David had married as early as 1866 and in 1893, at the age of 51, Pieter also found a wife. In the 1880s they continued to prosper, both financially and in their private lives. From 1875 they were highly successful: leading collectors began to buy their work and they won prizes in various competitions and salons. They shared a studio, modelled for each other and moved in the same artistic circles. In Brussels, the brothers were inseparable. In the 1860s, David and Peter moved to Brussels, which was a boom city for the arts at that time. However, their parents soon realised that neither of the brothers was well-suited for a life in business and rather hesitantly resigned themselves to their becoming artists. Although taught to draw from an early age, they were originally destined to follow their father into the banking world. Their father was a prominent Amsterdam banker. The Gemeentemuseum’s exhibition The Oyens Brothers: Twin Painters paints a picture of life in Brussels and of the artistic circles surrounding these unusual twin brothers.ĭavid and Pieter Oyens were born in 1842. They spent most of their lives in Brussels, the capital of Belgium: then an international city bursting with new ideas and opportunities, with an artistic climate influenced both by the town’s bourgeoisie and by its bohemians. Dutch artists David and Pieter Oyens are among the few exceptions. Sets of twins – especially identical twins – are a rare occurrence in art history.

The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag From the museum website Pieter Oyens (1842-94), Portrait of David Oyens, 1873

Alfred Stevens by Saskia de Bodt