Willem Augustin van Minderhout
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Willem Augustin van Minderhout[1] (August 1680 – 31 May 1752), was a Flemish painter. After training and working in Antwerp, he moved later in his career to work in the area of Moravia (now in the Czech Republic). He is known for his architectural paintings with figures enjoying themselves with dance, masquerades and other forms of entertainment, and his church interiors.[2] He may also have painted some marine scenes, which was the specialty of his father.[3]
Van Minderhout was born in Antwerp and baptised on 29 August 1680. He was born as the son of Hendrik van Minderhout and his father's second wife, Anna Victoria Claus. His father was a Dutch-born marine painter who was primarily active in the Flemish cities Bruges and Antwerp.[4] Willem Augustin had an older brother, Antoon, who was also a painter.[5]
Very little is known about Willem Augustin's training and early career. Unlike his brother, there is no record of him registering as a pupil or a master at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke.[6] He likely trained with his father and then worked in his father's workshop.[2]
He married Marie Jacqueline Witlockx, the daughter of Willem Witlockx, who was a well-known bellfounder in his time. They had a son named Willem Hendrik. After his wife died, he commenced a peripatetic life which would bring him to the Holy Roman Empire and in particular Moravia. Here he seems to have been employed on various decorative projects in the palaces of the local aristocracy and higher clergy.[7] He worked on the decoration of the palace halls in Kroměříž Castle, the principal residence of the bishops of Olomouc. At the time Cardinal Ferdinad Julius Troyer (1745–1758) was the resident bishop.[8]
