BLOEMAERT, Dutch family of artists
Cornelis Bloemaert I (c. 1540-1593) was an architect, sculptor and teacher, whose pupils included Hendrick de Keyser I. His son Abraham Bloemaert was the most gifted member of the family and became one of the most important painters working in Utrecht in the first half of the 17th century. Four of Abraham's sons also worked as artists, all of them receiving their initial training from their father. The eldest son, Hendrick Bloemaert was a painter and poet. Hendrick travelled to Italy and was in Rome in 1627; he returned to Utrecht c. 1630. His oeuvre includes religious works, mythological and genre scenes and portraits. Abraham Bloemaert's second son, Cornelis Bloemaert II (1603-1684), studied with his father, Gerrit van Honthorst and Crispijn de Passe I, but although he was originally trained as a painter, he devoted himself primarily to printmaking. Another of Abraham's sons, Adriaen Bloemaert (c. 1609-1666), was a painter, draughtsman and perhaps also an engraver. Frederick Bloemaert (c. 1616-1690) worked exclusively as an engraver; almost all his prints were after his father's compositions.
