Momper II, Joost de

After a period of training with his father, Bartholomeus de Momper, he joined the painters’ Guild of Saint Luke in his city around 1581. In 1594, he collaborated with Cornelis Floris on the decorations for the Entry of the Archduke Ernest into Antwerp, and the following year, he produced tapestry cartoons for Albert, Archduke of Austria. Shortly afterwards, he undertook a brief and scarcely documented trip through Italy. Various landscape drawings and city views in the style of Paul Bril, who was also in Italy, have survived from this period. His style is akin to that of the Italianate Flemish painter Ludovico Pozzoserrato (Lodewijk Toeput), who worked in Venice, suggesting that Momper may have visited the city. By the 1590s, he had returned to Antwerp, and in 1611, he was appointed dean of the painters’ Guild of Saint Luke.
Even though almost none of his works are dated, a clear stylistic development can be established. His early works are characterised by the inclusion of abrupt and geometrical mountains, with paths occasionally meandering through them. These works are closely related to Tobias Verhaecht and conceptually parallel to Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s mountainous landscapes, in which nature’s threatening aspect is evident through the effects of light and the general drama of the scene. His inspiration from the painting style of Joachim Patinir, however, is also unmistakable. The work River Landscape with a Boar Hunt (Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam) corresponds to this period. His era of greatest production spans from 1600 to 1620 and is characterised by more realistic depictions and an interest in topography, with a light, loose style that conveys the natural sensitivity of the landscapes. The traditional schematic of using three colours in his paintings – namely brown, green and blue – according to the plan of the picture, very typical in his early work, gives way to less complicated compositions based on two main and unique picture planes. Big Mountainscape (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna) corresponds to this period. His later work does not evolve excessively; his mountainous landscapes increase in size and his brushstrokes become looser. Nevertheless, he continues to employ the same motifs. Approximately 500 of his paintings survive, on which other artists frequently collaborated, given the specialisation system among Flemish painters. His immediate pupils include Louis de Caulery and, likely, Jean Fouquier (Pérez Preciado, J. J. en: E.M.N.P, 2006, tomo V, pp. 1569-1570).