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Bloemen [Blommen; Bloms], van.
Flemish family of painters and draughtsmen, active also in Italy and France. While still in their native Antwerp, (1) Pieter van Bloemen was the first teacher of his brother (2) Jan Frans van Bloemen—who later also studied with Antoine Goubau—and probably also of his younger brother Norbert van Bloemen (b Antwerp, 10 Feb 1670; d Amsterdam, c. 1746). From 1667 Pieter had himself trained with Simon van Douw (c. 1630–c. 1677), and in 1673 he became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke. The following year he travelled to Rome. He is recorded in Lyon about a decade later (c. 1684) in the company of the Dutch artists Adriaen van der Cabel and Gillis Weenix. At about the same time (c. 1684–5) Jan Frans was in Paris, until he was summoned by his brother to Lyon. There Jan Frans apparently worked with van der Cabel. The two brothers were not happy in Lyon, however, and went to Rome. They travelled via Turin, staying there for some time. From 1686–7 they were in Rome, where they were both members of the Schildersbent, the confraternity of Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome. Pieter was given the bent or nickname Standaart (or Stendardo), undoubtedly a reference to the banners and standards that he depicted in his scenes of soldiers; Jan Frans’s facility for producing panoramic landscapes earned him the nickname Orizzonte (It.: ‘horizon’), which had previously been applied to Claude Lorrain. Jan Frans did not leave Rome again, apart from an eight-month journey to Naples, Sicily and Malta, from which he returned with a large number of drawings. Pieter left in 1692, after having had the Flemish painter Frans Vanier as his assistant (1689–92); he was back in Antwerp in 1694 and became dean of the Guild of St Luke there in 1699. Norbert also apparently joined his brothers in Rome, where he too was a member of the Schildersbent (which gave him the nickname Cephalus). After failing to succeed as an artist in Italy, however, Norbert returned to Antwerp. His fortunes were no better there, and he set off again, eventually settling in Amsterdam, where he painted history subjects, interior genre scenes and portraits, for instance that of the art dealer and collector Jan Pietersz. Zoomer (Amsterdam, Rijksmus.). The following members have entries:
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