The Standard Galleries - Holland Part 15

=His Favorite Subjects.=--Though as a rule he preferred the luxury and elegance of high life, with its marbles and richly carved furniture, upholstery and tapestry, jewels and laces, silks and satins, velvets and furs, he also sometimes chose models of humble estate. The Rehearsal is a masterpiece in this cla.s.s. Here a man is playing a violin while a boy is singing and a woman preparing dinner. The other example of his art is quite in contrast with the above. It is called The Rich Man, and on it Slingelandt has lavished all the resources of his brush. Blanc says:

"He painted the merchant at his counter and the lacemaker at her distaff, the housekeeper purchasing partridges or getting dinner ready, and the woman of the people occupied in sewing beside the cradle in which her infant is sleeping. From the richly furnished salon Slingelandt descended to the scullery and took pleasure in looking at the rows of shining pots and pans, and other kitchen utensils. He observed the correct tone of the servant's ap.r.o.n as well as that of the silken skirt he had painted in her mistress's portrait.

He devoted as much attention to imitating the polish of a bra.s.s vase or the rough varnish of an earthenware pot, as to expressing the transparency of a Bohemian gla.s.s. Cats and mice were also honored with his precious painting, as well as parrots and spaniels. But what he rendered with most love and with unequalled truth was the musical instrument. His violins are light, and sonorous; his violoncellos provoke the virtuoso and enchant the ear almost as much as the eye.

One would say that nothing escaped his observation, nothing of what const.i.tuted private and family life, that which he himself lived in obscurity, the simplicity and joys of which he painted with so much application, finish, and patience."

=Adriaen de Vois.=--Arie (or Adriaen) de Vois (about 1630-80) studied first under Nicholas Knupfer in Utrecht, next with Abraham van den Tempel, and lastly with Pieter van Slingelandt, whose highly finished style he followed with great success. He painted charming scenes of familiar life, lovely portraits, interiors, and even landscapes, in which he introduced, in the style of Poelenburg, tiny nude figures. The Dutch collectors have always prized them for the delicacy of their color and touch and vivacity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A. DE VOIS Lady and Parrot]

=Description of The Lady with a Parrot.=--In his Lady with a Parrot, the lady is rather French in type, and dressed in the most fashionable style of the period. Her earrings are wonderfully painted and perhaps even more realistic are the fruits in the basket which she holds on her knee, and from which she offers her parrot a tempting treat. Every detail of this picture is perfect in treatment--the dress, the hair, the face, the jewels, the still life, and the brilliant feathers of the bird.

=His Other Pictures in the Rijks.=--In addition to this beautiful picture the Rijks also owns The Fisherman Smoking, a little oval panel; A Violin Player, who holds a winegla.s.s; and The Fish-Vender, a jolly old fisherman with a gla.s.s of beer in his hand.

=Seven Pictures by Brekelenkam.=--Quieringh Gerritsz van Brekelenkam (?-1668) was a pupil of Gerrit Dou; and his own manner was a mixture of Dou and Rembrandt. He settled in Leyden in 1648. His works, representing, as a rule, interiors, with figures noted for the natural expression of their heads, are highly esteemed. His touch is light and spirited, and he understands the art of chiaroscuro. The Rijks owns seven pictures: Two Interiors, The Fireside (1664), The Mouse Trap (1660), Confidences (1661), Reading, and A Mother and Child. The latter is a little oval panel, in which a woman in a red skirt and black jacket is giving some porridge to her child.

One of the Interiors, representing A Tailor's Shop, is one of his best works. The tailor, with long hair and fur cap, is seated at a work-table on the right; he is talking to a woman who is carrying a tin bucket. On the right, near the window, you see the back of a young workman. In the background hangs a picture, and there are some clothes on a board. The work is somewhat in the style of Pieter de Hooch.

=His Poverty of Imagination.=--Brekelenkam has been accused of poverty of imagination because of the paucity of figures in his compositions; and yet some of the most beautiful and famous pictures of the Little Masters consist of single figures, such as a woman sitting spinning. One critic complains:

"Notwithstanding his ability (his method is preferable to Dou's; his painting is more unctuous, warmer, and freer, being finely accented with lifelike touches on the various utensils or accessories of his interiors), it seems that this painter was not endowed with a very fertile imagination. He has a very slight taste for difficult subjects, and carefully avoids complicated compositions; most often, indeed, a single personage suffices him for a picture. A smoker lighting his pipe, an old woman sitting in the chimney corner, a philosopher turning over the leaves of a folio volume, the interior of a farm, or a kitchen,--these are Brekelenkam's ordinary motives. But feeling and intellect give relief to these vulgar themes, and render the delicate works of this too-little-known painter precious to art-lovers."

