David Teniers was a pupil of his father, David I Teniers the Elder. He studied in Antwerp where he earned fame as a genre painter of village fairs, interiors, and also a portraitist and historical painter. His prolific production (over two thousand works) was also made popular by engravings and tapestries. Teniers soon played a role in public life in Antwerp, as Dean of the Corporation of St. Luke. He was appointed Court Painter to Archduke Leopold-Wilhelm in 1647. The Archduke was a great collector and Teniers was also made Keeper of the Pictures. He then settled in Brussels in 1651 where he published an album of engravings including 244 paintings from the Archduke’s collection. He also executed works for other monarchs, notably Philip IV of Spain, and made reduced copies of works by the masters. He was a painter of bourgeois and popular life, and his early works show the influence of his elders, the Frankens, Joos de Momper, and Brouwer. However, he also showed proof of his own specific traits of nuanced, warm chiaroscuro and spatial sensitivity. His style achieved full maturity during the period 1640/1650 with his illustration of village fêtes using a light palette and a range of silvery, luminous colours.
Works from the 38 in the Louvre's collection:
- Rural Fête with Aristocratic Couple
- The Feast on the Return of the Prodigal Son
- Country Tavern Near a River
- The Temptation of St. Anthony
- Hunting the Heron with Archduke Leopold-Wilhelm
- The Knife Grinder
- Grand Duo: Man Playing a Fiddle and Woman Singing
