"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 butterflies, 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."
"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 butterflies, 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 Janvan Huysumbecame 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 whereeverything 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, butterflies, 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 chimæras 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. FormerlyHuysum'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 demigods.
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 tookHuysumfor 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 brotherPeter 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 byNicholasBerchem;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-glass. 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 makingcalculations 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-glass, 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.—Godfried Schalcken was the pupil ofHoogstraten, 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 ambassador'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 surpasses 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 stitch 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.
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 class. 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 itSlingelandthas 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 sewingbeside the cradle in which her infant is sleeping. From the richly furnished salonSlingelandtdescended 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 apron 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 brass vase or the rough varnish of an earthenware pot, as to expressing the transparency of a Bohemian glass. 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 constituted 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."
"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 sewingbeside the cradle in which her infant is sleeping. From the richly furnished salonSlingelandtdescended 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 apron 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 brass vase or the rough varnish of an earthenware pot, as to expressing the transparency of a Bohemian glass. 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 constituted 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 vanSlingelandt, 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.
A. DE VOIS Lady and ParrotA. DE VOISLady 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 awineglass; and The Fish-Vender, a jolly old fisherman with a glass 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,—theseare 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."
"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,—theseare 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. Thetable-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 glass, 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 attentionof 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 attitude is that of the mother, who is slowly drinking a glass of fine wine, while her husband lectures their daughter."
"Truly this dress is perfect: it is so close to the eye and within reach of the hand that it engrosses the entire attentionof 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 attitude is that of the mother, who is slowly drinking a glass 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 Münster (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 assistant 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,Société de campagnards, signed 1661. The latter has passed through the Lormier, Choiseul, Du Barry, Tolozon, and Duchesse 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. Theyall 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, MartinZaagmorlen, 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 ofmerrymakings, drunken assemblies, 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 illustrate 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 assumes 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 hesometimes 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 class of subjects painted two centuries earlier by Jerome Bosch—Dives in Hell, incantations, witches, phantasmagoria, etc.—for the simple purpose of assembling 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 Bassen.—A contemporary of his wasBartholomeusvan Bassen (d. 1652), who has a fine Interior with figures supplied byEsaisvan 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.
F. VAN MIERIS Grocer's ShopF. VAN MIERISGrocer'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 Duchesse 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 ablue 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 withbistre, 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 thepâte grasseabundant, 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 Façade 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 derMeer. This artist probably had several styles."This picture is signed: an open book on the table bears the word Meer."
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 ablue 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 withbistre, 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 thepâte grasseabundant, 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 Façade 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 derMeer. This artist probably had several styles.
"This picture is signed: an open book on the table bears the word Meer."
Van der Meer's Later Style.—In later pieces his style is reminiscent of De Hooch and Metsu, but it is brighter and the tone more enamelled. In most instances the scene is in a small room lighted by a casement window. Sometimes the painter himself is seated in a studio; sometimes a girl and her lover are together; sometimes a woman is seated at the clavecin. The Milkmaid in the Six Collection is noted for its brilliancy of tone, harmonious distribution of tints, delicacy of gradations, and solidity of touch.
His Portrait-painting.—Van der Meer was also a splendid portrait-painter and excelled in landscapes, in which he sacrificed figures to trees, cottages, and lanes. There is a charming little picture of this class in the Six Collection, representing a row of brick houses with people, in the style of Pieter de Hooch. It is said that he was killed by the fall of his house at the time when Simon Decker, a vestryman of the Delft Church, was sitting to him for his portrait.
Pieter de Hooch (1635-78).—This master who was so long neglected and is now regarded as at least the equal of Ter Borch, Metsu, and Van Mieris, is well represented in the Rijks, though absent from The Hague Gallery. His talent is exhibited chiefly in his Conversations. Burger says he has never seen a single picture by De Hooch that is not of the first rank.
