Handbook of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Part 9

This interesting genre scene is by a Dutch painter of the late XVII century, a period when art, that had been democratic with Rembrandt and Frans Hals, now a.s.sumed, under the patronage of wealthy parvenus a pretentious gentility in which the accessories of life were more important than life itself. Van Musscher enjoyed considerable popularity in his time; he painted with meticulous care flattering portraits and pretty genre subjects; he was mindful of each shining pearl and gilded ta.s.sel, satin fold and silken curtain-not a detail escaped his devoted eye; but, were it not for a certain distinction which he had as a colorist and composer his paintings would have little importance today, save as records of costume and household gear.

[Portrait of a Lady. Michiel Mierevelt, 1567-1641]

Portrait of a Lady. Michiel Mierevelt, 1567-1641

Mierevelt, a well-known portrait painter of the Dutch school, lived princ.i.p.ally at Delft, although occasionally residing at The Hague. He was court painter to the House of Orange, and like others of his kind, evidently enjoyed depicting the elegant costumes and accessories of his aristocratic sitters. Mierevelt differs widely from his younger and greater contemporary, Frans Hals, both in technique and in sentiment.

Mierevelt's style recalls the courtly elegance of the Renaissance-which one might expect, since he was born well in the XVI century; whereas Frans Hals, striking out along new lines, represents the new spirit of democracy which inspired the long struggle in the Low Countries to win political and religious independence. The portrait, ill.u.s.trated above, is dated 1630.

[Tapestry, Hunting Scenes. Flemish, about 1600]

Tapestry, Hunting Scenes. Flemish, about 1600

In the background of this "hunting tapestry," from the Lowry Memorial Gift, is ill.u.s.trated the story of Diana and Acteon; the rash huntsman is turned into a stag by the outraged G.o.ddess. In its design the tapestry is more Renaissance in feeling than Baroque, but the crowded ordinance of the composition betrays its late date. The carving on the chest below shows various typical motives of the Jacobean style.

[Chest, Oak. English, XVII Century]

Chest, Oak. English, XVII Century

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ART

Art of the XVIII century differs radically from that of the preceding century. It is graceful, elegant and coquettish rather than ponderous, majestic and pa.s.sionate. Forgotten is the fervent piety of the Counter-Reformation and the oppressive grandeur of le Roi Soleil. Life is joyful, to be lived in luxurious boudoirs, exquisite in refinement of decoration, or in pretty gardens where Nature, properly disguised, welcomes aristocratic shepherds and shepherdesses to her pastoral delights.

The changed political and social conditions of the XVIII century had their immediate effect in the world of art. Except in England-relatively democratic as compared with France and other continental countries-art was almost exclusively aristocratic, and mirrored the self-indulgent interests of fashionable patrons. Even in England, where Hogarth moralized for the bourgeoisie, and the st.u.r.dy lineaments of the commoner were portrayed by a Reynolds or Gainsborough no less frequently, and truthfully, than the high-bred mien of a great n.o.bleman, artistic concessions to the Third Estate were distinctly limited. It was in courtly France, soon to be racked by social revolution, that the epicurean art of the XVIII century was most at home. When we name Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, Clodion, Houdon, we sum up, perhaps, all that is most characteristic of painting and sculpture in XVIII century art. The portrait painters of England contribute to the century the meed of their greatness; Italy gains l.u.s.tre through Tiepolo; Spain through Goya; but it is to France that we turn to experience in its completeness the spirit of the Rococo.

In the "century of little things" the minor arts attained an exceptional importance. Artisans ranked as artists, and justly. Among the distinguished artists of the XVIII century must be included such great craftsmen as Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite, Oeben, Riesener, Gouthiere, and Caffieri-to make but a brief selection from among the numerous English and French cabinet-makers, metal chasers, and other craftsmen of the period. The productions of these celebrated artisans were rightly looked upon as works of creative art of a high order, and the makers were accorded the patronage and protection of royalty and n.o.bility.

In technical perfection the XVIII century crafts have never been surpa.s.sed. But too great proficiency led sometimes to artistic disaster, as we may note in tapestries imitating the difficulties of inappropriate pictorial models, or in the florid carving sometimes indulged in by the cabinet-makers-even the celebrated Chippendale, if the truth be told.

These occasional deviations from the path of artistic rect.i.tude must not mislead us, however, from a just appreciation of the extraordinary merits of XVIII century decorative art.

[Head of an Old Man. Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, 1727-1804]

Head of an Old Man. Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, 1727-1804

The work of Domenico Tiepolo, the son of Gian Battista Teipolo, the head of the Venetian school of the XVIII century and the last of the great Italian painters. In the period of exhaustion which followed the Renaissance, the Venetian school alone was blessed with genius. The list of painters is indeed impressive when compared with the nonent.i.ties of the other Italian schools of the XVIII century. Although Domenico did not display the same great genius as his father, at his best he approached Giambattista so closely that his works have often been confused. Domenico is known as an etcher as well as a painter. In his set of character heads, called the "Raccolta di teste", there is an etching reproducing the above portrait.

[Portrait of James Ward. Gilbert Stuart, 1755-1828]

Portrait of James Ward. Gilbert Stuart, 1755-1828

Gilbert Stuart was typical of his time and country in that his art was not national but derived from England, where he received most of his training.

His masterful expression of personality, his brilliant brush-work and treatment of light, permit him to be cla.s.sed among the most gifted artists of his age as the first truly great American artist. The Portrait of Master Ward, painted in 1789, and one of the very few signed works of the artist, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in the year in which it was painted. It is considered by eminent critics the most beautiful of Stuart's paintings in American collections. This graceful lad, portrayed fondling his dog, afterwards became famous as an engraver of animal subjects.

