Kahr - Dutch Painting In The Seventeenth Century

It was my good fortune to be introduced to the study of Dutch painting by a great scholar and teacher. Professor Julius S. Held. For his contributions to this book specifically and to my work in general, I am deeply grateful .

First published 1978 by Westview Publishers

Published 2018 by Routledge

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DUTCH PAINTING IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, SECOND EDITION.

Copyright 1978, 1993 by Madlyn Millner Kahr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Kahr, Madlyn Millner.

Dutch painting in the seventeenth century.

(Icon editions)

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

ISBN 006-4302199 (pbk.)

1. Painting, Dutch. 2. PaintingModern17th-18th

centuriesNetherlands. I. Title.

ND646.K261978759.949278377

ISBN 13: 9780-06430219-7 (pbk)

THE END of the Golden Age of Dutch painting did not come with the suddenness of a curtain descending to mark the end of a play. It was more like the gradual dimming of the golden sunlight as dusk approaches, extending through the last quarter of the seventeenth century. There was a brilliant afterglow in the works of Aert de Gelder (), so surprisingly produced by Meindert Hobbema in 1689. There were also some estimable artists who came to maturity during this period, such as Adriaen Coorte, who painted still-lifes of consummate delicacy between 1685 and 1703, and Rachel Ruysch, a gifted painter of flowers (16641750). The polished academic style of Adriaen van der Werff (16591722), imbued with fashionable French elegance, brought favor and high prices for his portraits, scenes of social life, and history subjects. On the whole, however, paintings made in the last decades of the century tended to be dry and derivative. The great creative surge had ended, along with the period of rapid economic expansion.

As early as 1647 the wish for baroque grandeur had moved Amalia van Solms, widow of the Stadholder Frederik Hendrik, to choose the Antwerp style of painting to decorate the Orange Room of her new country house at The Hague, the Huis ten Bosch (House in the Woods). The allegorical program., planned by Constantijn Huygens after the death of Frederik Hendrik, was executed by Jacob lordaens and other Flemish painters, along with such Dutch artists as the Stadholders old court painter, Honthorst; Ian Lievens, who had effeetivley adopted the Antwerp style; and Caesar van Everdingen (160678), whose classicizing style qualified him for admittance to this select company. The large allegorical paintings in the new Town Hall at Amsterdam were designed by Flinck and Bol, who had abandoned the style of their teacher, Rembrandt, in favor of imitations of the international baroque style that was associated with political power. For the propaganda purposes served by these ensembles of paintings, Dutch realism was not considered appropriate.

Even before the Peace of Minster in 1648, there was evidence of French influence in literature and classical studies in the United Provinces. With the exception of painting, the Dutch had not developed fully independent culture. The French taste in fashion, literature, art, and etiquette, always prominent at the court in The Hague, spread widely through Dutch society during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. Though the French invasion of 1672 was repulsed, French style conquered the Dutch Republic. The native tradition, undervalued by the tastemakers, lost support and prestige. Reflecting French art theory, Samuel van Hoogstraten in his book published in 1678 stressed the importance of fixed rules. His judgment that only the charming and elegant are worthy subjects for painting speaks for the dominant taste of the time. In keeping with this point of view, he criticized Rembrandts lack of taste and his choice of vulgar subjects.

The striving for a more aristocratic, elaborate style and more pretentious subjects in painting led to arid academicism. The vigor and clarity of earlier Dutch painting were lost. Small, highly finished paintings in the manner of Dou were among the pale reflections of stronger works from the earlier days that continued to be in demand through the eighteenth century and even into the nineteenth, while the general public underesteemed the accomplishments of the great artists and completely forgot some of them.

When it abandoned its intimate contact with the observed world, Dutch art lost its vitality, like Antaeus when his feet lost contact with the earth. The rich diversity of Dutch art of the Golden Age, with its profound expression of human experience, became a treasure of the past, to be rediscovered by future generations.

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