Burger on De Hooch's Choice of Subjects.—"Sometimes he paints interiors—people are playing at cards, or having a family concert, or reading, or drinking, or conversing. Sometimes he paints exteriors; then the painter introduces us to domestic occupations, and the innocent recreations of private life, as, for instance, a servant washing linen in a back yard, or cleaning fish, or plucking a fowl; or perhaps there are ladies and their cavaliers playing at bowls in a garden with trim gravelled walks."His Excellent Painting of Interiors.—"When he paints interiors, this artist rarely neglects to show, on the right or left, doors opening on a staircase or revealing a leafy alley, or the trees along a quay, so that his pictures almost always seem to be the antechamber of another picture. In this characteristic style of De Hooch, when the interior of the apartment is moderately lighted, the sun shines outside, and we feel its heat and brilliance in the vistas gradually lost to view in the background, so inimitably managed in the artist's manner.... Pieter de Hooch seems to have been in Rembrandt's secrets, and knew how to adapt the genius of that great master to familiar scenes, just as Gonzales Coques had adapted the genius of Rubens."
Burger on De Hooch's Choice of Subjects.—"Sometimes he paints interiors—people are playing at cards, or having a family concert, or reading, or drinking, or conversing. Sometimes he paints exteriors; then the painter introduces us to domestic occupations, and the innocent recreations of private life, as, for instance, a servant washing linen in a back yard, or cleaning fish, or plucking a fowl; or perhaps there are ladies and their cavaliers playing at bowls in a garden with trim gravelled walks."
His Excellent Painting of Interiors.—"When he paints interiors, this artist rarely neglects to show, on the right or left, doors opening on a staircase or revealing a leafy alley, or the trees along a quay, so that his pictures almost always seem to be the antechamber of another picture. In this characteristic style of De Hooch, when the interior of the apartment is moderately lighted, the sun shines outside, and we feel its heat and brilliance in the vistas gradually lost to view in the background, so inimitably managed in the artist's manner.... Pieter de Hooch seems to have been in Rembrandt's secrets, and knew how to adapt the genius of that great master to familiar scenes, just as Gonzales Coques had adapted the genius of Rubens."
Seven Fine Examples of his Work in the Rijks.—The Rijks Museum owns seven fine examples of this master's work. The Portrait of a Man is said to be that of the painter at the age of nineteen; but this is doubtful. One of the most celebrated interiors shows a woman about to let a child drink from a jug of beer at the entrance to a cellar. This picture is very attractive for the simple attitudes, and for the depth of the equally sustained warm harmony. "The execution," says Crowe, "is a model of softness andjuiciness." The most glowing example, however, of this warm lighting is a woman cleaning the hair of a child, in the Van derHoop Room. The woman wears a skirt of deep blue and a bodice of red, bordered with white fur, while the child has a skirt of green and a gray bodice. Behind them is an alcove bed with green curtains, and to the right, in the foreground, a little chair. An open door on the left allows you to see into another room with a passage and courtyard beyond. A little black dog seen from behind lies on the reddish tiles. The picture is beautiful in its treatment of three successive planes of light.
P. DE HOOCH The Country HouseP. DE HOOCHThe Country House
Another picture in the same collection represents apparently a pair of lovers who seem to be teasing each other. The lady seen in profile is squeezing a lemon into a glass, and the young man sitting opposite with his elbow on the table looks at her with a subtle smile. The costumes are elegant—the lady wears a straw-colored skirt and a rose-colored jacket. The man has on a garnet-colored doublet, scarlet knee-breeches, and white stockings. He isbareheadedand wears a wig. If it were not for the pipe in his hand he would remind you of Molière's gentlemen. They are sitting in a kind of courtyard of a house with a red-tiled roof, and a window with red shutters is also visible. At the door of the house a woman is standing with a glass in her hand. A servant is busy with a kettle by the window. On the right there is an opening into a clump of trees, suggesting a park, and to the left another enclosure.
