| ART “4”
“2”-DAY 12 November
v.6.90 |
| BIRTH:
1840 RODIN |
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Died on 12 November 1662: Adriaen Pieterszoon
van de Venne, Dutch painter, draftsman, and poet, born in
1589. — He was born of ‘worthy’ parents who had fled to Delft from the southern Netherlands to escape war and religious strife. Inspired by his early study of Latin to become an illustrator, he was partly self-taught but also received instruction in painting and illumination from the otherwise unrecorded Leiden goldsmith and painter Simon de Valck. His second teacher, Hieronymus van Diest (not the later marine artist), is equally obscure and painted grisailles, a technique that van de Venne later employed extensively. — LINKS — Fishing for Souls (1614, 98x189cm; _ ZOOM to 843x1600pix, 246kb) _ Fishing boats full of people on a wide river. They are hauling in a surprising catch: naked people. Crowds fill the banks. Van de Venne has taken the idea from the Gospels: Jesus was walking beside a lake where he saw fishermen at their work. He called some of them, saying “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:20). These words are commonly understood as a call from Jesus to follow him and convert others to his way of life. Van de Venne has transformed this account into a bigoted allegory illustrating the religious experience of his time. Here the fishermen are Protestants and Catholics each vying to win over people's souls. In this painting van de Venne represented the moral superiority claimed by Dutch leaders. The orderly Dutch Protestants “fishermen” are more successful, catching people with the Bible and with the Christian virtues Hope, Faith, and Charity inscribed in the net. The near-capsizing Catholic monks use incense and music for lures. On the left bank, Dutch leaders are neatly aligned, opposite the less numerous Flemish dignitaries on the other side. Although the Southern Netherlandish camp is painted respectfully, their background is literally constituted by a withered tree and a Pope borne by adulatory monks. Fishing for souls had a political connotation. The Protestant northern provinces were in open revolt against their Catholic Spanish overlords. When Van der Venne painted this scene a truce had been signed (1609). During this Twelve-Year Truce (1609-1621) neither nation was able to achieve outright supremacy. In the Republic the peace was marred by increasing political polarization. Conflict centred on foreign policy, religion and the ties between Church and state. The main protagonists were Prince Maurice and Grand Pensionary Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. The conflict almost escalated into civil war. Maurice ordered the arrest of his rivals in 1618. Oldenbarnevelt was charged with treason and sentenced to death. He was beheaded on 13 May 1619. Fishing for Souls may well have been an appeal to unity within the Protestant camp. The river divides the two sides. On the left the Protestants are shown in two fishing boats with the House of Orange, while on the right are the Catholics in two other fishing boats with Albert and Isabella of Austria. Van de Venne included a self portrait in the picture. He is standing in the front of the group to the left, among the Protestants. There are other indications in the picture that Van de Venne was on the Protestant side too. The tree on the right is withered, while that on the left is full of life. The quotation on the tree from the first psalm Psalm 1: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. emphasises the superiority of the Protestants. The sun shines down on the left bank, but above the right bank dark clouds lower. Originally the nets of the Catholics were empty. Later, Van de Venne added in a few extra figures. They are painted in a far freer manner than the rest of the work. Fishing for Souls is one of Adriaen van der Venne's earliest works. A large and ambitious piece, it was probably made as his qualifying work for the position of master painter. Presumably he hoped to attract patrons who were Protestants. Van de Venne was living and working in the town of Middelburg when he painted Fishing for Souls. He was to produce more such large-scale works there, full of anecdotal detail. — “What Won't People Do for Money!” _ Van de Venne's style was related to Pieter Brughel the Elder. He made grisailles of the destitute and maimed which have a moralizing character. However, paintings of the high life of elegant young men and their fashionable women companions - the so-called "merry company" pictures - were much more popular than those showing the predicament of the poor. The scene, which is no longer