Background
Houbraken was born on December 25, 1698 in Dordrecht, Netherlands, the son of the artist and biographer Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719).
Houbraken was born on December 25, 1698 in Dordrecht, Netherlands, the son of the artist and biographer Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719).
Houbraken learned the art of engraving from his father.
In 1707 Houbraken came to reside at Amsterdam, where for years he helped his father with his magnum opus, his art historical work The Great Theatre of Dutch Painters (1718-1721). When his father died he assisted his mother with the last proofs of the manuscript before publishing. With this project he started his portraits of Netherlandish celebrities, that are today in many cases the only likenesses left of these people. He commenced the art of engraving by studying the works of Cornelis Cort, Suyderhoef, Edelinck and the Visschers. He devoted himself almost entirely to portraiture. His work became famous through his collaboration with the historian Thomas Birch and artist George Vertue, on the project entitled, Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, published in parts in London from 1743 to 1752. After that, during the years 1752-1759 he worked with the historian Jan Wagenaar (1709-1773) on his 21 part Vaderlandsche historie, working for the publisher Isaac Tirion in Amsterdam. With this project of biographies of celebrated figures, he annotated his work with notes about the original paintings. Among his best works are scenes from the comedy of De Ontdekte Schijndeugd, executed in his eightieth year, after Cornelis Troost, who was called by his countrymen the Dutch Hogarth. He died on the 14th of November 1780.