Dutch art of the 17th century. During this era, a bourgeois revolution took place in Holland. It led to a change in worldview and social structure. Dutch painting The variety of genres of Dutch painting of the 17th century briefly

04.08.2020

Plan:

1. General situation of painting at the beginning of the 17th century

2. Portraiture. Frans Hals

3. Landscapes. Jan van Goyen

4. Still life. Peter Claes and Willem Heda

5. Genre painting

1. General situation of painting at the beginning of the 17th century

Deprived of such powerful customers as the court, the nobility and the church, Dutch painters mainly worked for sale - they often sold their paintings at fairs, and their works were purchased by merchants and manufactory owners, artisans and wealthy peasants.

The paintings were painted in a small format, taking into account the modest-sized interiors of Dutch houses. Easel painting became the favorite art of the Dutch, as it was capable of reflecting reality with great reliability and diversity. The Dutch wanted to see in their paintings what was familiar to them - the nature of their country, the sea and ships, their life and home, the things that surround them. The desire to understand the world manifested itself in Dutch painting in such direct forms and with such consistency as nowhere else in European art of this era. The breadth of her range is also connected with this: portrait and landscape, still life and everyday genres developed here. Some of them (still life, everyday painting) first took shape in Holland in their mature forms and reached such a peak that they became a kind of standard for this genre.

Already in the first two decades, the main direction of the search for advanced Dutch masters, opposing conservative artistic trends, was clearly revealed - the desire for a truthful reflection of reality, for the concreteness of its embodiment. It is no coincidence that Dutch painters were attracted to the art of Caravaggio. The work of the so-called Utrecht Caravaggists - G. Honthorst, H. Terbruggen, D. Van Baburen - influenced Dutch artistic culture.

2. Portraiture. Frans Hals

The 1920s became a turning point in the evolution of Dutch painting: new democratic and realistic trends achieved final victory; the main range of motifs of Dutch painting is determined, the process of differentiation of genres is completed, their principles and specificity are approved. The decisive role in the formation of national art at the early stage of development of the Dutch art school was played by the work of Frans Hals (circa 1580-1666), its first great master.

Hals was almost exclusively a portrait painter, but his art meant a lot not only to Dutch portraiture, but also to the formation of other genres. In Hals’s work, three types of portrait compositions can be distinguished: a group portrait, a commissioned individual portrait, and a special type of portrait images, similar in nature to genre painting, which he cultivated mainly in the 20s – 30s.

Group portraits of rifle guilds - burgher associations for the defense and protection of cities - belong to the central creations of the Hals of the late 10s - early 30s and to the most significant works of Dutch painting of the early stage of its development, when the ideals of the revolutionary era were still alive. The group portrait was able to express the sense of freedom and equality, camaraderie and civil solidarity that was dear to the representatives of the young republic. Such, proud of their independence, cheerful and active townspeople, in whom the memory of the joint struggle is still fresh, they appear in the portraits of the officers of the rifle company of St. Hadrian (1627 and 1633) and St. George (1627) (Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem)

Hals achieves a striking naturalness of the composition - it seems unintentional, random, but behind this lies a subtle artistic calculation. The plot outline - a meeting or feast of guild members who have served a three-year term - turns those portrayed into participants in the scene, into its characters. There is no stiffness or deliberate posing in Hals's characters; it seems that it is here, in this familiar and close society that they fully and with all frankness express their character and character. Portraits of Hals give rise to a feeling of mutual connection between people who appreciate and know his strength.

Sweeping, bold, rich writing and a colorful range, in which intense colors predominate - blue, blue, golden yellow, red - reveal the optimistic, life-affirming tone of the portraits, and the large size of the compositions gives them a monumental character.

Hals brilliantly overcomes the difficulties of a group portrait. The genre principle, which contributes to the impression of the vitality of the image, does not deprive the composition of its representative character. Hals masterfully recreates the individuality of the characters - each is presented in a temperamental, close-up manner, and at the same time, artistic unity is preserved.

Hals's work, formed in the atmosphere of the post-revolutionary years, became one of the clearest expressions of the democratic spirit of Dutch bourgeois culture during its formation.

The features of early Khalsa art - the nature of the model's perception and specific techniques of portraiture - are most clearly revealed in the so-called genre portraits. Hals usually portrayed the model in such a way that the viewer found herself face to face with her, in close and direct communication. His characters stand naturally and freely in the portrait, their posture and gestures seem unstable, and the expression on their faces is about to change; The most remarkable feature of Hals’s creative manner is the ability to convey character through individual facial expressions and gestures, as if caught on the fly (“The Cheerful Drinking Companion”, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum; “Mulatto”, Leipzig; “The Smiling Officer”, London, Wallace collection). The artist loved emotional states, full of dynamics; for him they contained, as it were, a clot of everything that was most characteristic, individually expressive in the model and the feeling of captured life. But in this instant that Hals captured, the most essential, the core of the image is always captured (“Gypsy”, 1628 – 1630, Paris, Louvre; “Malle Babe”, early 30s, Berlin-Dahlem, Art Gallery).

Hals masterfully knows how to connect the person being portrayed with a specific environment and situation. Thus, when looking at the portrait of Malle Babe, the viewer gets the impression that he sees the interior of a tavern filled with noisy, unceremonious visitors, hears hoarse laughter and the rude words of a slightly intoxicated old woman addressed to its regulars. Portraits of the early Khalsa take on the features of a genre painting.