The student will be able to judge from the pictures in the Rijks whether or no the artist deserves more or less than this half-hearted praise.

=Ter Borch's Famous Paternal Advice.=--Ter Borch, as we have seen by The Message or Despatch in the Mauritshuis, was fond of painting pictures with some slight dramatic connection. Here we find the very famous Paternal Advice, also called The Paternal Reproof, but better known as The Satin Dress (_Robe de Satin_).

A young lady is standing with her back to the spectator. She wears a black cape and a white satin dress, and her hair is blond. The table-cloth, bed curtains, and other hangings are red. On the table at the left are a silver candlestick, two combs, and a pink string, and a mirror or perhaps a picture in a frame. On the right is seated a rather young man with long hair, and richly and somewhat extravagantly dressed in lilac and gray. In one hand he holds a large hat trimmed with three immense blue and lemon-colored plumes. His sword is by his side, and behind him in the shadows stands his greyhound. His left hand is raised with some gesture, probably of admiration, as his face is smiling. The old woman at his side is interested solely in her gla.s.s, through which half of her face is seen as she is drinking.

It was Goethe who bestowed the name Paternal Advice upon this picture, the story of which is not yet known; but although critics have accepted fatherly admonition as the theme, the relative ages of the characters do not justify the theory.

=Blanc's Critique of the Picture.=--Blanc is one who does not question this. He exclaims:

"Truly this dress is perfect: it is so close to the eye and within reach of the hand that it engrosses the entire attention of the spectator. One would say that the young girl, so gently reprimanded by her father, has come there merely for the sake of showing her dress; and, indeed, the painter has dwelt on this detail with the greatest affection, and, moreover, has hidden the face of the young girl, and shown us only the back of her head with its blond coil and the escaping tresses, in which are mingled some black velvet, which relieves the ash-colored tone of the hair. What a singular thing! A frightful sacrifice of a woman's head to a robe of satin, the unheard-of triumph of an accessory--a charming infraction against all the principles of art--we might call it a colossal fault--but a privilege only allowed to great artists. The painter has by this aroused our curiosity regarding the face of the young girl, who has turned away her head, and so we have to imagine her blushing cheeks and her lowered eyelids. As for the father, he is remonstrating with her so tenderly, with such a gentle gesture and so paternal a manner that we are not disturbed by it, and can therefore fix our glance on the magnificent satin dress, the folds of which are so beautifully broken by the light, and in which all the interest of the picture is concentrated. But what an inexplicable att.i.tude is that of the mother, who is slowly drinking a gla.s.s of fine wine, while her husband lectures their daughter."

=Other Pictures by Ter Borch in the Rijks.=--The Rijks owns a Portrait of Ter Borch, painted by himself, and one of his wife, Geertruida Matthyssen; a copy of The Peace of Munster (original in the National Gallery), and a copy of his Boy and a Dog, also known as The Scholar.

=Description of The Scholar.=--The latter shows a table covered with an old gray carpet, on which is a copy-book and an inkstand. The scholar, who instead of writing his exercise is busy catching fleas on the dog, which he holds between his knees, wears a violet coat and blue stockings, and his gray hat lies on a little wooden bench before him.

The whole is of a neutral color, but very clear.

=Seven Pictures by Adriaen van Ostade.=--Adriaen van Ostade has seven pictures on these walls: An Artist's Studio, Travellers' Halt (1671), The Charlatan (1648), The Baker, The Merry Peasant, The Intimate Company (1642), Confidences (1642).

=His Artist's Studio.=--An Artist's Studio, of which there is a replica dated 1666 in the Dresden Gallery, shows a painter sitting at an easel with his back to the spectator; he wears a violet coat and a red cap.

The other features of the composition are a black dog asleep, an a.s.sistant grinding colors in a corner, and a pupil preparing a palette.

The artist is supposed to be Ostade himself in both instances; but for some reason his face is half hidden. The play of light and shadow in the apartment is noticeably Rembrandtesque in character.

=A Tavern Interior.=--There are two tavern interiors here. In one (dated 1661) five peasants are grouped in the foreground. Before a large chimney stands a man in a blue vest and gray hat, holding a mug in his hand; opposite is a man in a blue mantle and a white hat, who is filling his pipe; in the chimney corner an old man is dreaming; and to his right an old woman is listening to what a man in a furred cap, with a pipe in his hand, is saying to the man before the fire. On the extreme right a little girl, on a wooden stool before a rustic table, is eating her soup and amusing herself with a little black-and-white dog. In the background, near the open window, five men are grouped around a table, smoking, drinking, and talking. The lights on the separate groups from the back and side windows are ably managed.

