New exhibit casts light on the Francken art dynasty

Cassel, France, Sep 4 (EFE).- Nicolaes Francken and Rubens were contemporaries but it was the latter whose name went down in the annals of art history.

The Museum of Flanders in the northern French town of Cassel on Saturday opened an exhibition that delves into the first two generations of Francken’s descendants, who would become painters in their own right in the 16th and 17th centuries.

“The exhibition talks about the Francken dynasty, the first and second generation. It is very important to us to show the links between the first generation with Frans I, Ambrosius I and Hieronymus I with the second generation with artworks of Frans II,” Sadrine Vézilier-Dussar, the museum’s director, told Efe.

Rubens’ fame as a Flemish master eclipsed the legacy of the first generation of the Francken family, whose members regarded painting as a job like any other.EFE

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