Internal concentration and self-absorption are alien to Khalsa's characters - they are shown in reactions to the environment, in interaction with it. Hals’s pictorial form itself is also not closed, dynamic: turns of figures in the space of the canvas are typical for him; dynamic silhouette line; volumes that are not isolated from the background, but easily and naturally merge with it; finally, a free brushstroke that does not hide the movements of the artist’s hand.

The specificity of Hals's portrait style consists, on the one hand, in an extremely sharply captured individuality, on the other, in the active vitality of the image and in the sense of spontaneity of its perception, created by an improvisational style of painting.

Hals was the first master of free “sketch” painting in European art. The movement of the brush gives him both design and color, recreates the shape, volume, and character of the surface. The brushstrokes run over each other, collide, diverge in different directions, sometimes thickly covering the canvas, sometimes leaving the underpainting to show through. Quickly and masterfully placed, they recreate facial expressions and movement, transforming into various, accurately captured and reproduced plastic forms. Each form in Khals receives mobility, and the image as a whole receives internal dynamics and emotional acuity.

The painting style itself received special significance. The emphasis on one detail or the “understatement” of another, the nature of the brushstroke and colorful surface helped to create an expressive artistic image from a sometimes unremarkable model. These are the portraits of Claes Van Vorhout, narrow-minded, simple-minded, a little funny and absurd in his claim to appear stately and significant (c. 1635, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art), Nicholas van der Meer (1631, Haarlem, museum) and Pieter van den Brooke (1633, London, Kenwood House) - simple, frank and slightly rude natures, but active and clear-spirited, or a portrait of Jasper Schade, vain, arrogant, narcissistic (c. 1645, Prague, National Gallery). Hals's portrait gallery from the 20s to the 40s is diverse, but at the same time internally unified: it is, as it were, a kind of collective image of the Dutchman of that era. He may be complacent, self-confident and limited, but he almost invariably has energy, a strong grip on life, prowess and a love of life. Hals conveys these qualities of nature with such richness and admiration that all the unattractive traits in the character of his models seem to fade into the background.

However, in the images of Hals from the very end of the 30s and 40s, thoughtfulness and sadness appear, previously completely alien to his characters (portrait of Willem Heythuisen from the Brussels Museum), and sometimes a slight irony slips through in the artist’s attitude towards them. The jubilant acceptance of life and man, which was the leitmotif of his work in previous years, is gradually disappearing from Khalsa’s art. The 40s became a turning point in Khalsa painting. The late period of the artist’s work constituted a special page in his art and in the art of Dutch portraiture.

In the portraits of Hals, painted in the 50s and 60s, in-depth mastery of characterization is combined with a new inner meaning. The unknown man, depicted in a painting from the legendary Hermitage (50s), still feels his strength, his capabilities, but there is no longer any joy or faith in him. Despite the impressive turn of the figure, despite the mocking, slightly contemptuous look, despite the dynamics of the pictorial form, fatigue and skepticism are clearly visible in the entire appearance. In the image of the man in the portrait from the Kassel Gallery (1660-1666), we see not the usual self-affirmation and bravado, but sadness and apathy, as if his internal energy has dried up and he passively follows the flow of life.

Having won the fight against Spain for its independence, bourgeois Holland became the most economically developed state in Western Europe. The main Dutch city of Amsterdam has emerged as one of the largest shopping centers in Europe.

Along with the economy, Dutch painting is also developing. Unlike other Western European countries, baroque paintings of palaces and castles were not popular in Holland - the weakness of the nobility served as an obstacle to the development of decorative art. The Calvinist Church of Holland also did not seek to decorate its churches with works of painting.

Nevertheless, painting flourished in Holland: artists received numerous orders from private individuals. Even Dutch peasants could hang a small painting in their homes - these artists’ creations were so cheap.

In the 17th century Over two thousand artists worked in little Holland. They put the production of paintings on stream, produced canvases in whole batches and handed them over to sellers. Almost every master performed from two to five compositions per week.

Often the production of paintings outpaced demand, so in order to feed themselves, artists had to simultaneously engage in other work. Such famous masters as J. Steen, M. Gobbema, J. van Goyen and many others were at the same time employees, gardeners, and tavern keepers.

Typically, painters specialized in one specific topic. For example, H. Averkamp painted winter views, E. van der Poel depicted night fires, G. Terborch and G. Metsu - everyday scenes, P. Claes and V. K. Heda - still lifes-breakfasts.

Very often, artists worked collectively on one picture: one painted the sky, another - grass and trees, the third - human figures. The most successful works that were successful with the public were copied and served as a model for the creation of countless versions.

Although the art of talented painters was subordinated to commercial goals, the masters usually managed to avoid falsehood. Most of these paintings are distinguished by their realism, integrity and clarity of composition, freshness of color and excellent execution technique.

The portrait genre became widespread in Dutch painting. Various organizations played a major role in the life of the country (the shooting society, groups of representatives of the medical corporation and trade shops), which contributed to the emergence of a group public portrait.

The long-term struggle with the Spanish colonialists sharpened the sense of national identity, so in painting, in addition to realism, the depiction of characteristic national features was especially welcomed. Artists painted the sea and ships, livestock, flowers. In addition to portraiture, genres such as landscape and still life developed. There was also religious painting, but it lacked the element of mysticism; biblical stories were presented
by the artist rather as everyday scenes.

