The Standard Galleries - Holland Part 14

"The pelican on the left is particularly remarkable; but the ducks do no less credit to this artist, who has expressed with such penetration the life of the feathered world, the movements of these creatures, I should indeed say their expression; and he has rendered their physiognomy and character with such profound truth that no other artist can approach Hondecoeter in this respect."

The Philosophical Magpie, the Country House, and, better still, the modest frame in which the artist, putting aside for a moment his usual style, has brought together lizards, b.u.t.terflies, and sparrows amid shrubs and large-leaved plants, are Hondecoeters of the most admirable quality, whether in frankness of detail, or for the mastery of execution and accent of color.

=a.s.selijn's Allegorical Bird Picture.=--The curious Allegory of the Vigilance of the Grand Pensionary John de Witt by Jan a.s.selijn is a bird picture. Here a great white swan is defending her nest against the attack of a black dog swimming rapidly toward it. Beneath the swan is the Dutch legend The Grand Pensionary; on the eggs, Holland; and under the dog, The Enemy of the State (intended for England). The feather lost by the bird is beautifully painted, and has challenged comparison with Hondecoeter's Floating Feather.

[Ill.u.s.tration: a.s.sELIJN The Swan]

=Eckhout.=--G. van der Eckhout (1621-74) has a Huntsman with Two Greyhounds, painted about 1670. The huntsman, wearing a red vest, is seated on the grayish earth. The general tone of the picture is chocolate or chestnut.

=Jan Vonck.=--Jan Vonck (1630-?), another painter who devoted himself princ.i.p.ally to still life, especially dead birds, sometimes was responsible for the birds in Ruisdael's pictures. His brush work is that of a master; his color is strong and agreeable with a transparent touch.

The Rijks owns one example, Dead Birds.

=Jan Weenix.=--Jan Weenix (1640-1719) was the pupil of his celebrated father during the latter's lifetime; and later he studied still life under his uncle G. Hondecoeter, Elias Vonck (brother of Jan), and Matthys Bloem. He surpa.s.sed his father in his pictures of dead game, one of which hangs in this gallery. His animals--swans, hares, and various birds, arranged with flowers and fruits around sumptuous antique vases--are not so strong in character as those in Hondecoeter's works; but they are very true to nature and have the great charm of harmony and picturesqueness. They richly deserve their original popularity which their wonderful finish and execution have preserved till the present day.

=Coninck a Good Animal-painter.=--David de Coninck (1636-87), who had many affinities with Fyt, also painted landscapes, animals, and birds.

He received the nickname Ramelaer from his fondness for painting rabbits especially. He was quite at home in hunting scenes, two of which are in the Rijks,--The Bear Hunt and The Stag Hunt.

Another painter of this period, Pieter Jan Ruijven (1651-1716), has a fine picture of a c.o.c.k and hens.

=Bosch, an Early Painter of Flowers.=--One of the early Dutch painters of flowers was L. J. van den Bosch (?-1517), who painted with a transparent color and a light touch. He treated fruits, flowers, and insects with sympathy and truth. He often represented flowers in vases; his insects are so minute that they have to be examined with a magnifying gla.s.s.

=Delff's Poultry Seller.=--Pictures of this school, however, do not abound in the Dutch galleries till we come to the artists who lived a century later. The first of these who appears in the Rijks is Cornelis Jacobsz Delff (1571-1643), a pupil of Cornelis Cornelisz. Delff was renowned for his pictures of still life. He is represented in the Rijks by The Poultry Seller.

=Other Still-life Painters in this Gallery.=--Other still-life painters born in the sixteenth century, who are represented in this gallery, are Ambrosius Bosschaert (1570-?), Pieter Noort (1592-1650), Pieter Symonsz Potter (1597-1652), Adriaen van Utrecht (1599-1652), and Hans Boulengier (1600-45). Bosschaert has a picture, Flowers, dated 1619. He had a son of the same name who also painted flowers.

Of Pieter Noort little is known beyond the fact that he painted still life, and especially Fish, as in the two pictures here signed P. van Noort.

P. S. Potter painted on gla.s.s and was the manager of a gilded leather establishment at Amsterdam. His model was Hals. Besides portraits and landscapes, his preference was for still life. The Straw Cutter and Still Life (signed and dated 1646) are worthy of attention.

=Two Pictures by Heem of Utrecht.=--Jan Davidsz de Heem (1606-84) of Utrecht was a son of David de Heem, so famous for his _dejeuners_ spread with game, oysters, lobsters, fruits, wine, china, gla.s.s, and silver. Jan inherited his father's tastes, and much of his talent, as is evidenced by two pictures in the Rijks. One shows flowers and fruits of natural size; and the other represents a table on which are a cup, a gla.s.s, and a vase of wrought silver loaded with fruits.

