Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wyck, John

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924546Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 63 — Wyck, John1900Freeman Marius O'Donoghue

WYCK, JOHN (1652–1700), painter, son of Thomas Wyck (1616–1677), a distinguished Dutch painter of interiors, markets, and Italian seaports, was born at Haarlem on 29 Oct. 1652. He was a pupil of his father, and came when young to England, where he settled. He was a clever painter of horses and other animals, and enjoyed a great reputation for his battle and hunting scenes, in which he imitated Wouwermans. Among his best works are representations of the siege of Namur, the siege of Maestricht, the battle of the Boyne, and other military exploits of William III; these and many of his hunting pieces were engraved by Smith, Faber, and Lens. In Kneller's equestrian portrait of the Duke of Schomberg, and also in that of the Duke of Monmouth by Netscher, the horses and landscape were put in by Wyck. He painted many excellent landscapes, including views in Scotland and in Jersey. Wyck's ‘Horrors of War’ is in the Bridgewater Gallery, and his ‘William III at the Siege of Maestricht’ at Knowsley; his ‘Battle of the Boyne’ was until recently at Blenheim. The finely painted head of a greyhound, formerly at Houghton Hall and now at St. Petersburg, was engraved by Earlom for the Houghton Gallery.

Wyck married in England, and the circumstance is perhaps recorded in an entry in the registers of the Dutch church, Austin Friars: ‘13 April 1690. Johannes van Wijck met Catharina van Mengelinckhuijsen.’ He resided chiefly in London and its vicinity, and died at Mortlake, where he was buried on 26 Oct. 1700. His portrait, painted by Kneller in 1685, was engraved by J. Faber in 1730, and by T. Chambers for the first edition of Walpole's ‘Anecdotes.’

[Nagler's Künstler-Lexicon; Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Moens's Registers of the Dutch Church, Austin Friars, 1884; Mortlake Parish Register.]

F. M. O'D.