Frans Hals

Frans Hals was born around 1581 in Antwerp into a weaver's family. As a young man, he came to Haarlem, where he lived almost constantly until his death (in 1616 he visited Antwerp, and in the mid-1630s - Amsterdam). Little is known about Hulse's life. In 1610 he entered the Guild of St. Luke, and in 1616 he entered the chamber of rhetoricians (amateur actors).

Very quickly Hals became one of the most famous portrait painters in Haarlem. In the XV-XVI centuries. In the painting of the Netherlands, there was a tradition of painting portraits only of representatives of the ruling circles, famous people and artists. Hals's art is deeply democratic: in his portraits we can see an aristocrat, a wealthy citizen, an artisan, and even a person from the very bottom. The artist does not try to idealize those depicted; the main thing for him is their naturalness and uniqueness. His nobles behave as relaxed as representatives of the lower strata of society, who in Khals’s paintings are depicted as cheerful people who are not devoid of self-esteem.

Group portraits occupy a large place in the artist’s work. The best works of this genre were portraits of officers of the St. George rifle company (1627) and the St. Adrian rifle company (1633). Each character in the paintings has its own distinct personality, and at the same time, these works are distinguished by their integrity.

Hals also painted commissioned portraits depicting wealthy burghers and their families in relaxed poses (“Portrait of Isaac Massa,” 1626; “Portrait of Hethuisen,” 1637). Hals’s images are lively and dynamic; it seems that the people in the portraits are talking to an invisible interlocutor or addressing the viewer.

Representatives of the popular environment in Khals’s portraits are distinguished by their vivid expressiveness and spontaneity. In the images of street boys, fishermen, musicians, and tavern visitors, one can feel the author’s sympathy and respect. His “Gypsy” is remarkable. The smiling young woman seems surprisingly alive, her sly gaze directed at her interlocutor, invisible to the audience. Hals does not idealize his model, but the image of a cheerful, disheveled gypsy delights with its perky charm.

Very often, Hulse's portraits include elements of a genre scene. These are the images of children singing or playing musical instruments (“Singing Boys”, 1624-1625). The famous “Malle Babbe” (early 1630s) was performed in the same spirit, representing a well-known tavern owner in Haarlem, whom visitors called the Haarlem Witch behind her back. The artist almost grotesquely depicted a woman with a huge beer mug and an owl on her shoulder.

In the 1640s. The country is showing signs of a turning point. Only a few decades have passed since the victory of the revolution, and the bourgeoisie has already ceased to be a progressive class based on democratic traditions. The truthfulness of Hals painting no longer attracts wealthy clients who want to see themselves in portraits better than they really are. But Hulse did not abandon realism, and his popularity plummeted. In the painting of this period, notes of sadness and disappointment appear (“Portrait of a Man in a Wide-brimmed Hat”). His palette becomes stricter and calmer.

At the age of 84, Hulse created two of his masterpieces: group portraits of regents (trustees) and regents of a nursing home (1664). These latest works by the Dutch master are distinguished by their emotionality and strong individuality of images. The images of the regents - old men and women - emanate sadness and death. This feeling is also emphasized by the color scheme in black, gray and white.

Hals died in 1666 in deep poverty. His truthful, life-affirming art had a great influence on many Dutch artists.

Rembrandt

In the 1640-1660s. Dutch painting was flourishing. The most significant artist of this time was Rembrandt.

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn was born in 1606 in Leiden. His father was a wealthy miller. His parents dreamed of a good education for their son and sent him to a Latin school, after which Rembrandt entered the University of Leiden. But the young man was attracted to art. He left the university and began studying with the painter Jacob Swannenburch. Three years later, the young artist went to Amsterdam, where he began taking lessons from Pieter Lastman.

In 1624 Rembrandt returned to Leiden. Here he rented a studio together with the painter Jan Lievens. The artist works a lot from life, painting not only in the studio, but also on the street and at the city bazaar.

At the end of the 1620s. Rembrandt gained popularity among the residents of Leiden. He received many orders and his first student was Gerard Dou, who later became a fairly famous painter.

Rembrandt's early paintings are characterized by careful composition and conscientious execution. At the same time, they are characterized by some stiffness (“The Torment of St. Sebastian”, 1625).

In 1631, Rembrandt settled in Amsterdam. His fame quickly spread throughout the city, and orders poured in for the painter. Rembrandt's personal life was also successful: in 1634 he married Saskia van Uylenburg, a girl from a famous bourgeois family. The marriage brought the artist a significant fortune, which provided him with creative independence and allowed him to start collecting works of art and antiques.

Rembrandt enjoyed happiness in the company of his beloved wife, whom he depicted many times in portraits. Saskia often served as a model for paintings with a wide variety of themes (“Flora,” 1634; “Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees,” c. 1639).

Rembrandt's work during this period is diverse; he painted historical, mythological and religious compositions, portraits, everyday scenes, landscapes, still lifes, paintings with images of animals. But the main object of his attention is man. Not only in portraits, but also in his other works, the artist strives to convey the character and inner world of his heroes.

A remarkable master of the portrait genre, only in the 1630s. Rembrandt executed more than sixty commissioned portraits. The main thing for a painter is not the external resemblance to the model, but the depth of the inner world, the strength of mental movements and experiences. The group portrait “The Anatomy of Doctor Tulp” (1632) was greeted with delight by his contemporaries. The artist made changes to the traditional composition of the classic group portrait, arranging the figures not in a row, as was customary, but freely. This construction gave the image life and naturalness.