=Greville on his Style.=--"At Antwerp, under Seghers, he enriched his palette and learned the art of composing a delicious harmony by setting flowers and fruits and gla.s.s and silver vases on an Oriental table-cloth. To the most minute exact.i.tude and almost microscopic details, he added the most brilliant coloring and an unfailing taste in the arrangement of his flowers and still life."

=Pieter de Ring.=--A picture of a table covered with blue velvet and spread with lobsters, oysters, bread, fruit, etc., is typical of the work of Pieter de Ring (1615-60), one of De Heem's pupils, a Fleming, who spent his whole life in Holland, and was noted for his picturesque arrangement and fine execution.

Hans Boulengier has a flower piece signed 1625. He painted still life, _genre_, and sometimes "fantasmagories." Little is known about him.

=Still-life Painters in the Latter Half of the Seventeenth Century.=--A generation later this school was in full blossom. Pictures of fruits, flowers, and dead game, by artists who flourished in the second half of the seventeenth century, are fairly plentiful.

Abraham Hendricksz van Beyeren (1620-74) painted with fine composition and strong color breakfast pictures in the style of David de Heem, and delighted in portraying fish as in the Rijks example.

Cornelis Brise (1622-7-) painted portraits; this gallery possesses one of his pictures of flowers, signed C. Brise, 1665. On the wall beside it hangs another flower piece by the brush of Elias van Broeck (?-1708).

=De Snuffelaer.=--Otto Ma.r.s.eus van Schrieck (1619-78) was nicknamed De Snuffelaer (the ferreter), by the Dutch art colony in Rome, because of his frequent country walks to discover new plants, insects, and reptiles as models for his compositions. He painted with wonderful finish, good drawing, and truth to nature, as may be seen in his Insects, Lizards, etc., here signed O. M. V. S.

Jacob Marrel (1614-81) has a flower piece signed and dated 1634. Among other masters in Utrecht, Frankfort, Brussels, and Antwerp, he studied with J. D. de Heem.

=Kalff, a Good Painter and a Brilliant Talker.=--Willem Kalff (1622-93) was the pupil of Henry Pot, and as soon as he left the master he abandoned his manner, choosing for his subjects vegetables, fruits, kitchen utensils, and sometimes handsome vases. Houbraken says he spent whole days before a lemon, a beautiful orange, and the agate or mother-of-pearl handle of a dessert-knife; and the vessels of Holland never brought home a single sh.e.l.l, the strange form and splendid colors of which he did not copy.

Unlike many of the Dutch painters of his day, who spent most of their time in the tavern, Kalff was a man of charming and distinguished manner and a brilliant talker, and he possessed a witty and cultivated mind.

His friends would spend the entire night listening to his conversation, and when he died from an accidental fall from the bridge at Bantem, the poet Willem van der Hoeven wrote a eulogy in which he said that Willem Kalff "knew how to paint golden vases and silver cups and all the treasures of opulence, but no treasures could outweigh his merit, for he had no equal in his line."

=His Favorite Subjects.=--The kitchen with Kalff became a heroic subject, and over it he threw the most subtle effects of chiaroscuro, throwing a gleam of light upon a well, a scoured saucepan, or a bunch of vegetables. Who is the hero or heroine of the scene? A fine cauldron or saucepan or kettle shining with a thousand reflected lights that come through a window of thick gla.s.s or yellow paper. An old cask stands by, interesting us with all its details of decay,--its swollen staves, its rusted hoops, and the insects that lodge in the rotten wood. A big nail, an earthen pot, a skimmer, a few onions with their shining skins, a broom, a jug of water, and a towel lying on a barrel,--with such simple things he makes a beautiful picture. Perhaps in the background the cook and her dog are discerned. Kalff never allows figures to become too prominent, for he wishes his still life to catch and hold the spectator's interest.

The picture by this artist in the Rijks has for its subject a silver vase, of elegant form, and a porcelain dish filled with oranges and lemons. The objects are tastefully arranged and beautifully painted.

=Some other Painters of Animals and Fruits.=--Anthonie Leemans (1630-8-) has also a characteristic picture of still life; he was fond of painting dead birds. Another picture of dead birds is by Willem G. Fergusson (1632-9-), a Scotchman, who hired a house at The Hague in 1660, and another in 1668; he was living in Amsterdam in 1681. The picture is dated 1662. A Garland of Fruits is signed J. Borman, who flourished in Leyden in 1657 and 1658; but about him little is known. Another notable canvas belonging to this school is Animals, Insects, and Fruits, by Anthony van Borssom (1629-77), who was probably a pupil, and certainly an admirer of Rembrandt; his tones are somewhat sombre, but his drawing is vigorous and full of interest. R. van der Burgh (fl. 1680) has a lifelike painting of Sea Fish; and Karel Batist is a little-known flower-painter, who worked in Amsterdam in 1659; his canvas is unusually large for this _genre_, though the student will have noticed that most of the artists of this period liked to paint their flowers and fruits natural size.

