Michaelina Wautier

1604 – 1689

Active in: The Netherlands
Alternate names: Michaelina Wautiers, Michaelina Woutier, Michaelina Woutiers, Michaelina Vautier, Michaelina Woutie

Biography

Michelina Wautier was a painter from the Southern Netherlands. She was born in Mons and moved to Brussels around 1640. Wautier worked in both small and larger formats across genres, and a number of her surviving works were mistakenly attributed to her brother, Charles Wautier. Her self-portrait at the easel, painted in 1649, was mistakenly attributed to Artemesia Gentileschi. Little is known about her life, although she did receive recognition during her lifetime, selling four paintings to Archbishop Leopold Wilhelm of Austria. She died in 1689 in Brussels.

Selected Works

A young man with light skin, a round face, and shoulder-length, curly brown hair is shown from the chest up. He wears a mustard-yellow shirt beneath a reddish-brown cloak or wrap. He looks down and away from the viewer with a serious expression.

Michaelina Wautier, Portrait of a Young Man, 1655. Oil on canvas, 89.7 x 122 cm. Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

A woman with very light skin, rosy cheeks, and light brown curly hair sits at an easel holding a palette and brushes. She wears a black dress with white skirts and a white collar or shawl over her shoulders, and she gazes out at the viewer with a serious expression.

Michaelina Wautier, Self-Portrait, 1649. Oil on canvas, 120 x 102 cm. Private collection

Two young boys with light skin, one with dark curly hair and one with straight blonde hair, are positioned near each other. The blonde child wears dark clothing and holds a hat, and is looking up at a soap bubble that is just above and to one side of his head. The dark-haired boy is seated, with a red cloth draped over one shoulder, holding a straw to his mouth and soap in the other hand. Nearby, a candle has gone out and a book fallen askew off the table.

Michaelina Wautier, Two Boys Blowing Bubbles, 1640s. Oil on canvas, 90.5 x 121.3 cm. Seattle Art Museum

Two young girls, both with light skin and blonde hair, stand next to a table with a basket of apples and roses. One girl holds a large leaf and wears a green dress with white sleeves, while the other wears a pink dress with a large yellow cloak wrapped around her, resting her hand on the head of a lamb.

Michaelina Wautier, Two Girls as Saints Agnes and Dorothea, 1650s. Oil on canvas, 89.7 x 112 cm. Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

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Selected works

Circle

Sister of
Charles/Karel Wautier

Bibliography

A Checklist of Painters ca. 1200–1994 Represented in the Witt Library, Courtauld Institute of Art, London. London: Mansell, 1995.

Darge, Monique, and Leen Huet. An Unexpected Journey: vrouw en kunst. Antwerp: Gynaika, 1996.

Greer, Germaine. The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1979.

Heinz, G. “Studien über Jan van den Hoecke und die Malerei der Niederländer in Wien.” Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorische Sammlungen in Wien 63 (1967): 109–64.

Huet, Leen and Jan Grieten. Oude meesteressen: vrouwelijke kunstenaars in de Nederlanden. Leuven: Van Halewyck, 1998.

“Michaelina Wauter.” RKD. https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/85684.

Sanzsalazar, J. “Michaelina Wautier y la boda de su hermano: Historia de un retrato identificado.” Tendencias del Mercado del Arte 69 (2014): 90–104.

Sanzsalazar, J. “Michaelina Wautier and the Spanish envoy / Michaelina Wautier y el enviado español.” Tendencias del Mercado del Arte 112 (2018): 88–91.

Thieme, Ulrich, and Felix Becker. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler: von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Leipzig: Seemann, 1907-1950.

Toussaint, Jacques. Portrait en Namurois. Namur: Société Archéologique de Namur, 2002.

Van der Stighelen, Katlijne. “Michaelina Wautier, portret van een jongeman.” Zaal Z 6, no. 22 (2017): 38.

Van der Stighelen, Katlijne and Chantal Huys. Vrouwenstreken: onvergetelijke schilderessen uit de Lage Landen. Tielt: Lannoo, 2010.

Van der Stighelen, Katlijne, and Hans Vlieghe, eds. Sponsors of the Past: Flemish Art and Patronage 1550–1700. Turnhout: Brepols, 2005.

Van der Stighelen, Katlijne, Mirjam Westen, et al. Elck zijn waerom: vrouwelijke kunstenaars in België en Nederland 1500–1950. Ghent: Ludion, 1999.

Van der Willigen, Adriaan, and Fred G. Meijer. A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-life Painters Working in Oils: 1525–1725. Leiden: Primavera, 2003.

Von Wurzbach, Alfred. Niederländisches Künstler-Lexikon auf Grund archivalischer Forschungen bearbeitet. Vienna: Halm and Goldmann, 1906–11.