easy to define, ridicules greed for money, a favourite theme of this artist and one which he used in a number of paintings. The saying is simply portrayed, with no attempt to point the moral beyond what is implicit in the scene itself, which is depicted with all the jovial familiarity characteristic of the genre. — A Pair of Skating Owls — Princes Maurice and Frederick Henry of Orange at Valkenburg Horse Fair (1618, 64x134cm) _ Despite the title the two princes are only a minor detail: they are sitting in an open coach, left of center, pulled by six grays; to the left of this team is a splendid Spanish stallion with the long flowing mane that was one of Maurice's favorites. It was often portrayed (for example by Jacques de Gheyn II [1565 – 29 Mar 1629] as Spanish Warhorse captured at the Battle of Nieuwpoort (1603, 228x269cm)). An equestrian escort of Dutch nobles accompanies the princes. Leading the way are three pages wearing identical cheerful red, blue and green livery. To the left of the coach are two noblemen on horseback. But far more is happening in this picture. Van de Venne is a true storyteller. With a keen eye for detail he constructed this composition scene by scene. A horse market and fair was held every year from 9 to 17 September at the village Valkenburg, near Leiden, on the Old Rhine in South Holland. The words 'Valkenburg' and 'horse fair'. were almost synonymous. It was a popular event. People came from far and wide, and not only to buy and sell. The fair was also traditionally a place of entertainment. The gentleman and lady on the right are stunningly dressed, compared to the rather unkempt common folk. She is wearing a high lace ruff and beneath her bodice a crimson-colored garment is discernible. These may be the patrons who commissioned the painting. These have been tentatively identified as Johan de Hertoghe, lord of Valkenburg and Orsmael, and Josyna de Bye. In late December 1615 De Hertoghe bought the Valkenburg estate from Princess de Ligne - the start of his strong ties with the region. And he was also one of Maurice's loyal supporters and favorites. In 1614 and 1615 he served as master of the Prince's stables, in 1616 he was appointed quartermaster general of the States army and in 1619 Maurice promoted him to lieutenant and later to governor of the principality of Orange. In February 1618 Maurice sent De Hertoghe to Brussels to supervise the reading and execution of Philip William's testament. For this loyal servant of the Prince a depiction of Maurice as the sovereign visiting 'his' horse market would have made an attractive subject. Behind this splendid couple is a rat-catcher. As customary, he has hung his catch on a stick. On the ground lie the bones of a horse, various shells, coins, fragments of an eggshell and a broken pipe. They are reminders of the transience of life. Symbols of this kind were often employed in pictures. Incidentally, the shells shown here are not Dutch. They were collected on some far-off coast and may well have formed part of a collection in a Cabinet of Curiosities. In the 16th and 17th centuries wealthy merchants and scholars often collected rare and curious objects. These collections would often be housed in cabinets: special cupboards made for the collector, sometimes entire rooms. In fact, a cabinet of curiosities is a miniature museum. Sixteenth- and 17th-century collectors aimed at encapsulating the whole cosmos in their collection. A collection would generally contain fossils, old coins, precious stones, preserved organisms, ostrich eggs and manmade objects. One of the attractions at the fair is being announced. A man holds up a board with pictures. It is to inform those who cannot read what is next. Three monkeys dressed in yellow will perform tricks. A drummer announces other attractions, such as the traveling stone-cutter. Several persons have gathered around him, and he is explaining how a gallstone is removed. In general, stonecutters were unqualified surgeons who specialized in a single operation: removing gallstones. In the 16th and 17th centuries many more people suffered from gallstones - a painful affliction - than today. The only person able to do anything for the patient was the stonecutter. There were good cutters, but there were charlatans too. They were often itinerant, attracting customers at fairs and markets. The tavern would serve as an operating theater. Audiences were welcome. After the operation the cutter would vanish quickly - gallstone operations frequently ended badly. — The Departure of a Senior Functionary from the Port of Middelburg (1615, 64x134cm) _ A government functionary is leaving the Zeeland port of Middelburg on board 'The Zeehondt'. Flying the flags of Middelburg and Zeeland, the vessel is being towed up the canal to the harbor - a three-kilometre trek. Numerous ships and a large crowd on the opposite bank have turned out to see off the dignitary. Van de Venne portrayed a wide view of the city and surrounding countryside of Middelburg. He used the broad canvas to cleverly combine a view of the town, a harbour scene and a landscape with a crowd of people. The painting contains a wealth of detail. Van de Venne often embellished his paintings with groups of people and animals. On the right, ordinary Zeelanders are working, while sightseers have gathered along the canal. To the right, in the foreground, various dignitaries are walking alongside the functionaries on horseback, with the burgomaster of Middelburg in front. Until recently, it was thought that the painting showed the departure of the English governor, Robert Sidney, in 1616. Flushing (Vlissingen) and Rammekens castle in Zeeland had been garrisoned by the English since 1585. In 1585 the situation in the young Dutch Republic was delicately poised. The political leaders appealed to Elizabeth I of England for aid. She agreed to provide the Republic with money and troops to fight against the Spanish. As security, the 'cautionary' towns of Flushing and the Brill, together with the fort of Rammekens would be placed under English dominion. Elisabeth subsequently appointed Robert Sidney governor. In 1616 it was the English crown that was in difficulties, and the Republic was able to pay off its onetime ally. With Sidney's departure, Zeeland became a free province. During recent restoration of the work, however, an inscription giving the date 1615 was discovered. This is too early for Sidney's departure - but who the dignitary is remains a mystery. Many of Middelburg's principal buildings are depicted in the townscape. The tall spire at the center is the Lange Jan ('Long John') of the Koorkerk ('Choir church'). The broader, shorter tower to the left is the tower of the town hall, a beautiful, late Medieval building. Ships were able to sail into the center of town, guided by the flags. In 1615, when this painting was made, Middelburg was one of the foremost cities in the Dutch Republic of the United Provinces (Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, and Zeeland) founded in 1588 as a result of the Dutch Revolt against Spain: many rich merchants lived there and the economy flourished. It was an ideal refuge for those fleeing wartorn Flanders after the Sack of Antwerp. For artists, however, the town could not offer enough. Like his colleagues, Van de Venne eventually moved on, apparently settling in The Hague about 1625, after having lived in Middelburg for some ten years. The ship on the left is Prince Maurice's yacht, recognizable from the heraldic colours on the bowsprit and the Orange flag - with the ubiquitous oranges - flying from the stern. The vessel is firing a salute. In the foreground, four gentlemen are riding on horseback through the water. They too are part of the escort. One, riding the horse third from the left, is van de Venne himself. — The Four Seasons: Winter (1625; 15x38cm; 632x1600pix, 173kb) _ This painting is one of a series of four. Each of the landscapes represents one of the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In this picture people are skating. Van de Venne integrated a number of jokes and anecdotes into the painting. For instance, the woman who has fallen over. Her skirt has flown up over her head through the fall, revealing her bare bottom. The man behind finds it all very amusing. The four seasons were a popular subject for painters and draftsmen. For centuries the seasons of the year were depicted in scenes representing the work that took place at particular times of the year on the land. Winter was usually depicted with skating scenes. This changed in the seventeenth century. Artists searched for new ways to represent the seasons, as did Van de Venne to a certain extent. — Spring (1625; 15x38cm; 202x526pix, 18kb) _ A woman and man meet in a landscape. The man has just dismounted to greet the woman. Their well-to-do clothes contrast sharply with the rags of the beggar who has attached himself to them. It is impossible to tell from the tree whether this is a spring scene. It may just as easily be summer. In order to make it clear that it is spring in the painting, Van de Venne has painted spring flowers. The flowers are scattered on the ground near the woman's feet. — Autumn aka The Conversation (1625; 15x38cm; 202x513pix, 19kb) _ Autumn has the same composition as Spring: on the left a tree, with a couple to