Painter, born in Aix-en-Provence, SE France, of Flemish parentage, the brother of Charles André Vanloo. He studied in Rome and from 1720 became a fashionable portrait painter in Paris, where he was elected a member of the Academy (1731) and appointed professor of painting (1735). In 1737 he visited England, and painted the actor Colley Cibber, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and Sir Robert Walpole. He returned to Aix in 1742. His vigorous, colourful style gave rise to a new French verb, vanlooter.
Jean-Baptiste van Loo (14 January 1684 – 19 December 1745) was a French subject and portrait painter.
He was born at Aix-en-Provence, and was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo.
He was patronized by the prince of Carignan, who sent him to Rome, where he studied under Benedetto Luti. Then, removing to Paris, where he was elected a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, he executed various altar-pieces and restored the works of Francesco Primaticcio at Fontainebleau.
In 1737 he went to England, where he attracted attention by his portrait of Colley Cibber and of Owen McSwiny, the theatrical manager; the latter, like many other of van Loo's works, was engraved in mezzotint by the younger John Faber. He also painted Sir Robert Walpole, whose portrait by van Loo in his robes as chancellor of the exchequer is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the prince and princess of Wales.
Two of his sons were notable painters, Louis-Michel van Loo (1707–1771) and Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (1719–1795).
User Comments Add a comment…