KOBELL, Hendrik
(b. 1751, Delfshaven, d. 1779, Delfshaven)

Biography

Dutch draughtsman, painter and etcher, part of a family of painters. Hendrik Kobell was the eldest and most important of a family of artists originating in Delfshaven (now Rotterdam). He produced paintings and drawings, mainly marine subjects, but was of considerable importance as an etcher, producing some twenty plates.

He first trained as a merchant and was involved in the arts only as an amateur. It was in 1770, during a stay in London, that he decided to devote himself entirely to an artistic career. On his return in 1771 he took lessons at the Amsterdam Stadstekenakademie and became a member of the artists' club, Pax Artium Nutrix, where he became friendly with prominent collectors such as Jacob de Vos and Cornelis Ploos van Amstel. After his marriage in 1774, he once again settled in Delfshaven, where he was a founder-member of the artists' club, Hierdoor tot Hoger (Dutch: 'Thus to the heights'), and sometimes worked with Dirk Langendijk.