or spaced high and large trees, often in the foreground, with inclined, tortuous, and ivy-covered trunks
- Fallen trunks or branches and broken stumps
- Sandy, bushy, and wooded banks and escarpments
- Ponds and rivers with high, thick reeds
- Sandy and sunken forest roads
- Cloudy, colorful skies
- Remoted isolated houses or dwellings nestled among trees
- Small, colorful, mostly rustic human figures engaged in activities such as traveling, resting, conversing, or hunting
- Animals, including cattle, horses, donkeys, dogs, sheep, ducks, or swans
Van der Stock's artistic legacy, though brief, significantly contributed to the fame of Flemish landscape painting in the 17th century.
AUTHORSHIP
Authors
The information on this website was collected and sorted by Emmanuel de Cannart d’Hamale, in collaboration with Erik Wauters and Philippe Dellis, using the software skills of Jean-Baptiste Felix.
Sources
Information was mainly found in museum websites and public sales catalogs; in the online databases RKD Research, The Courtauld Photographic Collection, BALat-KIK-IRPA, Art UK, Joconde, Cultura Italia, Wikimedia Commons and Project Cornelia; in the public sales results websites Mutualart, Artnet, Artprice, and Invaluable ; in the documentation center Rubenianum (Antwerp); and the Library of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Brussels).
Iconography
Images of the works posted on this site are for information and identification, not for aesthetic or reproduction purposes. They were either made by the authors or found in the sources. Their quality is sometimes poor and some are truncated. Hopefully their quality will improve over time thanks to contributions of visitors.
VISITORS GUIDE
Works Presented
We present paintings, drawings and prints that:
(i) are or were once given or attributed to Ignatius van der Sock, or
(ii) if given to another or unidentified artists, could in our opinion be given or attributed to him.
Works attributed to "Circle", "Follower", "Manner", etc. of Ignatius van der Sock are in principle not presented here, unless they could, in our opinion, be given or attributed to him.
Home page
The homepage presents the documented works in the order of paintings, drawings and prints. The paintings are ordered by their size (S, M, L, XL)
S: H < 50 cm
M: H 51–100 cm
L: H 101–200 cm
XL: H 201–300 cm
The paintings for which the encoding number appears in red are signed works.
The works, which we believe are or could be by Ignatius van der Sock, are presented first, the other works being presented subsequently. Works which in our opinion present stylistic affinities are grouped.
The tables PERMANENT COLLECTIONS, POSSESSORS, ART DEALERS, PUBLIC AUCTIONS, EXHIBITIONS and BIBLIOGRAPHY, which are accessible via the top banner allow sorting pursuant to the following criterias :
Permanent collections: by country, city, collection or inventory number.
Possessors (past or present, when known): by possessor or country.
Art dealers (when known): by art dealer or country.
Public auctions: by date, city, country, auction house or lot number.
Exhibitions: by year, country, city, institution or exhibition number.
Bibliography: by author, title, or year of publication
The FILTERS appearing on both the left and the right sides of the images on the homepage allow multiple explorations through Ignatius van der Stock's’s works.
Individual Cards
The works’ individual cards contain self-explanatory information and some that may need an explanation, such as:
Image: can be magnified by a click; their quality is sometimes poor, and some are truncated.
CWD number: corresponds only to the encoding number and has no other meaning; by clicking on the CWB number the work appears in its given position in the works’ general presentation.
Title: The title is either (i) an original title, (ii) an English translation of a title in another language, or (iii) a title given by us.
State: for prints, when there is more than one state.
Other title(s): various titles found for a work in their original languages.
Dimensions : The height and width are indicated in centimeters (cm) and rounded up or down to the closest cm or half cm unit (e.g. 10 or 10,5): the indicated dimensions are approximations and may differ slightly from those of other sources.
Our assessment: We made our own assessment as to the attribution of the works as follows:
Signed and dated
Signed
IVDS
IVDS (landsape)
Possibly IVDS
Possibly IVDS (landscape)
Uncertain
Not by IVDS
Public auctions: For technical reasons, when an auction extends over more than one day, only the last day is mentioned.
TERMS OF USE
The visit and use of this site are subject to the following terms of use:
- The site is developed by non-professionals and may contain incomplete or inaccurate information.
- The site does not claim scientific or academic authority, especially regarding artwork attribution.
- Content may be amended or removed without notice.
- The site's organization is original and protected, but the information itself is in the public domain.
- The site owners disclaim liability for errors, attributions, content changes, or site unavailability.
- Messages sent to the site may not receive a response or result in site modifications.
- Cookies are used for functionality and analytics, but no personal data is collected or shared. See our cookies policy.
- Belgian law applies to any disputes, with Brussels courts having jurisdiction.
CONTACT
Messages can be sent to the email address @email