the left of center. The man and the woman look out across the water. They are deep in conversation. The woman is extravagantly well-dressed. A high lace ruff partially conceals her face and hair, which is decorated with dark flowers. The green velvet sash trimmed with gold braid around her waist is casually thrown back. The grapes in the basket and on the ground, the scattered mushrooms and mussel shells symbolize autumn. — Summer aka The Salute (1625; 15x38cm; 202x525pix, 16kb) _ In a green landscape, a rider flies at full speed into the picture. He reins in his horse, causing it to rear up. A page comes running after them. The rider is saluted by the man in the coach. In the middle of the painting, a spire rises up above the trees. This is the spire of Saint-Jacob's church in The Hague. Adriaan van de Venne went to live in the capital, The Hague, in 1625 - the year he painted the four seasons. Before this he had worked in Middelburg, Zeeland. — a different Summer (507x800pix, 115kb) — Zeeusche nachtegael, ende des selfs dryderley gesang (1623) — Maurice (1567-1625), Prince of Orange, Lying in State (1625, 8x13cm) _ Maurice of Nassau [14 Nov 1567 – 23 Apr 1625] Prince of Orange (since 1618) died after an illness of almost six months. The next day a postmortem was carried out. Rumpf and Vallensis, his physicians, were able to establish that it was not poison that had killed him, as rumors implied, but an abscess of the liver. Maurice was embalmed and laid out in a red fur-trimmed shroud. Adriaen van de Venne portrayed Maurice lying in state, probably painting the work within days of his death. At least four other versions of Van de Venne's portrait exist. In addition to this official final portrait, death masks were also made. One of these was acquired by Rembrandt. Five months Maurice's death, he was buried in Delft. The funeral was a major event. The Funeral Procession of Maurice was drawn by Gillis van Scheyndel. It showed the many prominent personalities who attended. The funeral was enormously expensive. The suits of clothes for the courtiers alone came to almost 12'000 guilders. _ You can see what Maurice looked like alive in: _ Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange and Stadholder (106x75cm; 1000x695pix, 290kb) after Michiel Janszoon van Mierevelt. — Allegory of the Truce of 1609 between the Archduke of Austria, Governor of the Southern Netherlands, and the States-General of the Northern Netherlands (1616, 62x113cm; 432x800pix, 102kb) —(061112) |
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Born on on 12 November 1840: François~Auguste~René Rodin,
in France. He would be famous as a sculptor (Kiss, Thinker), but would also be an author (Les Cathédrales de France, 1914) and painter. — Rodin would die on 17 November 1917. — The French artist Auguste Rodin had a profound influence on 20th-century sculpture. His works are distinguished by their stunning strength and realism. Rodin refused to ignore the negative aspects of humanity, and his works confront distress and moral weakness as well as passion and beauty. Rodin was born in Paris. At the age of 14 he entered the Petite École, a school of decorative arts in Paris. He applied three times to study at the renowned École des Beaux-Arts but was rejected each time. In 1858 he began to do decorative stonework in order to make his living. Four years later the death of his sister Marie so traumatized Rodin that he entered a sacred order. The father superior of the order recognized Rodin's talents and encouraged him to pursue his art. In 1864 Rodin met a seamstress named Rose Beuret. She became his life companion and was the model for many of his works. That year Rodin submitted his Man with a Broken Nose to the Paris Salon. It was rejected but later accepted under the title Portrait of a Roman. Rodin traveled in 1875 to Italy, where the works of Michelangelo [1475–1564] made a strong impression on him. The trip inspired his sculpture The Age of Bronze, which was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1877. It caused a scandal because the critics could not believe that Rodin had not used a casting of a live model in creating so realistic a work. The controversy brought Rodin more fame than praise might have. In 1880 he was commissioned to create a bronze door for the future Museum of Decorative Arts. Although the work was unfinished at the time of his death, it provided the basis for some of Rodin's most influential and powerful work. In 1884 he was commissioned to create a monument that became The Burghers of Calais. His statues St. John the Baptist Preaching, Eve, The Age of Bronze, and The Thinker are world famous. When Rodin