Jan van Aken (1614 – 25 March 1661 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver.
Biography
Van Aken was born and died in Amsterdam, but has been frequently confused with the celebrated German painter Johann van Achen of Cologne. Not much is known of his paintings but Bartsch enumerates twenty-one of his etchings, which are touched in the manner of Herman Saftleven. They are very slight but display great mastery.
Houbraken describes an etching by him from his own design, which he says is very scarce. He terms it the Travellers On Horseback. It is marked "J.V Aken, inv. et fec.". Among those mentioned are six horses after Pieter van Laer or Bamboccio and six views of the Rhine after Saftleven. He was also influenced by Philips Wouwerman.
See also
- Hieronymus Bosch, born Jeroen van Aken
References
- entry in the RKD
- Jan van Aken biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
- Jan van Aken in the RKD
External links
- Works by Jan van Aken at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
- Works by Jan Van Aken at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco