Willem Wissing (1656 - 1687) - Duchesses of York around 1680

Willem Wissing (1656; 1687) signed. Large presumed portrait of the Duchesses of York circa 1680, Mary, future Queen Mary II and her sister Anne, future Queen Anne.

Canvas rented 111 cm by 85 cm
Frame of the Maison William Schaus 137 cm by 108 cm
Inventory mark on the back of the canvas, number 20

10, 12 years after the portrait painted by Lely between 1668 and 1670 of the family of York with the two duchesses then children surrounded by their parents, our painting shows us the duchesses around 1680. The two richly dressed women are in a park. Separated to leave a rose garden in the background, their outstretched arms allow their hands to join with their fingertips. To Marie's left a white cockatoo is watching us. All the characters look at us like the angel above the two women.

Willem Wissing (1656; 1687)

Willem Wissing, known in England as William Wissing (born 1656 – died September 10, 1687), was a Dutch portrait painter who mainly worked in England Born in Amsterdam, he studied in The Hague with Willem Doudijns (1630-1697) and Arnoldus van Ravestyn (1615-1690). In 1676 he moved to England, where he studied and assisted the painter Peter Lely. After Lely's death in 1680, he became the most important painter of his genre, particularly at court, and enjoyed considerable success. Only the painter of German origin, Godfrey Kneller is in a position to compete with him. Having become official court painter, King James II of England sent Wissing to the Netherlands in 1685 to paint the portraits of his son-in-law and his daughter-in-law, the future William III of England and the future Marie II from England. Wissing died in 1687 aged just 31, at the height of his fame as a portrait painter, at Burghley House, home of John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter near Stamford, Lincolnshire. Some speculate that he was poisoned by jealousy of his success. His epitaph was Immodicis brevis est aetas, which means Brief is the life of the remarkable. He is buried at St Martin's Church, Stamford, Lincolnshire. Another Dutch immigrant, Jan van der Vaart, worked in his studio and added the draperies and landscapes in some of the portraits painted by Wissing. After Wissing's death in 1687, van der Vaart continued Wissing's workshop. Some examples of his production of portraits within European royal families and great families of the kingdom: Charles II of England, Catherine of Braganza, George of Denmark, James Scott, 1st of Monmouth, Laurence Hyde, Prince William of Orange… Lady Henrietta Hyde (1677-1730) and her Sister Lady Mary Hyde (d.1709) Sothebys 2005 €130,000 Portrait of Lady Frances and Lady Katherine Jones Sothebys 1999 €120,000 Queen Mary of Modena, Wife of James III, three quarter length Sothebys 2007 €100,000 Portrait of a lady, three-quarter length, seated, in a red dress and white chemise Sothebys 2019 €80,000