Despite the fact that David Teniers the Younger has always been
considered one of the most important and prolific Flemish painters of
the seventeenth-century, no critical biography of the artist exists
which draws on the comprehensive documentary evidence of his life and
work. Hans Vlieghe's monograph aims to fill this gap. Based on the
corpus of all known documentary sources as well as some newly discovered
ones, this book traces the path of Teniers's success and provides a
detailed survey of his relations with his patrons and clientele, while
also illuminating his studio practice and associations with fellow
artists in Antwerp and Brussels. The author in addition examines
Teniers's manifold activities against the background of his
ever-changing social and familial context. The resulting analysis draws
a picture of a painter who came from the artistic milieu of Antwerp, yet
deliberately made different choices from those of his father, from whom
the young Teniers received his initial training. In order to meet
changing tastes and satisfy the demands of the market, and following the
example of Adriaen Brouwer, Teniers quickly acquired a reputation as a
painter of low-life genre scenes. Vlieghe goes on to clarify how Teniers
rose to become court painter to the Habsburg governors in Brussels, and
the means used by the artist to achieve greater social recognition,
which included extensive self-representation and considerable
conspicuous consumption. Teniers's later years were marred by
difficulties, brought on by his diminishing success as an artist and by
financial difficulties with his children. Vlieghe shows how these
circumstances led to Teniers dying in rather deplorable circumstances.