[Death on the Pale Horse. Benjamin West, 1738-1820]

Death on the Pale Horse. Benjamin West, 1738-1820

In its early days, American painting was derived from Europe and especially from the mother country, England. The early XVIII century portraits of prominent Colonials and their families, though valuable as historical doc.u.ments and not without a naive charm, are halting and provincial as works of art.

The first American painter to win a widely recognized position in the world of art was Benjamin West. In his twenty-second year he went to study in Rome, where he worked for several years in the "grand manner."

Moving to England in 1768, he won favor at once, was appointed historical painter to the King in 1772, and twenty years later, on the death of Reynolds, was elected president of the Royal Academy. The Inst.i.tute's painting, Death on the Pale Horse, is a study for his grandiose canvas in the Pennsylvania Academy. When it was first exhibited, the artist was acclaimed a second Michelangelo. It is painted mostly in subdued bronze and dull red tones, and shows Death as a splendid youth seated upon a white horse, charging out of the sky at the head of a troop of heroic hors.e.m.e.n. Below him crowds of terrified human beings are fleeing before the vision, idols fall, and wild beasts snarl and cower. The subject is taken from Revelation VI, 8: "And I looked and beheld a pale horse and his name that sat on him was Death, and h.e.l.l followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

[Large Embroidered Hanging. French, Early XVIII Century Subject, Spring: from a set representing the Four Seasons, in memory of Mrs. Thomas Lowry by Mrs. Gustav Schwyzer, Mrs. Percy Hagerman and Horace Lowry]

Large Embroidered Hanging. French, Early XVIII Century Subject, Spring: from a set representing the Four Seasons, in memory of Mrs. Thomas Lowry by Mrs. Gustav Schwyzer, Mrs. Percy Hagerman and Horace Lowry

[Needlepoint, Reticello. Italian, Early XVII Century]

Needlepoint, Reticello. Italian, Early XVII Century

The piece of reticello lace, ill.u.s.trated above, is an unusually fine example of early Italian needlepoint. Reticello was the first needlepoint, and from it all the later ones were derived. Long points, such as we see here, were much used on collars and cuffs in the XVII century. Of other Italian laces in the collection may be noted a large panel of Milanese bobbin lace of the late XVII or early XVIII century, a fine piece of beautiful Venetian rosepoint of the XVIII century, and examples of Burano and grounded Venetian lace of the same period. French laces of the XVIII century are represented by characteristic examples of Point d'Alencon and Point d'Argentan needlepoint and of old Valenciennes bobbin lace. Flemish laces may be studied in typical examples of Mechlin, Point d'Angleterre, Application, etc. These exquisite fabrics of France and Flanders have never been surpa.s.sed in beauty of design and skilful workmanship. The delicate meshes seem at times almost miraculous-as if they owed their origin to Jack Frost rather than to human hands. To show the fineness of the thread used in making the characteristic hexagonal mesh of Point d'Argentan, it may be stated that on an average one side of the hexagon measures only 1-16 of an inch. On each of these sides there are usually 10 st.i.tches. This makes 160 st.i.tches to the inch-which means more, perhaps, when we realize that in the finest machine sewing there are usually 32 st.i.tches to the inch. The collection also includes XIX century and modern examples of Belgian, English and American lace.

[Lace, Needlepoint, Point d'Argentan, French, XVIII Century Lace, Needlepoint, Point d'Alencon, French, XVIII Century Lace, Needlepoint, Rosepoint, Venetian, Early XVIII Century Bobbin Lace, Point d'Angleterre, Flemish, XVIII Century]

Lace, Needlepoint, Point d'Argentan, French, XVIII Century Lace, Needlepoint, Point d'Alencon, French, XVIII Century Lace, Needlepoint, Rosepoint, Venetian, Early XVIII Century Bobbin Lace, Point d'Angleterre, Flemish, XVIII Century

[Chair, Pearwood Venetian. Early XVIII Century]

Chair, Pearwood Venetian. Early XVIII Century

The hectic magnificence of life in XVIII century Venice finds its reflection, naturally enough, in the decorative arts of the time.

Furniture less ornate than the lavishly carved chair ill.u.s.trated on this page would have seemed out of place in the great gilded salons where human peac.o.c.ks strutted in the bravery of brocade and rustling silk. As a general rule, Italian furniture of the Rococo Age is easily recognized by its prodigal indulgence in the spices, so to speak, of furniture designing. Rarely is a piece of Italian furniture of the elaborate character of this pearwood chair so successful in combining an almost excessive richness of carving with a fine feeling for proportions and harmonious ensemble. Indeed, it is not impossible that the chair is the work of a cabinet maker who may have come from France to Venice in the suite of some great n.o.bleman.

Of the master craftsmen of England in the XVIII century none has achieved greater renown than Thomas Chippendale (1709-1779). Through the publication of his book of furniture designs in 1754 (later editions in 1759 and 1762) as well as by the example of his own cabinet work, he exerted a widespread influence. His various styles were imitated not only in England, but also in the American colonies. Consequently, not every "Chippendale" piece is from the master's hands; on the contrary, well authenticated furniture by Chippendale himself, or by his own workmen, are great rarities. It is customary, however, to designate as "Chippendale"

the work of his contemporaries and imitators who copied the styles which the master had popularized.

[Tripod Table with Top Tilted Back]

Tripod Table with Top Tilted Back

[Tripod Table, Mahogany, English, about 1760-1765]

Tripod Table, Mahogany, English, about 1760-1765