=Ostade's Best Period.=--The Charlatan, dated 1648, belongs to the master's best period, when he painted such gems as The Barn, The Family, and The Father of the Family.

The Intimate Company, signed 1642, is in the Van der Hoop Collection, as is also a rustic interior, _Societe de campagnards_, signed 1661. The latter has pa.s.sed through the Lormier, Choiseul, Du Barry, Tolozon, and d.u.c.h.esse de Berry collections.

=Some of his Pupils.=--Among Adriaen's many pupils may be mentioned Cornelis Dusart, Cornelis Bega, Michiel van Musscher, R. Brakenburgh, and Jan de Groot. They all followed his style more or less closely.

When Jan Steen visited Haarlem he also fell under his influence.

=Isaak van Ostade.=--Isaak van Ostade (1621-49) has two rustic inns, one signed and dated 1643, that are typical of his style. In his early work he imitated his brother and teacher with some success, both in subject and treatment, especially wayside hostelries. His pictures, however, are browner in tone and harder in execution than Adriaen's. In one picture here we see two travellers with a white horse halting in front of an inn. The composition is delightful and full of nature and spirit.

=C. Dusart, Better in some Respects than his Master.=--Cornelis Dusart (1660-1704) adopted his master's (Ostade) style without servile imitation. He was a minute observer of details and had an astonishing memory that enabled him to use them to the best advantage in his interiors. His choice and treatment of scenes were rather more distinguished and less vulgar than some of his master's. His later pictures are inferior to his early ones: they lack spontaneity of conception, and that freshness and simplicity of impression that mark so many of his works. Five striking pictures worthily represent his abilities,--Wandering Musicians, The Fish Market (1683), The Village Kermesse, A Village Inn, and Maternal Happiness.

=Cornelis Bega.=--Cornelis Bega (1620-64), another pupil of Adriaen van Ostade, copied and improved upon him. A Concert of Peasants is full of color, light, movement, life, and gayety, with music, singing, and dancing. It is warmer in color than most of his works.

The Grace before the Meal (1663) shows a young woman with folded hands seated at the table, and on the other side an old man. On the window-sill is a flower-pot; in front, on the floor, a foot-warmer. This is a good picture, but a little too red in tone, as often happens with Bega.

=M. van Musscher's Lack of Originality.=--Michiel van Musscher (1645-1705) was completely lacking in individuality: he simply mirrored his successive masters, Martin Zaagmorlen, Abraham van den Tempel, Gabriel Metsu, and Adriaen van Ostade. Not only that, but he sometimes painted also in the style of Jan Steen, and even imitated the marvellous chiaroscuro of Pieter de Hooch. Sometimes also in subject and treatment his work resembles that of Netscher and Albert Cuijp. He has five portraits here, but is not represented by an example of his many interiors, feasts, or scenes of peasant or genteel life.

=Brakenburgh, a Clever Colorist.=--Richard Brakenburgh (1650-1702), a pupil of A. van Ostade, Hendrick Mommers, and probably Jan Steen, whom he imitated, lived in Haarlem. He also studied with B. Schendel, and became a clever painter and very able in the management of chiaroscuro.

He is fond of merrymakings, drunken a.s.semblies, doctors' visits, and children's feasts. He sometimes painted the figures in the landscapes of P. de Koninck and others. In his best works, some competent critics consider him worthy to rank with Ostade in the brilliance of his color, although it is always inferior in transparency. In form and modelling his subjects suffer by comparison with those of his master. The Rijks owns a jovial tavern scene, and The Feast of St. Nicholas, signed and dated 1665, which the student will be interested in comparing with Jan Steen's treatment of the same subject.

=Several Periods in the Career of D. Teniers the Younger.=--David Teniers the Younger (1610-90) has seven pictures here that ill.u.s.trate his various styles. As with most other artists who reached old age, critics recognize several periods in the career of Teniers. At first, his figures, from twelve to eighteen inches high, are broadly painted in brownish and somewhat heavy tones. Toward 1640 his color becomes clearer and more luminous and golden. From 1640 to 1660 it a.s.sumes silvery tones of admirable lightness and limpidity; and, at the same time, his execution grows more careful and precise. The pictures of this last period are held in highest esteem. After that Teniers returned to a gamut of golden tones, in which he sometimes displayed great power. At the close of his life he became heavy and brownish in tone, and his touch lost some of its clearness. Not many of his pictures are dated.

The earliest known date is 1641, on Our Corps de Garde, a medium-sized picture of no special interest, in which we note numerous military attributes. This is far inferior to a similar picture, now in St.