Pieter Claes van Haerlem (d. 1660) has a small picture of still life which bears the false signature, Johan de Heem, 1640; and Jan van Kessel (1626-79) has a much smaller one of Fruits and Insects. Another picture by the latter, representing a woman seated at a table with fruits, etc., on it, is falsely attributed to Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-78), who was called "the marvel of her century." Her great reputation probably prompted some dealer to attempt the fraud. None of the princ.i.p.al galleries of Europe possesses any examples of her pictures, insects, etc., so celebrated during her lifetime.

Another picture of Flowers, dated 1667, is by Nicolaes Lachtropius, who was a famous Dutch painter of coach panels during the second half of the seventeenth century. A contemporary German painter, Ottomar Elliger (1633-79), also has a flower piece, dated 1674.

=Mignon, a First-cla.s.s Flower-painter.=--Abraham Mignon (1640-79) was a pupil of J. D. de Heem. He had as pupils in the same style, two daughters and M. S. Merian. He belongs to the first rank of flower-painters. Peries says:

"The qualities which distinguish the works of Mignon are freshness, delicacy of tone, finish, the splendor of the reflections, and the perfect imitation of nature. His flowers are selected with taste and he perfectly well understands the art of giving them their full value.

He equally excels in painting insects, flies, and b.u.t.terflies, and the dewdrops trembling on the leaves; the velvety skin of his fruits invites the touch of the fingers. His only fault is perhaps a dryness in his draughtsmanship."

=Some of his Pictures.=--His masterpiece, _Mignon au Chat_, showing a Persian cat upsetting a vase of flowers on a marble table, is in the Rijks. Another picture here is Fruits, representing a dish with grapes and pomegranates, besides oysters and white bread. In composition, warmth, harmony, and truth to nature this belongs to his best work.

Inferior to this is Flowers, where flowers appear in a vase, and a cat and a mouse-trap are also represented. Still Life and Fruits shows a marble table, on which are fruits and flowers, a boiled lobster and an antique vase, a picture that approaches his master Jan de Heem in harmony and softness of touch.

=How Jan van Huysum became a Great Fruit and Flower painter.=--Jan van Huysum was the son of a flower-painter who had turned his house into a sort of factory where everything contributing to the decoration of rooms and gardens could be found. Jan, who was placed at the head of the enterprise, grew tired of the business side and devoted himself to art, especially the works of Mignon, Verelst, and David de Heem. He also closely studied nature, and seeing a whole world unfold itself in the study of flowers alone, he explored the furthest recesses of his domain; birds, b.u.t.terflies, beetles, wasps, bees,--he forgot none of the satellites of the flowers. Being also surrounded with examples of all the exterior and interior art decorations of the day, he was able to copy the marble consoles that served as supports for his baskets, the earthenware bowls and vases in which he kept his bouquets fresh, and the bas-reliefs that set off the flowers in those vases, and the mascarons and chimaeras that formed the handles. It may be said of him as a French critic said of Baptiste: "His beautiful flowers lacked only the perfume that they seemed to exhale." Reynolds must also have been thinking of Huysum's effects when he said that Rubens's pictures were "bouquets of colors." Huysum's fruits have received some criticism: some critics hold that he has given them the look of wax and the polish of ivory. In this branch of his art, he perhaps falls short of David de Heem. His peaches are too firm, his plums not provocative of thirst, and his grapes leave a little more ripeness, gold, and sun to be desired. He succeeded better with red gooseberries and the cleft pomegranates with their pulp and seeds sparkling like rubies and delightful to the eye. The Rijks Museum has five pictures by this master in which his qualities as a fruit and flower painter are fully displayed.

=His Landscapes.=--A small landscape is also here. Formerly Huysum's landscapes were as highly prized and as costly as his flower pieces.

However, his works in this field are echoes merely of Guaspre, Glauber, Poussin, and Claude; he lived in an age when the Dutch again bowed down before foreign idols. The familiar Dutch pastures were now peopled with nymphs and demiG.o.ds.

=Conrad Roepel.=--Conrad Roepel (1678-1748) was famous for his flowers, fruits, festoons, garlands, birds, and insects. He painted with much truth and good color. He studied under C. Netscher; but later he took Huysum for his model. The Rijks has a picture of Flowers and another of Fruits by him, both signed and dated 1721.