At the end of the 1630s. Rembrandt became the most famous master in Holland. His masterpiece, the famous “Danae” (1636), dates back to this period, the craftsmanship of which surpasses everything that was created by his contemporaries
artist. The perfection of its composition and the richness of the color scheme, designed in golden shades, are striking. It seems that there is nothing superfluous in this work; every detail is carefully thought out by the author. With the help of a free and lively brushstroke, the master conveys the lightness of the bedspread, the folds of heavy curtains and draperies. The flexible plasticity of the young woman lying on the bed and the soft golden shades of the body, illuminated by soft light, are striking. Although Danaë does not shine with ideal beauty, her image delights the viewer with its lively charm and freshness.

In the 1630s. The artist also works a lot in etching. He is attracted by everyday motives (“Seller of Rat Poison”, 1632). Elements of genre are also inherent in works with biblical themes (“The Return of the Prodigal Son”, 1636). One of the best etchings of this period is “The Death of Mary” (1639), emotional and imbued with a feeling of deep sorrow. The remarkable work “Christ Healing the Sick” (the so-called “Leaf of One Hundred Guilders” - this name indicates the cost of the work) is also distinguished by the complexity of the composition and the monumental grandeur of the images.

In the 1640s. Rembrandt becomes the most famous and highest paid painter in Amsterdam. He was commissioned for portraits and compositions for the palace of the Dutch Stadtholder in The Hague. Many aspiring artists seek to study in his workshop. The fame of Rembrandt's art extends beyond the borders of Holland. Several paintings by the famous master are kept in the palace of the English King Charles I.

Rembrandt's talent was evident in his realistic and expressive still lifes ("Bull's Carcass") and landscapes ("Landscape with a Mill", c. 1650). Subtle lyricism is inherent in the unassuming Dutch landscapes, striking the viewer with their almost tangible reality.

The death of his beloved wife in 1642 alienated Rembrandt from her noble relatives. The artist stopped communicating with his acquaintances from aristocratic society. The changes in the master’s life were reflected in his painting, which became deeper and more focused. If Rembrandt's early works are distinguished by a calm and even mood, now notes of anxiety and doubt begin to sound in his paintings. The palette, which is dominated by red and golden shades, also changes.

The canvas “David and Jonathan” (1642, Hermitage, St. Petersburg), executed in golden-pink and golden-blue tones, is distinguished by its vivid expressiveness.

All these new features in Rembrandt’s painting did not meet with understanding among his contemporaries. The large monumental composition “Night Watch” (1642) caused discontent. The painting received this name in the 19th century. In fact, the action takes place not at night, but during the day, in sunlight, which confirms the nature of the shadows.

Over time, the colors darkened, and only restoration carried out in 1946-1947 showed that the color scheme of this work was once much lighter.

The painting depicts the riflemen of Captain Banning Coke's company. The customer expected to see a traditional ceremonial portrait (a scene of a feast or a commander presenting his subordinates to the viewer). Rembrandt created a geo-
roico-historical painting depicting the performance of riflemen on the orders of the captain. The characters are excited and dynamic; the commander gives orders, the standard bearer raises the banner, the drummer beats the drum, the riflemen load their weapons. Here a little girl with a rooster at her belt is spinning around out of nowhere.

During these years, Hendrikje Stoffels appeared in Rembrandt's life, first a maid, and then his wife, who became his faithful friend and assistant. The artist still works a lot. He creates his famous “Holy Family” (1645), in which the religious theme is interpreted as a genre theme. Along with biblical compositions, the painter painted realistic landscapes with images of the village (“Winter View”, 1646). His portraits of this period are distinguished by his desire to show the individual characteristics of his models.

In the 1650s. the number of orders is significantly reduced. Rembrandt is experiencing great financial difficulties. He faces complete ruin, because the debt associated with the purchase of a house during the life of his first wife, Saskia, has still not been paid. In 1656, the artist was declared insolvent, and his art collection and all his property were sold at auction. Rembrandt's family had to move to the poor Jewish quarter of Amsterdam.

Despite all the adversities, the talent of the great painter does not dry out. But now the criterion of his skill is completely different. In Rembrandt's later works, colorful strokes appear sharply on the surface of the canvas. Now the colors in his paintings serve not only to convey the external appearance of the characters and the image of the interior - it is the coloring that takes on the semantic load of the work. Thus, the feeling of intense drama in the painting “Assur, Haman and Esther” (1660) is created through a complex tonal range and special lighting effects.

Deprived of orders, living in deep poverty, Rembrandt does not stop writing. He creates expressive and spiritual portraits, for which relatives and friends serve as models (“Portrait of the artist’s brother’s wife,” 1654; “Portrait of an old man in red,” 1652-1654; “Portrait of the son Titus reading,” 1657; “Portrait of Hendrikje Stoffels at windows", ca. 1659).

The son Titus, who has finally received the fortune of his deceased mother, is trying to protect his father from material deprivation and create conditions for him to work peacefully. But misfortunes continued to haunt the artist: Hendrickje died in 1663, and Titus followed her a few years later.

It was during this tragic time that the old, lonely artist created his masterpieces, distinguished by their monumental grandeur and spirituality (“David and Uriah,” 1665-1666; “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” c. 1668-1669).

