ARNOLD BOONEN | PORTRAIT OF THE GEELVINCK CHILDREN: NICOLAAS (1706-1764), CORNELIS (1705 - ?) AND CATHARINA JACOBA GEELVINCK (1710-1759)

Collection of a nobleman;

His sale, London, Christie's, 4 May 1979, lot 21;

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 17 April 1986, lot 63;

There acquired.

This charming portrait depicts Nicolaas (1706-1764), Cornelis (1705 - ?) and Catharina Jacoba Geelvinck (1710-1759), the three youngest children of Lieve Geelvinck and his first wife, Agatha Theodora van Bambeeck. Boonen had painted the pendant portrait of their 3 older children a few years earlier. Nicolaas would follow in his father's footsteps to become lord of a country estate and mayor of Amsterdam in 1747, and Catharina Jacoba was later renowned for her beauty. The rug, parrot, and fruits suggest the Geelvinck family's wealth, and the parrot additionally signifies that children mimic their elders. A student of Godfried Schalcken, Arnold Boonen excelled at portraiture and depicted important political figures of his day, including the Prince and Princess of Orange and Peter the Great of Russia.