Petersburg, painted two years later.

=His Relish for Pictures of the Supernatural.=--The Temptation of St.

Anthony is one of many pictures he painted in his relish for the cla.s.s of subjects painted two centuries earlier by Jerome Bosch--Dives in h.e.l.l, incantations, witches, phantasmagoria, etc.--for the simple purpose of a.s.sembling the most hideous and grotesque apparitions imaginable.

=His Pictures of other Kinds.=--The other pictures here are devoted to his villagers, drinking, playing bowls, dancing, singing, and fighting.

A Landscape, with a rustic house, shows a gardener standing, spade in hand, talking to a woman with a child on her lap. On the left, on the ground, are some vegetables, also pots and other household utensils.

=Peter Balten.=--Peter Balten (fl. 1540-71) is represented by a large picture, St. Martin's Fair. His figures are full of spirit, and his touch is sure. Little is known of him except that he was one of the greatest wits of his day. He studied under Pierre Brueghel, whom he resembles in style.

=B. van Ba.s.sen.=--A contemporary of his was Bartholomeus van Ba.s.sen (d.

1652), who has a fine Interior with figures supplied by Esais van de Velde. His specialty was portraits, with studies of perspective, and church and other interiors.

=Three Pictures by Hendrick Bloemaert.=--Hendrick Bloemaert (1601-72) was probably the son of Abraham. The Rijks has three of his pictures, signed and dated: Winter (1631), Portrait of Johannes Puttkamer (1671), and The Eggseller (1632). The latter is in the Van der Hoop Room.

=Three Popular Artists.=--Jan van der Meer the Younger (1656-1705) is represented by a charming picture, The Sleeping Shepherd, dated 1678.

Frans van Mieris the Elder is represented by The Letter, The Lute Player, Jacob's Dream, The Lost Bird, and Fragility. His son, Willem van Mieris, is represented by The Poulterer (1733), A Landscape with Shepherds and Shepherdesses (1722), and a Lady and a Gentleman.

[Ill.u.s.tration: F. VAN MIERIS Grocer's Shop]

=The Grocer's Shop by F. van Mieris the Younger.=--Willem's son and pupil, Frans van Mieris the Younger (1689-1763), who carried on the family traditions in Leyden, although somewhat inferior to his father and grandfather, is represented by A Hermit (1721), A Chemist's Shop (1714), and The Grocer's Shop (1715). This latter picture presents an interesting scene of the day. Note the beautiful painting of the sculptured bas-relief of the counter, at which stand the purchasers--an old woman and a child. The shopkeeper holds scales and two baskets, about the contents of which there seems to be some contention. In the shop there is a larder, on the shelves of which various articles are seen; baskets hang on the wall; and tubs, barrels, and casks are also visible. Over the shop has grown a grape-vine, and its graceful festoons of leaves make a beautiful effect.

=Several of Karel Dujardin's Pictures.=--Karel Dujardin may also be studied by his Portrait of a Man; Portrait of Gerard Reinst, a celebrated art collector of Amsterdam and also a patron of the painter; The Muleteers; The Laborer on his Farm (1655), in which a peasant is seen winnowing corn; A Trumpeter on Horseback; a Portrait of Himself (1660); an Italian Landscape with Animals; and a Landscape, which was purchased at the d.u.c.h.esse de Berry's sale in 1837 for 4,000 florins.

=Burger on A Woman Reading.=--"Again the sphinx! Here we have an interior with a woman standing in profile to the left. She is reading a letter; she wears a light blue jacket and a grayish-blue skirt.

Before her are a table and a chair with a blue back. Behind her is another blue chair. Decidedly Van der Meer has an affection for the blue sky. The wall of the background is a pale moonlight blue, and the woman's figure stands out against a geographical map a little tinted with _bistre_, which hangs on the wall.

"The execution of this picture is very delicate, indeed almost trivial: the paint is laid on very lightly, the color is weak and even a little dry. It is true that this picture is a little rubbed. On the contrary, Van de Meer's touch was frank and the _pate gra.s.se_ abundant, even somewhat exaggerated in the View of Delft at The Hague; there is an incomparable firmness of design and modelling in The Milkmaid in the Six Gallery; and in the Facade of a Dutch House in the same gallery, the color is extremely warm and harmonious. These differences of practice make us hesitate for a time regarding the parentage of The Woman Reading in the Van der Hoop Collection.

However, the physiognomy of this woman is of an exquisite delicacy; her bare arms and the hand that holds the paper are marvellously drawn.... This pale light and these delicate blues betray Van der _Meer_. This artist probably had several styles.