Rembrandt died in 1669, forgotten by everyone. Only in the 18th century. his art was finally understood and appreciated.

In the 1640-1660s. The leading genre in Dutch painting was the everyday genre. The paintings depicting the most ordinary moments of reality are surprisingly poetic and lyrical. The main object of attention of painters is man and the world around him. Most genre compositions are distinguished by a calm narrative and lack of drama. They talk about the household chores of the mistress of the house (buying provisions, taking care of children, doing handicrafts), about the entertainment of the Dutch burgher (playing cards, receiving guests, concerts). Artists depict everything that happens in the house of a wealthy city dweller, ignoring the social side of a person’s life.

Genre painters were very popular: G. Dou, whose paintings were sold at very high prices, A. van Ostade, who painted scenes of peasant life (“Country Concert”), J. Steen, whose favorite themes were scenes of fun and holidays (“Merry Society” ), G. Terborch, whose elegant painting represented the life of a rich burgher family (“A Glass of Lemonade”), G. Metsu with his ingenuous storytelling (“Sick Child”), P. de Hooch, who created contemplative and lyrical canvases (“Mistress and Maid ").

K. Fabritius, who lived a short life (died in Delft in the explosion of a gunpowder warehouse), sought to expand the scope of the everyday genre. One of his best works is “The Raising of Lazarus” (c. 1643), notable for its drama and almost monumental scope. His portraits and self-portraits are also remarkable, putting the artist on a par with F. Hals and Rembrandt.

The fate of E. de Fabricius, a talented master of everyday scenes and works depicting church interiors (“Market in the port”, “Interior with a woman at the harpsichord”) is tragic. The artist did not seek to pander to the tastes of the bourgeois public, so his works, which were not successful with his contemporaries, were sold for pennies. Often Fabricius was forced to pay them off for debts to homeowners. On a winter night in 1692, a seventy-five-year-old artist, thrown out of his house by his owner, hanged himself on the railing of a bridge. A similar fate was typical for many Dutch painters who did not want to give up realistic traditions to please the public.

Jan Wermeer of Delft

A prominent representative of Dutch genre painting is Jan Vermeer, nicknamed Delft after his place of birth and activity. The painter was born in 1623 into the family of a painting and silk merchant. Little is known about Wermeer's life. Perhaps his teacher was C. Fabricius. In 1653, the artist became a member of the Guild of St. Luke and married the daughter of a wealthy townsman, Catherine Bolnes. In Delft he enjoyed respect and fame and lived in a large house located on the market square.

Vermeer worked on his paintings very slowly and thoroughly, carefully recording every detail. Painting could not provide a comfortable existence for the artist’s family, although his canvases enjoyed great success. This is probably why Vermeer began selling paintings, continuing his father’s work.

Already in Vermeer’s first works, a combination of realism and a certain amount of idealization of images, characteristic of his work, appears (“Diana with the Nymphs”, “Christ with Martha and Mary” - both before 1656). The next work, a large-figure canvas “At the Pimp” (1656), painted on a plot used by many painters, is distinguished by its originality of execution. An ordinary everyday scene for the artist acquires almost monumental significance. The painting stands out among other works with a similar theme for its bold coloring, sustained in pure yellow, red, black and white colors, and the bright expressiveness of the images.

Subsequently, Vermeer turned to chamber compositions traditional for Dutch painting. Like other Dutch masters, he depicts events taking place in rich burgher houses. The artist’s favorite image is of a girl reading a letter or trying on a necklace. His canvases depict simple everyday scenes: a maid gives a letter to her mistress, a gentleman brings a glass of wine to the lady. But these paintings, simple in composition, amaze with their integrity, harmony and lyricism; their images attract with their naturalness and calm poetry.

In the second half of the 1650s. the artist created his most wonderful works. The deeply lyrical “Sleeping Girl”, “Glass of Wine”, “Girl with a Letter” are marked with a warm feeling. Many Dutch painters of that time depicted maids busy at work in their paintings, but only Vermeer’s image of a woman from the people has features of true beauty and greatness (“Maid with a Jug of Milk”).

Vermeer is a true virtuoso in conveying the essence of the world of things with the help of visual means. The still lifes in his paintings are executed with great skill. A dish with apples and plums, standing on a table covered with a patterned tablecloth in the canvas “Girl with a Letter,” looks amazingly beautiful and natural.

In the painting “The Maid with a Jug of Milk,” the bread and milk flowing in a thick stream from the jug amaze with their freshness.

Light plays a big role in Vermeer's works. It fills the space of the canvases, creating the impression of extraordinary airiness; models shapes and penetrates paints, making them glow from within. It is thanks to this amount of light and air that a special emotional elation is created in most of Vermeer’s works.

The painter's remarkable skill was also evident in landscape painting. A small corner of the city, enveloped in the humid atmosphere of a cloudy day, is reproduced by the clear and simple composition of “Street” (c. 1658). The rain-washed city appears clean and fresh in the painting “View of Delft” (between 1658 and 1660). The sun's rays break through the soft silvery clouds, creating many bright reflections on the surface of the water. The sonorous coloring with its subtle color transitions gives the picture expressiveness and harmony.

In the 1660s. Vermeer's painting becomes more refined and elegant. The palette is also changing, now dominated by cool colorful shades (“Girl with a Pearl”). The main characters of the paintings are rich ladies and gentlemen surrounded by luxurious objects (“Love Letter”, ca. 1670).

