Dutch painting. The golden age of Dutch painting. Paintings by Dutch artists

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Even those who are not too well versed in art know about Dutch or Flemish painting. But for many, these are nothing more than portraits of Rembrandt. Meanwhile, this is a special area of European culture worthy of a more detailed study, which reflects the original life of the people of Holland of those times.

History of Appearance

Bright representatives of art began to appear in the country in the seventeenth century. French culturologists gave them a common name - "small Dutch", which is not associated with the scale of talents and denotes attachment to certain topics from everyday life, opposite to the "big" style with large canvases on historical or mythological subjects. The history of the emergence of Dutch painting was described in detail in the nineteenth century, and the authors of works about it also used this term. The "Little Dutchmen" were distinguished by secular realism, turned to the surrounding world and people, used painting rich in tones.

Main stages of development

The history of Dutch painting can be divided into several periods. The first lasted approximately from 1620 to1630s, when realism was asserted in national art. The second period of Dutch painting was experienced in 1640-1660. This is the time when the real heyday of the local art school falls. Finally, the third period, the time when Dutch painting began to decline - from 1670 to the early eighteenth century.

It is worth noting that cultural centers have changed throughout this time. In the first period, the leading artists worked in Haarlem, and Halsa was the main representative. Then the focus shifted to Amsterdam, where Rembrandt and Vermeer performed the most significant works.

Scenes of everyday life

Listing the most important genres of Dutch painting, you should definitely start with everyday life - the most striking and original in history. It was the Flemings who opened to the world scenes from the everyday life of ordinary people, peasants and townspeople or burghers. The pioneers were Ostade and his followers Oudenrogge, Bega and Dusart. In Ostade's early paintings, people play cards, quarrel and even fight in a tavern. Each picture is distinguished by a dynamic, somewhat brutal character. Dutch painting of those times also tells about peaceful scenes: in some works, peasants talk over a pipe and a mug of beer, spend time at a fair or with their families. Rembrandt's influence led to the widespread use of soft golden chiaroscuro. Urban scenes have inspired artists such as Hals, Leyster, Molenaer and Codde. In the middle of the seventeenth century, the masters portrayed doctors,scientists in the process of work, own workshops, household chores or social events. Each plot was supposed to be entertaining, sometimes grotesquely didactic. Some masters were inclined to poeticize everyday life, for example, Terborch depicted scenes of playing music or flirting. Metsu used bright colors, turning everyday life into a holiday, and de Hooch was inspired by the simplicity of family life, flooded with diffused daylight. Late exponents of the genre, such as Dutch masters such as Van der Werf and Van der Neer, often created somewhat pretentious subjects in their pursuit of elegant depiction.

Nature and landscapes

In addition, Dutch painting is widely represented in the landscape genre. It first originated in the work of such masters of Haarlem as van Goyen, de Moleyn and van Ruisdael. It was they who began to depict rural corners in a certain silvery light. The material unity of nature came to the fore in the works. Separately, it is worth mentioning the seascapes. Marine painters were 17th century Dutch painters such as Porcellis, de Vlieger and van de Capelle. They did not so much seek to convey certain sea scenes as they tried to portray the water itself, the play of light on it and in the sky.

By the second half of the seventeenth century, more emotional works with philosophical ideas emerged in the genre. Jan van Ruisdael maximized the beauty of the Dutch landscape, depicting it in all its drama, dynamics and monumentality. Hobbem became the successor of his traditions,preferring sunny landscapes. Koninck depicted panoramas, while van der Neer was engaged in the creation of night landscapes and the transmission of moonlight, sunrise and sunset. A number of artists are also characterized by the depiction of animals in landscapes, for example, grazing cows and horses, as well as hunting and scenes with cavalrymen. Later, artists began to get involved in foreign nature as well - Both, van Laer, Venix, Berchem and Hackert depicted Italy bathed in the rays of the southern sun. Sanredam became the initiator of the urban landscape genre, the best followers of which are the Berckheide brothers and Jan van der Heyden.

Image of interiors

A separate genre, which distinguished Dutch painting in its heyday, can be called scenes with church, palace and domestic rooms. Interiors appeared in the paintings of the second half of the seventeenth century by the masters of Delft - Haukgest, van der Vliet and de Witte, who became the main representative of the direction. Using Vermeer's techniques, the artists depicted scenes bathed in sunlight, full of emotion and volume.

Picturesque dishes and dishes

Finally, another characteristic genre of Dutch painting is still life, especially the image of breakfasts. For the first time, the Harlemians Klas and Kheda, who painted laid tables with luxurious crockery, took up the art. The picturesque mess and the special rendering of a cozy interior are filled with a silvery-gray light, characteristic of silver and pewter utensils. Utrecht artists painted magnificentflower still lifes, and in The Hague, the masters were especially successful in depicting fish and marine reptiles. In Leiden, a philosophical direction of the genre arose, in which skulls and hourglasses are adjacent to symbols of sensual pleasure or earthly glory, designed to remind of the transience of time. Democratic kitchen still lifes have become a hallmark of the Rotterdam art school.