Hugo van der Goes

Background

Hugo van der Goes was likely born in Ghent, Belgium, or near Ghent around the year 1440. He had a sister, whose name was Catherina van der Goes.

Education

There's very little information about Hugo's early training, but some historians have suggested, that Dieric Bouts was possibly his mentor.

Career

In 1467, Hugo van der Goes became a master in the Ghent guild of painters. Some time later, in 1474, Hugo was made a dean of the guild, a position he held till 1476.

In the early 1470's, Hugo assisted in the decoration of Ghent and Bruges for such events, as the wedding of Charles the Bold and Margaret of York. In the late 1470's, he quit Ghent for the solace of the Red Cloister monastery near Brussels. Continuing to paint as a privileged brother, he received distinguished visitors, such as Archduke Maximilian of Austria. Also, during his time at the cloister, Hugo received a request from the counsel of the City of Leuven to value the works for the Leuven city hall, that Dieric Bouts had left unfinished at the time of his death. As a reward for this service, Hugo received a jug of Rhine wine from the city authorities. It is believed, that it was Van der Goes, who completed Bouts' unfinished "Triptych for Hyppolite Berthoz".

Returning in 1481 from a trip to Cologne, Van der Goes suffered a fit of melancholia. A fellow brother, Gaspar Ofhuys, documented the illness and recorded, that the painter died in the monastery the following year.

During his lifetime, Goes followed the tradition of Rogier van der Weyden, but his works, especially in his last years, have a hysterical emotional quality very different from Rogier's silent intensity.

Achievements

• Hugo van der Goes gained prominence as an important painter of altarpieces and portraits. His most important works include the "Portinari Triptych", the "Adoration of the Magi", the "Adoration of the Shepherds", the "Fall and Redemption of Man" and the "Death of the Virgin".
  
  Moreover, Van der Goes achieved considerable success and secured important commissions from the Burgundian court, church institutions, affluent Flemish bourgeoisie and associations of Italian business people.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Calvary Triptych

  • The Crucifixion

  • The Portinari Triptych (Close)

  • Benedictine Monk

  • Diptych of The Fall of Man and The Redemption (Lamentation of Christ)

  • The Trinity Altar Panels

  • Portrait Of A Man

  • Portrait of a Man of Prayer with St. John the Baptist

  • The Portinari Altarpiece, St. Mary Magdalen and St. Margaret with Maria Baroncelli and Daughter Margherita Portinari, Right Wing

  • Joseph and Asenath

  • Portinari Triptych

  • Christ on the cross

  • Death of the Virgin

  • Mary with child

  • The Fall

  • St. Hippolyte Triptych

  • Jacob and Rachel

  • Deposition Diptych (Small Deposition, left wing)

  • The Adoration of the Shepherds

  • Flower (detail from the central panel of the Portinari Altarpiece)

  • Virgin and Child With St. Anne and a Franciscan donor

  • The Adoration of the Kings (Monforte Altar)

  • Deposition Diptych (Small Deposition, right wing)

Personality

The painter suffered an acute depression and declared himself to be damned.

Connections

Sister:

Catherina van der Goes

mentor:

Dieric Bouts

References

• Hugo van der Goes and the Procedures of Art and Salvation This book identifies the artist's painterly procedures, as well as the religious practices and hopes his painting served. Focusing on Hugo's masterpiece, the Portinari Altarpiece, the author of this book pictures the painter, his patron and the wider public as a set of diverse forces, fuelling this artist's achievements.
  2008
• Hugo Van Der Goes
  1998
• 34 Color Paintings of Hugo van der Goes This book includes 34 high quality reproductions of Hugo's greatest masterpieces with title and date.
  2012
• Hugo Van Der Goes: Drawings & Paintings
  2019