Jan Wermeer of Delft. Maid with a jug of milk. Between 1657 and 1660
Jan Wermeer of Delft. Painter's workshop. OK. 1665

In the last period of Vermeer’s life, his works become superficial and somewhat far-fetched (“Allegory of Faith”), and the palette loses its richness and sonority. But even in these years, individual works of the artist amaze with the same expressive power. Such is his “Painter's Workshop” (1665), in which Vermeer depicted himself at work, and the paintings “Astronomer” and “Geographer”, depicting scientists.

The fate of Vermeer, like many other Dutch masters, is tragic. At the end of his life, the sick artist, who had lost most of his previous customers, was forced to move his large family from his previous home to a cheaper home. Over the past five years he has not painted a single painting. The painter died in 1675. His art was forgotten for a long time, and only in the middle of the 19th century. Vermeer was appreciated and placed on a par with such Dutch masters as Rembrandt and F. Hals.

Holland. 17th century The country is experiencing unprecedented prosperity. The so-called "Golden Age". At the end of the 16th century, several provinces of the country achieved independence from Spain.

Now the Protestant Netherlands have gone their own way. And Catholic Flanders (present-day Belgium) under the wing of Spain is its own.

In independent Holland, almost no one needed religious painting. The Protestant Church did not approve of luxury decoration. But this circumstance “played into the hands” of secular painting.

Literally every resident of the new country awoke to love this type of art. The Dutch wanted to see their own lives in the paintings. And the artists willingly met them halfway.

Never before has the surrounding reality been depicted so much. Ordinary people, ordinary rooms and the most ordinary breakfast of a city dweller.

Realism flourished. Until the 20th century, it will be a worthy competitor to academicism with its nymphs and Greek goddesses.

These artists are called "small" Dutch. Why? The paintings were small in size, because they were created for small houses. Thus, almost all paintings by Jan Vermeer are no more than half a meter in height.

But I like the other version better. In the Netherlands in the 17th century, a great master, the “big” Dutchman, lived and worked. And everyone else was “small” in comparison with him.

We are talking, of course, about Rembrandt. Let's start with him.

1. Rembrandt (1606-1669)

Rembrandt. Self-portrait at the age of 63. 1669 National Gallery London

Rembrandt experienced a wide range of emotions during his life. That's why there's so much fun and bravado in his early work. And there are so many complex feelings - in the later ones.

Here he is young and carefree in the painting “The Prodigal Son in the Tavern.” On his knees is his beloved wife Saskia. He is a popular artist. Orders are pouring in.

Rembrandt. The Prodigal Son in a Tavern. 1635 Old Masters Gallery, Dresden

But all this will disappear in about 10 years. Saskia will die of consumption. Popularity will disappear like smoke. A large house with a unique collection will be taken away for debts.

But the same Rembrandt will appear who will remain for centuries. The bare feelings of the heroes. Their deepest thoughts.

2. Frans Hals (1583-1666)

Frans Hals. Self-portrait. 1650 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Frans Hals is one of the greatest portrait painters of all time. Therefore, I would also classify him as a “big” Dutchman.

In Holland at that time it was customary to order group portraits. This is how many similar works appeared depicting people working together: marksmen of one guild, doctors of one town, managers of a nursing home.

In this genre, Hals stands out the most. After all, most of these portraits looked like a deck of cards. People sit at the table with the same facial expression and just watch. With Hals it was different.

Look at his group portrait “Arrows of the Guild of St. George."

Frans Hals. Arrows of the Guild of St. George. 1627 Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands

Here you will not find a single repetition in pose or facial expression. At the same time, there is no chaos here. There are a lot of characters, but no one seems superfluous. Thanks to the amazingly correct arrangement of figures.

And even in a single portrait, Hals was superior to many artists. His patterns are natural. People from high society in his paintings are devoid of contrived grandeur, and models from the lower classes do not look humiliated.

And his characters are also very emotional: they smile, laugh, and gesticulate. Like, for example, this “Gypsy” with a sly look.

Frans Hals. Gypsy. 1625-1630

Hals, like Rembrandt, ended his life in poverty. For the same reason. His realism ran counter to the tastes of his customers. Who wanted their appearance to be embellished. Hals did not accept outright flattery, and thereby signed his own sentence - “Oblivion.”

3. Gerard Terborch (1617-1681)

Gerard Terborch. Self-portrait. 1668 Royal Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands

Terborkh was a master of the everyday genre. Rich and not-so-rich burghers talk leisurely, ladies read letters, and a procuress watches the courtship. Two or three closely spaced figures.

It was this master who developed the canons of the everyday genre. Which would later be borrowed by Jan Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch and many other “small” Dutchmen.

Gerard Terborch. A glass of lemonade. 1660s. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

"A Glass of Lemonade" is one of Terborch's famous works. It shows another advantage of the artist. Incredibly realistic image of the dress fabric.

Terborch also has unusual works. Which speaks to his desire to go beyond customer requirements.

His "The Grinder" shows the life of the poorest people in Holland. We are used to seeing cozy courtyards and clean rooms in the paintings of the “small” Dutch. But Terborch dared to show unsightly Holland.

Gerard Terborch. Grinder. 1653-1655 State Museums of Berlin

As you understand, such work was not in demand. And they are a rare occurrence even among Terborch.

4. Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)

Jan Vermeer. Artist's workshop. 1666-1667 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

It is not known for certain what Jan Vermeer looked like. It is only obvious that in the painting “The Artist’s Workshop” he depicted himself. The truth from the back.

It is therefore surprising that a new fact from the master’s life has recently become known. It is connected with his masterpiece “Delft Street”.

Jan Vermeer. Delft street. 1657 Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

It turned out that Vermeer spent his childhood on this street. The house pictured belonged to his aunt. She raised her five children there. Perhaps she is sitting on the doorstep sewing while her two children play on the sidewalk. Vermeer himself lived in the house opposite.

But more often he depicted the interior of these houses and their inhabitants. It would seem that the plots of the paintings are very simple. Here is a pretty lady, a wealthy city dweller, checking the operation of her scales.

Jan Vermeer. Woman with scales. 1662-1663 National Gallery of Art, Washington

Why did Vermeer stand out among thousands of other “small” Dutchmen?

He was an unsurpassed master of light. In the painting “Woman with Scales” the light softly envelops the heroine’s face, fabrics and walls. Giving the image an unknown spirituality.

And the compositions of Vermeer’s paintings are carefully verified. You won't find a single unnecessary detail. It is enough to remove one of them, the picture will “fall apart”, and the magic will go away.

All this was not easy for Vermeer. Such amazing quality required painstaking work. Only 2-3 paintings per year. As a result, the inability to feed the family. Vermeer also worked as an art dealer, selling works by other artists.

5. Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684)

Pieter de Hooch. Self-portrait. 1648-1649 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Hoch is often compared to Vermeer. They worked at the same time, there was even a period in the same city. And in one genre - everyday. In Hoch we also see one or two figures in cozy Dutch courtyards or rooms.

Open doors and windows make the space of his paintings layered and entertaining. And the figures fit into this space very harmoniously. As, for example, in his painting “Maid with a Girl in the Courtyard.”

Pieter de Hooch. A maid with a girl in the courtyard. 1658 London National Gallery

Until the 20th century, Hoch was highly valued. But few people noticed the small works of his competitor Vermeer.

But in the 20th century everything changed. Hoch's glory faded. However, it is difficult not to recognize his achievements in painting. Few people could so competently combine the environment and people.

Pieter de Hooch. Card players in a sunny room. 1658 Royal Art Collection, London

Please note that in a modest house on the canvas “Card Players” there is a painting hanging in an expensive frame.

This once again shows how popular painting was among ordinary Dutch people. Paintings decorated every home: the house of a rich burgher, a modest city dweller, and even a peasant.

6. Jan Steen (1626-1679)

Jan Steen. Self-portrait with a lute. 1670s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid

Jan Steen is perhaps the most cheerful “little” Dutchman. But loving moral teaching. He often depicted taverns or poor houses in which vice existed.

Its main characters are revelers and ladies of easy virtue. He wanted to entertain the viewer, but latently warn him against a vicious life.

Jan Steen. It's a mess. 1663 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Sten also has quieter works. Like, for example, “Morning Toilet.” But here too the artist surprises the viewer with too revealing details. There are traces of stocking elastic, and not an empty chamber pot. And somehow it’s not at all appropriate for the dog to be lying right on the pillow.

Jan Steen. Morning toilet. 1661-1665 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

But despite all the frivolity, Sten’s color schemes are very professional. In this he was superior to many “little Dutchmen”. Look how perfectly the red stocking goes with the blue jacket and bright beige rug.

7. Jacobs Van Ruisdael (1629-1682)

Portrait of Ruisdael. Lithograph from a 19th century book.

The Golden Age of Dutch painting is one of the most outstanding eras in the history of all world painting. The Golden Age of Dutch painting is considered 17th century. It was at this time that the most talented artists and painters created their immortal works. Their paintings are still considered unsurpassed masterpieces, which are kept in famous museums around the world and are considered an invaluable heritage of humanity.

At first 17th century In Holland, a rather primitive art still flourished, which was justified by the mundane tastes and preferences of rich and powerful people. As a result of political, geopolitical and religious changes, Dutch art changed dramatically. If before this artists tried to pander to the Dutch burghers, depicting their life and way of life, devoid of any lofty and poetic language, and also worked for the church, which commissioned artists to work in a rather primitive genre with long-worn subjects, then the beginning of the 17th century was a real breakthrough. In Holland, the dominance of Protestants reigned, who practically stopped ordering paintings on religious themes from artists. Holland became independent from Spain and asserted itself on the historical podium. Artists moved from previously familiar themes to depicting everyday scenes, portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and so on. Here, in a new field, the artists of the golden age seemed to have a new breath and real geniuses of art began to appear in the world.

Dutch artists of the 17th century introduced realism in painting into fashion. Stunning in composition, in realism, in depth and unusualness, the paintings began to enjoy enormous success. The demand for paintings increased sharply. As a result, more and more new artists began to appear, who at an amazingly fast pace developed the fundamentals of painting, developed new techniques, styles and genres. Some of the most famous artists of the Golden Age were: Jan Vermeer, Cornelis Trost, Matthias Stom, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Esaias van de Velde, Frans Hals, Adrian Brouwer, Cornelis de Man, Anthony van Dyck and many others.

Paintings by Dutch painters

Cornelis de Man - Whale Oil Manufactory

Cornelis Trost - Fun in the Park

Ludolf Backhuizen - East India Campaign Dock in Amsterdam

Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Alchemist's Catastrophe

Main trends, stages of development of painting and iconic painters of Holland.

