Frans Balthazar Solvyns

Frans Balthazar Solvyns (also Baltazar Solvijns, Frans Balthazar Solvijns, Balthazar Solvijns) (6 July 1760 – 10 October 1824) was a Flemish marine painter and journeyman artist, who lived in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) between 1791 and 1803. He is considered one of the early pioneers in the field of print-making in India, along with Thomas Daniell.

His collection of etchings provide a portrait of Calcutta's 18th century history, and the people and customs of Bengal. His encyclopedic and systematic approach made him a pioneer of the systematic ethnography of the Indian population. His work had an important influence on 19th century Indian painting.

Solvyns was born in Antwerp in 1760. He studied from 1775 to 1778 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp with Andreas Bernardus de Quertenmont. On 30 April 1778 he enrolled in Paris at the Ecole de l'Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. He pursued a career as a marine painter. His work as a painter and graphic artist enjoyed the appreciation of the Austrian government in Brussels. As a result, he received government commissions to paint harbour views, including paintings of Antwerp shipping companies. The government's appreciation was also reflected in his appointment - at the age of sixteen - as captain of Fort Lillo on the left bank of the river Scheldt in Antwerp. Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen, wife of the Governor of the Austrian Netherlands Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen, particularly favoured him. Thanks to her intervention, he was appointed captain of Laken Castle, the residence of the governors near Brussels. As the appointment was purely symbolic, Solvyns was free to pursue his artistic career. He was commissioned by the government to make a large painting of the port of Ostend. The painting was successful and was soon copied and widely distributed through engravings by the Frenchman Robert Daudet.

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