=The Van Os Family.=--Jan van Os (1744-1808) was greatly admired in his day as a painter of marines, landscapes, and more particularly flowers and fruits. There is one of the latter here. His son and pupil, Georgius Jacobus Johannes (1782-1861), was equally famous as a painter of flowers and game. He is represented here by four pictures, one of which is a landscape, the animals of which are painted by his brother Peter Gerhardus (1776-1839). The latter painted chiefly military and hunting scenes, landscapes, and animals. Nine canvases exhibit his qualities in this gallery. His sister Marie Margrita van Os (1780-1862) was, like her brothers, a pupil of Jan van Os; she has a Still Life in the Rijks.

=Eight of Gerrit Dou's Pictures.=--Gerrit Dou is represented by eight works including the famous Evening School which in 1808 was sold for 17,500 florins. The others are his own Portrait; the Portrait of a Man, dated 1646; Portraits of a Gentleman and his Wife, in a landscape painted by Nicholas Berchem; _La Curieuse_, a small oval picture of a girl with a lamp in her hand; a Hermit in Prayer in a Grotto; a Hermit, dated 1664; and A Fisherwoman.

=Description of The Evening School.=--The Evening School is the most important of all Dou's candle-light pictures. The composition is very simple. A looped curtain is lifted to reveal a room poorly furnished with benches and tables. The schoolmaster, who sits at a table with his arm on a small desk, is hearing a girl spell, and shaking his finger at a boy who is walking away. This group is lighted by a candle that stands on the table near an hour-gla.s.s. In the background a small group is seen at a table also lighted by a candle. On the left of the teacher a boy is making calculations on a slate, while a girl by his side looks on, holding a lighted candle in her hand. A fourth light--from a large lantern on the floor--adds another artificial light for the painter to treat. This great work is painted on a panel 1 foot 8 inches high by 1 foot 3 inches long.

=The Fisherman's Wife.=--The Fisherman's Wife, painted in 1653, shows an old woman in a black gown with yellow sleeves and a man's round hat. She is holding a reel.

=Description of The Hermit.=--The Hermit is one of the most marvellously finished works of the master in his most minute style. You can count the wrinkles and hairs of the old white-bearded man who holds a crucifix in his hands. An open book, an hour-gla.s.s, a can, and a basket (for bread and wine or water) and other accessories are painted in miniature; on the right is seen the trunk of a tree, and in the far distance are some arcades, probably cloisters. The tiny panel is only ten by eight inches.

=Schalcken, Imitator of Dou and Rembrandt.=--G.o.dfried Schalcken was the pupil of Hoogstraten, and of Dou, whom he skilfully imitated. The sight of some of Rembrandt's pictures next led him to devote himself to the effects of light, artificial light especially: the majority of his pictures therefore are illuminated by lamp or candle light. His most remarkable work is at Amsterdam. It is called Young Girl Lighting a Lantern. At the Revolution, he accompanied William III. to England, and painted portraits of that king, one of which, signed with the artist's name and dated 1699, is in The Hague Gallery. Among his best pictures is the Boy Eating an Egg, in the Rijks Museum.

=His Portrait of William III.=--The half-length portrait of William III.

in the same gallery, in which there is a remarkable play of light, shows that this master who delighted in the composition of small subjects borrowed from common life, was equally capable of painting pictures of natural size.

Schalcken's chief merit consists in the neatness of his finishing and the perfect intelligence of his chiaroscuro. His touch is mellow, but too fused, and his color warm and golden.

=His Other Pictures.=--The other pictures here are A Young Man Smoking; Difference in Taste, in which two men are talking, while another lights his pipe; and two Female Portraits, one of an amba.s.sador's daughter, and the other her companion.

=Slingelandt, Another Imitator of Dou.=--Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt (1640-91) is another pupil and a close imitator of Dou; and almost surpa.s.ses him in laborious execution. He reached the limits of what can be done by a painter in oils. All his work seems to have been done under the impression that imitation is the sole end of art.

=His Skill in Delicately Minute Painting.=--Naturally he excelled in still-life painting, in which nothing was too minute for him to endeavor to reproduce on his canvas. His brush indicates the weft of the most delicate tissues; the coloring matter, almost microscopically divided, gives a tone to every st.i.tch in a linen hood or cap, or a knitted stocking. On a panel of the smallest size you can sometimes distinguish the shadow, half tone, and high light of each of the pearls in a necklace; sometimes also a cat's whiskers, and even the hairs on the skin of a mouse. Sometimes a piece of lace is rendered with such labor that it took more time to paint than to make. The consequence is that his pictures are very scarce: not fifty are known.