He was born at Dordrecht, in the Dutch Republic in 1669. He was a pupil first of Arnold Verbuis, and then of Godefried Schalken. He painted genre pictures in the style of the latter, representing subjects by candlelight, but met with such encouragement in portrait painting that he devoted himself almost wholly to that branch of art. His style was well adapted to succeed in it. An excellent colourist, a faithful designer of his model, and highly skilled, he was soon distinguished as one of the ablest artists of his day. He painted a great number of portraits of the most distinguished people of his time, among whom were Peter the Great, the Elector of Mentz, the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Prince and Princess of Orange, the great Duke of Marlborough, and several others. He painted some large pictures for the halls of the different companies at Amsterdam and Dordrecht. He died in 1729.[1]
The Dresden Gallery has seven works by him, and the Woman Singing in the Lille Gallery is also attributed to him. His son, Kasper van Boonen, also painted portraits, but in no way proved himself equal to his father.[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Boonen, Arnold van". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.
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Merchant in his office, before 1729
Detail of a painting with (left) Agatha Levina Geelvinck (1701-1761), c. 1705
A young boy holding a tambourine, c. 1729
Family portrait of 3 children of the van der Elst family
Regents of the Burgerweeshuis (municipal orphanage) in Amsterdam
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Boonen, Arnold van". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.
