One of the first artists to paint directional brush-strokes—that is, marks that follow the directions of the objects being painted—Rembrandt’s work was innovative simply because the viewer was able to see his brushmarks. His later paintings display even broader marks, some of which were applied with a palette knife. While his earlier pictures had a smooth finish, the later works are more vigorous and painterly in style.
In the 1650s, Amsterdam suffered a huge economic depression. Rembrandt’s creditors began to chase him for money and in 1656 he successfully applied for a form of bankruptcy that avoided imprisonment. He spent the last 20 years of his life painting commissioned portraits, as well as self-portraits. Rembrandt’s ability to capture with accuracy the outward appearance of those he painted also exposed their underlying character. This understanding of humanity, along with his skill in portraying it, is one of the key issues that has made him so revered.
Key Works
Nicolaes Ruts 1631, THE FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK, US
The Blinding of Samson 1636, STÄDELSCHES KUNSTINSTITUT, FRANKFURT, GERMANY
Portrait of the Artist at His Easel 1660, MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE
The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (Night Watch) 1642, RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Susanna and the Elders 1647, GEMÄLDEGALERIE, BERLIN, GERMANY
STEENWYCK
c.1612–1659 • DUTCH BAROQUE
An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life
c.1640 OIL ON OAK
39.2 × 50.7 CM (15.4 × 20 IN)
NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Embodying the vanitas themes, a skull forms the centrepiece. The shell and Japanese sword are rarities, symbolizing worldly possessions. The books represent knowledge; the musical instruments denote the pleasures of the senses; and the chronometer and snuffed-out lamp allude to the transience of life.
From about 1620, vanitas, a type of still-life painting, became popular with artists in the Netherlands, centered on the university town of Leiden. Harmen Evertz Steenwyck was one of the foremost artists of the style.
Steenwyck’s year of birth is not confirmed, but it is based on the appearance of his first paintings in 1628. He and his brother Pieter were sons of a spectacle and lens maker in Delft and both brothers became pupils of their uncle, David Bailly (1584–1657), who lived and worked in Leiden. Bailly has been credited with the invention of the vanitas genre. A vanitas painting contains collections of objects symbolic of the transitory nature of life, the vanity of wealth and the inevitability of death. Viewers are asked to consider mortality and to repent. Steenwyck trained with his uncle from 1628 for five years. The errors of coveting worldly pleasures and possessions and the frailty of human life had often been symbolized in religious art, but with no large religious works being commissioned in the Protestant Dutch Republic, the vanitas still lifes appealed to the wealthy middle classes for their realism and chilling warning.
Steenwyck became the leading exponent of vanitas still lifes, painting in smooth, invisible brushmarks, with strong tonal contrasts and a warm, golden palette. He worked in a radiant and exceptionally realistic manner, usually painting intricately detailed fruit and flowers that illustrated the vanitas theme. The brothers returned to Delft in 1633 and they shared a successful studio. In 1636, Steenwyck joined the Guild of Saint Luke in Delft, which enabled him to take on pupils. He traveled to the Dutch East Indies for a year in 1654 and returned to work in Delft for the remaining few years of his life.
Key Works
Vanitas c.1640, STEDELIJK MUSEUM DE LAKENHAL, LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS
Still life with skull, books, flute and whistle c.1646, KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL, BASEL, SWITZERLAND
Still life with earthen jar, fish and fruit 1652, RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Still life with fish in a colander, peaches, a bucket, berries and a cucumber 1652, RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
DE HOOCH
1629–1684 • DUTCH BAROQUE
Card Players in an Opulent Interior
c.1663–5 OIL ON CANVAS
66 × 77 CM (26 × 30 IN)
MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE
A couple play cards by a marble fireplace. The woman has cheated and holds all the aces. A man colludes with her as a maid waits to serve him, and another couple snatch an intimate moment. The floor tiles lead viewers into the lavish interior.
A contemporary of Jan Vermeer and a genre painter from Delft, Pieter de Hooch was a master of painting delicately detailed interior scenes bathed in sparkling light.
The son of a Rotterdam bricklayer and a midwife, de Hooch received his early training under the landscape artist Nicolaes Berchem (c.1620–83) in Haarlem. From about 1650 he worked for a cloth merchant and art collector, Justus de la Grange, in Rotterdam, acting as painter and servant and accompanying his master on visits to Leiden, The Hague and Delft. He eventually relocated to Delft and joined the painters’ Guild of Saint Luke in 1655. He remained in Delft until 1661, when he moved to Amsterdam, staying there until the end of his life.
Small, meticulous genre scenes of domestic life exploited the pride the Dutch felt in their achievements and de Hooch’s interiors, courtyards and gardens convey their calm self-assurance. With his incisive observations, everything was treated equally, from the smallest brick to the main figures, and his clear, warm colors and precise details resemble intricate enamel work. His interest in accurate perspective and detail is a foil for the moralistic messages within the harmonious scenes. The family unit was central to an increasingly middle-class Dutch society, and de Hooch’s main characters include friends, families and maids. The worlds he depicts are snapshots of life seen discreetly through open doors and windows.
Once in Amsterdam, de Hooch experimented with new subjects. He gradually abandoned the homely scenes, moving on to the contrived luxury of the residences of the wealthy middle classes. But his technique gradually deteriorated and his work was never again quite as accomplished as it had been in Delft.
Key Works
A Man Offering a Glass of Wine to a Woman c.1654–5, STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
The Visit c.1657, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, US
The Courtyard of a House in Delft 1658, NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
A Dutch Courtyard c.1659–60, NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, DC, US
VERMEER
1632–1675 • DUTCH BAROQUE
Girl with a Pearl Earring
c.1665 OIL ON CANVAS
44.5 × 39 CM (17.5 × 15.4 IN)
MAURITSHUIS, THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
Tension is evoked by the body turning away and the head looking back. This is not a conventional portrait and might even be a “tronie”—a study of a facial expression. The sitter is a mystery. Tiny pointillés create shimmering effects on her earring, collar, lips and eyes. As usual, Vermeer used only expensive pigments.