One of the most beautiful pictures in the collection, a marvel very difficult to describe because its superlative value lies in its luminous effect, is thus described:
A Picture Highly valued for its Luminous Effect.—"We are in a room, the door of which, in the background on the left, opens onto the quay of a canal. A girl passes along the path; next we see a tree, a stretch of the canal, and on the opposite bank another street, flooded with sunlight, in which two cloaked men have halted in front of a house. Above the door, which is slightly arched, is a large window with small panes in four compartments, one of which is open. Under the light falling from the window, in the corner of the room, a girl in a blue bodiceand white apron is seated, with her head turned toward a youth who is entering through on the extreme right in the foreground. In one hand he holds his hat, and presents a letter with the other."[26]
A Picture Highly valued for its Luminous Effect.—"We are in a room, the door of which, in the background on the left, opens onto the quay of a canal. A girl passes along the path; next we see a tree, a stretch of the canal, and on the opposite bank another street, flooded with sunlight, in which two cloaked men have halted in front of a house. Above the door, which is slightly arched, is a large window with small panes in four compartments, one of which is open. Under the light falling from the window, in the corner of the room, a girl in a blue bodiceand white apron is seated, with her head turned toward a youth who is entering through on the extreme right in the foreground. In one hand he holds his hat, and presents a letter with the other."[26]
A Pleasing Sunlight Effect.—Another picture shows a sunlight effect, in which both De Hooch and Vermeer of Delft delighted. There is a window on the left, above a table covered with a Turkey-redtable-cloth, which is silhouetted brightly on the lower part of the opposite wall, close to achimney piece. A servant is sweeping in front of the latter. Another woman, almost full-face, is seated, holding a baby in a yellow frock, with a child's cradle beside her. She wears a blue velvet jacket and red skirt. Behind her a door opens into a courtyard, and gives us a glimpse of the town. The rest of the background consists of a gray wall, on which hangs a picture. There is also a picture over the fireplace.
The Sick Lady.—Very similar to the pictures by Jan Steen and Metsu isHooghstraten's The Sick Lady, who, very pale and with drooping head, sits by a table on which her left elbow rests. On the red cloth, which is covered with a piece of white linen, stand a pot and a phial. She wears a white cap, a yellow jacket bordered with ermine, a Persian-blue skirt, and a white apron. Her hands are clasped at her waist, and her feet rest on a foot-warmer. Behind the table stands the doctor in his conventional costume of black. The bed, draped with green curtains, is seen in the background, where, to the left, a short flight of stairs leads to a series of rooms opening one into another in the style of Pieter de Hooch. The figures, about a foot high, are very finely drawn. Burger says:
"The general harmony of color is strange, distinguished, and original. There are tones of straw-color, tones of pearl-color, and silvery tones, happily brought together, a clever distribution of light, and lightness in the shadows."
"The general harmony of color is strange, distinguished, and original. There are tones of straw-color, tones of pearl-color, and silvery tones, happily brought together, a clever distribution of light, and lightness in the shadows."
Jan Steen's Style patterned after Hals and A. van Ostade.—Jan Steen shows the influence of his models, Hals and Adriaen van Ostade, in several of the seventeen pictures of this artist owned by the Rijks Museum. His own portrait and those in the Oostwaard picture (dated 1659) are strong, bright, and clear with the qualities he admired in Hals. The other pictures are all distinguished by correct drawing, admirable freedom and spirit of touch, and clear and transparent color. They range in subject from the stately interiors of grave and opulent burghers to tavern scenes of jollity and debauch.
Some of the Seventeen of his Pictures owned by the Rijks.—There are two pictures of the charlatan who puffs his pills, draws teeth, and sells everything helpful to those sick in body or in mind, from a love-philtre to the Elixir of Life. Here, also, we see doctors and patients, card-parties, marriage-feasts, and the festivals of St. Nicholas and Twelfth Night. His delightful rendering of children is also fully exemplified here. In detail, the pictures are as follows: A Portrait of Himself, showing a rather handsome man with oval face, arched brows, and well-cut mouth; A Charlatan Selling his Wares, in which the chief figure is standing on a platform beneath the shade of a tree, while around him are many little figures variously grouped, forming comic episodes; The Baker Oostwaard with his Wife and a Son of the Painter (1659). The baker is arranging his wares, and the little boy is blowing on a horn. The Scullion represents a woman scouring a pewter pot. She is in a kitchen, and wears a white jacket and a blue skirt. On the table by which she stands are utensils and a lantern.
JAN STEEN The Parrot CageJAN STEENThe Parrot Cage
Description of The Parrot Cage.—The Parrot Cage is a domestic scene, in what appears to be a tavern or a middle-class hall, in which there is a bed, a chair, and a table, at which two men are playing backgammon, while a third looks on smoking a pipe. At the big fireplace an old woman is broiling oysters, which are likely to spoil, asshe is taking more interest in the backgammon than in her own task. A boy seated on a low stool is feeding a kitten with milk from a spoon, and watching a woman of graceful figure who is offering a biscuit to a parrot in a cage.
