The Antwerp Connection and the English Migration The story begins in Antwerp, where the year 1708 marks the birth of John Joseph Bouttats. He enters a world shaped by the legacy of his father, Jan or Johann Baptiste Bouttats, a man who established a lineage of artistic practice. By the 1740s, the scene shifts to London. Bouttats moves through the bustling urban center, establishing a presence in the heart of the English art world. His movement is not a sudden leap but a steady progression from the continental traditions of his birth toward the specific demands of the British landscape and ar…