Robert Campin

pseudonym: -

birth data

date of birth: 1378 o. 1379

place of birth: Valenciennes

death data

date of death: 1445

death: -

biography

Robert Campin is one of the earliest and greatest masters of Flemish painting, born around 1378 in the area near Valenciennes. He has been identified as the Master of Flémalle on stylistic and other grounds. Documents show that Campin was established as a master painter in Tournai in 1406, where he worked for several years as a church painter. Furthermore, Campin also worked for the city and its Town Hall. He was also commissioned for smaller works by Wilhelm I of Bavaria, who is interred in Valenciennes. Characterized by a naturalistic conception of form and a plastic representation of the figures in his paintings, Campins work prefigures the achievements of Jan van Eyck and other masters of Flemish painting. Campin also led the way in portrait painting. Two pupils entered his studio: Jacques Daret and Rogier van der Weyden. The latter has carried out some works on behalf of Campin. One of his masterpieces is the Mérode Triptych, which is now displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other works can be found at the National Gallery in London and the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. The Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main also displays some of his works.