was 76 years old he gave the French government the entire collection of his own works and other art objects he had acquired. — Born Auguste-René-Francois Rodin as son of a Normandy Police officer; at age 14 he was a student at the future École des Arts Décoratives; he made his first independent work in 1864; from 1864 to 1871 he worked at the Sèvres Porcelain Factory; he stayed in Belgium after the war from 1871 to 1877; he went to Florence and Rome and was greatly impressed by Michelangelo's sculptures; he traveled throughout France to study the Cathedrals; in 1889 Rodin had extensive exhibition of his work together with Monet; he moved to a town close to Sèvres in 1890 and four years later moved again to Meudon; Rodin always had a studio in Paris, the last of which is now known as the Musée Rodin. Rodin is considered the most important sculptor of the nineteenth century, whose work defied academic tradition and helped lead the way to modernism. He studied in Paris from 1854 to 1857 at the Petite Ecole (a free drawing school) under Lecoq de Boisbaudran. In 1857 he failed the entrance examination of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and to support his family he began to assist commercial sculptors including Carrier-Belleuse. In Brussels in 1875-1876 Rodin produced his first masterwork, The Age of Bronze, attacked by critics who assumed its realism depended on casting directly from a live model. In 1880 he was commissioned to make doors for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs: this project, The Gates of Hell, occupied him for over twenty years and became a source for numerous sculptures that he cast independently. Two other important monuments, The Burghers of Calais and Balzac, were unveiled in 1895 and 1898. Controversial because of its unconventional poses, dramatic modeling, and candor of emotional and sexual expression, Rodin's work achieved full recognition only after a retrospective at the Paris International Exposition of 1900. Thereafter it was in great demand to a host of international collectors. At his death he bequeathed a large body of his work to the French nation. — Comments on Rodin — LINKS — Antonin Proust (1885 drypoint 20x14cm; 2/3 size, 67kb _ F#*>ZOOM to 6/5 size, 205kb ) _ Antonin Proust [15 Mar 1832 – 22 Mar 1905] was a French journalist and politician, born at Niort (uncle of Marcel Proust [10 Jul 1871 – 18 Nov 1922]). He founded in 1864 the anti-imperial journal La Semaine hebdomadaire, which appeared at Brussels. He was war correspondent for Le Temps in the early days of the Franco-Prussian War (France declared war on 19 July 1870), but after the decisive defeat of the French army at Sedan (01 Sep 1870) he returned to Paris, where he became secretary to Gambetta [02 Apr 1838 – 31 Dec 1882] (minister of the interior and most prominent figure in the provisional government set up on 04 September 1870), and superintended the refugees in Paris. He entered the Chamber as deputy for his native town in 1876, taking his seat on the left. In Gambetta's cabinet [Nov 1881 - Jan 1882] he was minister of fine arts, and in the Chamber of Deputies he was regularly commissioned to draw up the budget for the fine arts, after the separate department had ceased to exist. Prosecuted in connection with the Panama scandal (1892-1893), he was acquitted in 1893. After that he lived in the closest retirement. He died of suicide, two days after shooting himself in the head. _ There is also a much better Portrait de M. Antonin Proust (1880, 130x96cm) by his friend Manet who, in 1877, had already painted a quite different Study Portrait of Antonin Proust. — 134 images at Sotheby's (mostly photos of sculptures) —(060603) |
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Died on 12 November 1722: Adriaan van
der Werff, Dutch painter of religious and mythological scenes
and portraits, active mainly in Rotterdam, born on 21 January 1659. — Van der Werff combined the precise finish of the Leiden tradition (learned from his master Eglon van der Neer [1634–1703]) with the classical standards of the French Academy and became the most famous Dutch painter of his day, winning international success and earning an enormous fortune. Houbraken, writing in 1721, considered him the greatest of all Dutch painters and this was the general critical opinion for about another century. He is now considered an extremely accomplished, rather sentimental and repetitive minor master. Van der Werff also worked as an architect in Rotterdam, designing elegant house façades. His brother, Pieter van der Werff (1655-1722), was his principal student and assistant, imitating Adriaen's style closely and making