The Orgy is famous for the dash and abandon with which it is painted.
The Village Wedding and Other Pictures.—The Rijks owns also The Birthday of the Prince of Orange, The Happy Return, The Rake, The Dancing Lesson, in which merry children are teaching a cat to dance; The Village Wedding, a little masterpiece, in which the light is treated as if by Ostade, and where the bride and groom are seated at a table with friends, while musicians play for many dancers.
Description of The Happy Family.—In The Happy Family we see a simply furnished room, in which is a bed, and next it a cupboard, on the top of which stand a mortar, some platters, and a vase of flowers; a happy family group is seated at a table. Hanging on the bed curtains is the legend in Dutch, "As the old ones sing so will the young ones pipe." This is the keynote of the picture. Every one is singing, piping, and making merry. Their gaiety is infectious. The father, seated at the end of the table, has a viola in one hand, while the right holds a glass of wine. Next him stands a boy playing bagpipes. Then the grandmother, singing, with a jolly expression on her face; next, the merry mother, with a merry baby, the image of her; next, a boy with a flute, another with a pipe; next, a girl about to smoke a pipe, in front two children, and at the open window a boy with a pipe. A dog stands by the master, near an empty platter, that shows he too has shared in the feast. There is a handsome table-carpet on the table, protected by a napkin, and on it a ham and a loaf of bread.
JAN STEEN The Happy FamilyJAN STEENThe Happy Family
A Family Scene on Twelfth Night.—Nearly all the same persons, only grown older, appear in A Family Scene on Twelfth Night:Margaritavan Goyen, Steen's wife, seenthis time from behind, with her profile upturned, and wearing a red skirt and a blue jacket trimmed with ermine, and ten other figures, including the old father and the painter himself, who are smoking in the background. "Delicious in color and vivacity!" is Burger's comment.
A Doubtful Picture of Steen and his Wife.—The Couple Drinking is said to be Steen and his wife. The latter with a white handkerchief on her head, a dark blue jacket, red skirt, and white apron is drinking from a tall glass. The man in black behind her and talking to her is about to drink from a mug. The ages of the couple make it doubtful if the painter and his wife are represented.
The Young Lady who is Ill.—The Young Lady who is Ill, seated languidly in a red arm-chair, with her head on a pillow, may be compared with similar pictures in The Hague Gallery. She wears a yellow silk skirt, and a jacket of lilac velvet bordered with ermine. The doctor is one of Steen's best creations of this type.
Steen's Most Popular Picture.—The most popular of all Steen's pictures, however, is the Eve of St. Nicholas, which shows a room in Jan Steen's house, and himself, his first wife, and their children. Beside the chimney sits the mother in lilac skirt and green velvet jacket bordered with ermine, and on her left is a low table, on which is a variety of cakes, fruits, and other holiday sweets. In the background sits the father, who is enjoying the scene. Seven children are present. The oldest, holding a baby with a rag doll in its arms, is pointing up the chimney, explaining to the open-mouthed and staring little boy at his side whence St. Nicholas came. On the extreme left a boy is crying because all that St. Nicholas has rewarded him with is a birch rod, which his sister is presenting to him in his wooden shoe, and with evident pleasure. A little boy, with his father's cane in his hand, is enjoying his brother's disappointment and probable future punishment. In the background, the grandmother, drawing the curtains of the bed and tauntingly beckoning to the crying boy, seems to invite him to spendhis St. Nicholas festival in bed. In the very centre of the picture is the pet of the family—a little girl, the very image of her mother. She has a pail full of toys, fruits, and cakes on one arm, and in her tiny hands she holds the figure of St. Nicholas, whose head is surrounded with a nimbus.
A basket of wafers, cakes, waffles, buns, crullers, etc., stands on the floor on the left; and leaning against the little table on the right is an enormous flat loaf of bread or cake iced in lines and decorated with figures of the cock at the four corners and in the centre that of St. Nicholas.