Dutch painting

Introduction

Dutch painting of the 17th century is sometimes mistakenly considered art for the middle class, admiring Flemish painting of this period and calling it courtly, aristocratic. No less erroneous is the opinion that Dutch artists deal only with depicting the immediate human environment, using landscapes, cities, seas, and people’s lives for this purpose, while Flemish art is devoted to historical painting, which in art theory is considered a more sublime genre. In contrast, public buildings in Holland, which were expected to have an imposing appearance, as well as wealthy visitors, whatever their religious beliefs or origins, required paintings with allegorical or mythological themes.

Any division of the Dutch school of painting into Flemish and Dutch branches until the beginning of the 17th century. due to the constant creative exchange between the areas, it would be artificial. For example, Pieter Aertsen, born in Amsterdam, worked in Antwerp before returning to his hometown in 1557, and his student and nephew Joachim Bukelaer spent his entire life in Antwerp. In connection with the signing of the Union of Utrecht and the separation of the seven northern provinces, many residents after 1579–1581. emigrated from the northern Netherlands to the Protestant part of the artificially divided country.

"Butcher shop". Artsen.

Development of art

The impetus for the independent development of Dutch painting came from Flemish artists. Bartholomeus Spranger, born in Antwerp and educated in Rome, became the founder of a virtuoso, courtly, artificial style, which, as a result of Spranger's temporary residence in Vienna and Prague, became an international "language". In 1583, the painter and art theorist Karel van Mander brought this style to Haarlem. One of the main masters of this Haarlem or Utrecht mannerism was Abraham Bloemaert.

Then Isaiah van de Velde, born in Holland to a family of emigrants from Flanders, and studying in a circle of painters centered on the Flemish artists David Vinkboons and Gillies Koninksloe, developed a realistic painting style in his early paintings, which referred to Jan Bruegel the Elder, with bright color gradations of artistic plans. Around 1630, a trend towards unifying artistic space and merging colors from different layers established itself in Holland. Since then, the multifaceted nature of the things depicted gave way to a sense of space and an atmosphere of airy haze, which was conveyed with a gradually increasing monochrome use of color. Isaiah van de Velde embodied this stylistic revolution in art together with his student Jan van Goen.

Winter landscape. Velde.

One of the most monumental landscapes of the High Baroque, "The Great Forest", by Jacob van Ruisdael, belongs to the next period of development of Dutch painting. The viewer no longer has to experience the rather amorphous appearance of a sprawling space in gray-brown tones with a few striking motifs; henceforth the impression is made of a fixed, energetically accentuated structure.

Genre painting

Dutch genre painting, which, in fact, can hardly be called just portraits of everyday life, often carrying a moralistic message, is represented in Vienna by the works of all its main masters. Its center was Leiden, where Gerard Doux, Rembrandt's first student, founded a school known as the Leiden School of Fine Painting (fijnschilders).

Figurative painting

Meeting of company officers. Frans Hals.

The three greatest Dutch masters of figurative painting, Frans Hals, Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer of Delft, followed each other at intervals of almost a generation. Hals was born in Antwerp and worked in Haarlem mainly as a portrait painter. For many, he became the personification of the open, cheerful and spontaneous virtuoso painter, while the art of Rembrandt, a thinker - as the cliché goes - reveals the origins of human destiny. This is both fair and wrong. What immediately catches your eye when looking at a portrait or group portrait by Hals is the ability to convey a person who is overwhelmed with emotion in movement. To depict a fleeting moment, Hals uses open, noticeably irregular strokes, intersecting in zigzags or cross-hatching. This creates the effect of a constantly shimmering surface, like a sketch, which merges into a single image only when viewed from a certain distance. After the return of Rothschild's "gifts", an expressive portrait of a man in black was acquired for the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein and thus returned to Vienna. The Kunsthistorisches Museum owns only one painting by Franz Hals, a portrait of a young man who was already in the collection of Charles VI as one of the few examples of “Protestant” art in Holland. Portraits painted in the late period of Hals's work are closer to Rembrandt's works in terms of psychological penetration and lack of posing.

Thanks to subtle transitions of shades and areas of chiaroscuro, Rembrandt's chiaroscuro seems to envelop the figures in a resonant space in which mood, atmosphere, something intangible and even invisible reside. Rembrandt's oeuvre at the Vienna Picture Gallery is represented only by portraits, although The Artist's Mother and The Artist's Son can also be considered single-figure history paintings. In the so-called “Large Self-Portrait” of 1652, the artist appears before us in a brown blouse, with his face turned in three quarters. His gaze is self-confident and even defiant.

Vermeer

Vermeer's undramatic art, focused entirely on contemplation, was considered a reflection of the Dutch middle class, now independent and content with what it had. However, the simplicity of Vermeer's artistic concepts is deceptive. Their clarity and calm are the result of precise analysis, including the use of the latest technical inventions such as the camera obscura. "Allegory of Painting", created around 1665-1666, Vermeer's pinnacle work in terms of work with color, can be called his most ambitious painting. The process initiated by Jan van Eyck, a native of the northern Netherlands, passive, detached contemplation of the motionless world, has always remained the main theme of Dutch painting and in the works of Vermeer reached an allegorical and at the same time real apotheosis.

Dutch painting

updated: September 16, 2017 by: Gleb