|
|
Dutch Portraiture
Dutch Portraits
|
|
|
Art fans of the Dutch seventeenth-century portraiture are in for a treat. An exhibit has been organized featuring the magnificent Rembrandt along with Frans Hals and others that will be on display in London before moving to The Hague. |
|
This art period is fascinating because nowhere else were so many portraits painted of burghers from all walks of life. The last exhibition devoted to this subject took place more than 50 years ago. |
|
The historical importance of these works should not be overlooked.
Title: Portrait of Lysbeth Walichsdr and her daughter Elisabeth, 1602
Artist: Jan Claesz (Dutch active 1593-1618)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 104 x 80 cm
Permanent Collection: Hoorn, Westfries Museum
Image Courtesy: Mauritshuis, The Hague
For the Dutch interest, in painted portraits emerged around 1400. By the turn of the 17th Century as citizens gained ever more power and influence, their interest in obtaining luxury products also grew. Among their interests were capturing themselves and their families via a commissioned painting.
Many homes would have one or more portraits. Painters such as Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Thomas de Keyser, Johannes Verspronck and Nicolaes Maes were granted the commissions and made a good income from these works. Portraiture became the most widely practiced artistic genre in the Northern Netherlands in the seventeenth century.
Given these were commissioned works, and by noted Dutch masters, often the sitters’ names are known along with information about them. Added to that much can be learned about the sitter from the clothing, jewelry, and hair styles.
Title: Portrait of an Elderly Man, 1667
Artist: Rembrandt (Dutch 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 82 x 68 cm
Permanent Collection: The Hague, Mauritshuis
Image Courtesy: Mauritshuis, The Hague
The exhibit includes approximately 60 masterpieces. Rembrandt and Frans Hals, both masters of Dutch portraiture have a minimum of eight masterpieces each.
Dutch Portraits
The Age of Rembrandt and Frans Hals
National Gallery of Art, London:
June 27 - September 16, 2007
Mauritshuis, The Hague:
October 13, 2007 - January 13, 2008