many copies of his work. — LINKS — Children Playing before a Hercules Group (1687, 47x35cm) _ According to an early biography, van der Werff relished "representing satin garments after the modern manner (like that of Ter Borch [1617–1681])." The silk clothes indeed evoke Ter Borch's astounding mastery of satin. — Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine of Pfalz (1700, 76x54cm) _ Johann Wilhalm appointed Werff court painter in 1697 at the annual salary of 4000 guilders with the understanding that the artist would spend six months of the year at his court in Düsseldorf. The elector remained van der Werff's Maecenas until his death in 1716. In 1703 the elector created van der Werff a knight. Werff was commissioned to paint the portrait of the elector as well as that of his wife, Maria Anna Loisia de'Medici. — Maria Anna Loisia de'Medici (1700, 77x53cm) _ This is the companion-piece of the portrait of the sitter's husband, Johann Wilhelm, elector palatine of Pfalz. — Sarah Presenting Hagar to Abraham (1699, 76x61cm) _ In the biblical story Sarah, still childless in maturity, gave her Egyptian slave to her husband Abraham, so he could produce an heir with her. Hagar's smooth nudity announces her success in arousing the aging man — a feat that later caused his wrenching dilemma, when Sarah gave birth to Isaac and asked Abraham to dismiss Hagar and her son. The air of illicit titillation suffusing the painting, roundly condemned by Calvinist preachers, surely enhanced its appeal, even or possibly because the represented woman is ultimately two-dimensional and cold. It offers allowable pleasure, vicarious thrills that can be experienced without moral danger (?). |
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Died on 12 November 1754: Jacob de Wit
(or Witt), Amsterdam Rococo
painter, draftsman, etcher, and writer, baptized as an infant on 19 December
1695. — {In Dutch, he was not “the wit”, but a much duller
“the white” which did little to distinguish him from other Dutchmen,
few if any of which were of African ancestry and could appropriately have
been called “de Zwart”} — He was the leading 18th-century Dutch decorative painter, specializing in Rococo ceiling and room decorations and groups of putti painted naturalistically in color or as imitation reliefs in grisaille. His preparatory drawings for ceiling decorations were collected during his own lifetime, but he also made independent finished drawings specifically for collectors (e.g. Three Hovering Putti). — Jacob de Wit was the outstanding Dutch decorative painter of the 18th century, active mainly in his native Amsterdam. He had his principal training in Antwerp and learned much from Rubens's ceiling paintings in the Jesuit Church there (his drawings became valuable records after the paintings were destroyed by fire in 1718). De Wit's style, however, was much lighter than Rubens's, with a Rococo delicacy and charm. He was a Catholic and was the first Dutch artist since the 16th century to carry out a good deal of decorative work for Catholic churches, but he was at his best in domestic ceiling decorations (e.g. Bacchus and Ceres in the Clouds, 1751). His name has entered the Dutch language to describe a kind of trompe-l'oeil imitation of marble reliefs for which he was renowned; such pictures, usually set over a chimney-piece or door, are called 'witjes ('wit' is Dutch for 'white'). De Wit was also an engraver and a noted collector of Old Master drawings. — The students of de Wit included Jan Punt and Pieter Tanjé. — LINKS — Design for a ceiling painting with Mercury bringing a hero before Venus; in the corners the four seasons (1723) — Winter (1740) — Holy Family and Trinity (1726, 140x105cm; 965x707pix, 92kb) _ The composition of this painting is in the form of an upended T. The Holy Family is shown on a horizontal axis in the bottom half with Mary and Joseph on either side of the Child Jesus in the center, who is also the God the Word, at the foot of the vertical axis showing the Trinity, with God the Holy Spirit represented by a dove, and God the Father by a white-bearded man. This expresses the dogma that Christ's human nature and His Divine nature are united hypostatically, i.e. united in the hypostasis (= person) of the Word. — Adoration by the Shepherds (1726, 138x103cm) _ detail (904x609pix, 81kb) — Baptism of Christ in the Jordan (1716 drawing, 260x180cm; 992x705pix, 140kb) _ This is a study for the altarpiece painted by De Wit for the Amstelkring Kirk (“attic church”) in Amsterdam, his first altarpiece for a Catholic church in Amsterdam after his apprenticeship in Antwerp. |
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