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This charismatic red chalk drawing by Robert West, “foster-father of the Arts in Ireland”, derives from a print engraved by Paulus Pontius for Sir Anthony van Dyck’s celebrated series, the Iconographie [fig. 1]. The series is a significant record of van Dyck’s prodigious talent as a portraitist, depicting the likenesses of a hundred renowned scholars, heads of state, military men, and, perhaps most importantly, artists. This last category was particularly notable, not just for the quantity of artists represented, but for what their inclusion within this list signified: the elevation of the status of the artist and the immortalisation of his image. The names and faces of artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Pieter Brueghel and Simon de Vos were placed alongside those of King Philip IV of Spain, Erasmus, and Maria de Medici. In the printed world of Van Dyck the once humble craftsman was now rubbing shoulders with Kings and Queens.

 

The present drawing depicts Simon de Vos, an Antwerp-based artist and pupil of his namesake, Cornelis de Vos. In spite of the artist’s near-regal posture and elaborate garb, de Vos was active initially as a painter of bacchic and revelrous scenes. The wild hair and extravagant moustache remain as the sole indicators of this more liberal side to the artist’s personality. It is possible that following his first apprenticeship de Vos went on to become an assistant in the studio of Peter Paul Rubens, and it was there that he met van Dyck. Whether or not he worked under Rubens, de Vos’ stock was such that Rubens actually owned a painting by him, and his portrait was painted by another significant Antwerp artist, Abraham de Vries.

 

Van Dyck’s creative process for the production of the Iconographie can be traced through two preliminary stages: the initial drawing, in this case held at the Musée du Louvre [fig. 2]; and the grisaille oil sketch, a reproduction of which was sold at Christie’s New York in 2007 [fig. 3]. The third stage was the printmaker’s adaptation of the image. In the case of van Dyck’s portrait of Simon de Vos, the engraving was carried out by Paulus Pontius. In a sympathetic red chalk, the present drawing faithfully follows the design of Pontius’ print, in both orientation and execution. The sitter’s head rests regally atop his elaborately frilled ruff, with a satin sash and heavy jacket, his hand is held on hip in a pose of collected authority.

 

West’s affinity for red chalk was developed in Paris where he studied at the Académie Française under Rococo powerhouses François Boucher and Jean-Baptiste van Loo. Boucher in particular was a vocal proponent for the use of red chalk and under van Loo’s direction West won an Académie prize for drawing. Boucher was also a great collector of drawings and drew upon both Northern and Italian artists such as Abraham Bloemaert and Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione for inspiration, in particular for his depictions of landscape and genre scenes. As an academic exercise Boucher copied certain works by Bloemaert, translating them into his favourite medium, red chalk. It is from this emulative tradition that the present drawing stems.

 

West is one of the most influential, if least widely known, figures in the development of Irish art. He was born in Waterford but moved to Dublin in the 1730s following his education in Paris. He established his own drawing school towards the end of the decade and would become the first Master at the Dublin Society school of drawing, which has evolved into today’s prestigious National College of Art and Design. West’s teaching methods were based largely upon those of the Académie Royale and thus he can be credited with bringing European teaching methods to Ireland. Students would progress from copying set drawings and prints, such as the present sheet, to studying models and producing life studies.

 

Few examples of West’s work survive, however his mastery of chalk was notorious. Both Thomas Mulvany and Anthony Pasquin cite the artist’s skill in the medium. According to Pasquin, West “excelled in his drawing of the human figure in chalk and crayons”. The contemporary engraver William Wynne Ryland also noted in The Diary of Visit to England in 1775 “…that old West was the best drawer in red chalks at Paris, of his time, and that for drawing in general he was the best scholar of VenLoo”. For other works by West, see the chalk drawing sold at Christie’s in 2001 [fig. 4], a group portrait of the Smith family at Upton House, and a pastel portrait of Mrs Abington at the Garrick Club, the latter being signed similarly to the present drawing, “R. West delt.”. Neil Jeffares, author of the Dictionary of pastellists before 1800 (a tomb that includes an entry on West), has examined the present drawing and suggested that the monogrammed signature is surely from West’s hand and a result of spatial restrictions. A final comparable drawing in red chalk was sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2021 [fig. 5].