In the 17th century Holland has become a model capitalist country. She conducted extensive colonial trade, she had a powerful fleet, and shipbuilding was one of the leading industries. Even English shipowners often placed orders with Dutch shipyards. Hardworking farmers, the Dutch, in a relatively small area of land, managed to create such a dairy industry that they became famous in the pan-European market. At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. with the entry into the international trade arena of England and France, Holland loses its economic and political significance, but throughout XVII century it is Europe's leading economic power.
At the same time, Holland during this period was also the most important center European culture. The struggle for national independence and the victory of the burghers also determined the character of Dutch culture in the 17th century. Protestantism (Calvinism as its most severe form), which completely supplanted the influence of the Catholic Church, led to the fact that the clergy in Holland did not have the same influence on art as in Flanders, and especially in Spain or Italy. Leiden University was a center of free thought. The spiritual atmosphere was conducive to the development of philosophy, natural sciences, and mathematics. The absence of a wealthy patrician and Catholic clergy had enormous consequences for the development of Dutch art. U Dutch artists there was another customer: the burghers, the Dutch magistrate, who decorated not palaces and villas, but modest dwellings or public buildings - therefore, the paintings in Holland of this time do not have the same dimensions as the canvases of Rubens or Jordanes, and are predominantly easel rather than monumental. decorative tasks. In Holland, the church did not play the role of a customer of works of art: churches were not decorated with altar images, for Calvinism rejected any hint of luxury; Protestant churches were simple in architecture and not decorated in any way inside.
The main achievement of the Dutch art XVIII century - in easel painting. Man and nature were the objects of observation and depiction by Dutch artists. Hard work, diligence, love of order and cleanliness are reflected in paintings depicting Dutch life. Household painting is becoming one of the leading genres, the creators of which in history received the name “little Dutch,” either because of the unpretentiousness of the subjects, or because of the small size of the paintings, and perhaps for both. The Dutch wanted to see the whole diverse world in pictures. Hence the wide range of painting of this century, the “narrow specialization” in certain species subjects: portrait and landscape, still life and animal genre. There was even specialization within the genre: evening and night landscapes (Art van der Neer), “night fires” (Ecbert van der Poel), winter landscapes (Aver Kamp), ships in the roads (J. Porcellis), flat landscape (F. Koninck); still lifes - “breakfasts” (P. Claes and V. Heda) or images of flowers and fruits (B. van der Ast, J. van Huysum), church interiors (A. de Lorm), etc. Painting on the Gospel and biblical stories is also represented, but not to the same extent as in other countries, as is ancient mythology. In Holland there were never connections with Italy and classical art did not play such a role as in Flanders. The mastery of realistic trends, the development of a certain range of themes, the differentiation of genres as a single process were completed by the 20s of the 17th century. But no matter what genre the Dutch masters work in, everywhere they find poetic beauty in the ordinary, they know how to spiritualize and elevate the world of material things.
History of Dutch painting of the 17th century. perfectly demonstrates the evolution of the work of one of the largest portrait painters in Holland, Frans Hals (circa 1580-1666). In the 10-30s, Hals worked a lot in the genre of group portraits. This is basically a depiction of rifle guilds - corporations of officers for the defense and protection of cities. The burghers wanted to be immortalized on canvas, they paid a certain fee for the right to be depicted, and the artist was obliged to remember to pay equal attention to each model. But it is not the portrait resemblance that captivates us in these works by Hals. They express the ideals of the young republic, feelings of freedom, equality, and camaraderie. From the canvases of these years, cheerful, energetic, enterprising people look, confident in their abilities and in the future (“Rifle Guild of St. Adrian”, 1627 and 1633; “Rifle Guild of St. George”, 1627). Hale usually depicts them in a friendly feast, in a cheerful feast. The large size of the composition, elongated horizontally, wide confident writing, intense, saturated colors (yellow, red, blue, etc.) create the monumental character of the image. The artist acts as a historiographer of an entire era.
Researchers sometimes call Hulse's individual portraits genre portraits due to the special specificity of the image and a certain method of characterization. There is something unstable in the pose of Heythuisen rocking on his chair, his facial expression seems to be about to change. The portrait of a drunken old woman, the “Harlem witch,” the owner of the Malle Babbe tavern (early 30s), with an owl on her shoulder and a beer mug in her hand, bears the features of a genre painting. Hulse's sketchy style, his bold writing, when the brushstroke sculpts both shape and volume and conveys color; the brushstroke is sometimes thick, impasto, thickly covering the canvas, sometimes allowing one to trace the tone of the ground, the emphasis on one detail and the understatement of another, the internal dynamics, the ability to determine the whole from one hint - these are the typical features of Hals’ handwriting.
F. Hulse. Shooting Guild of St. George. Fragment. Haarlem, Hals Museum
F Hulse Portrait of Willem van Heythuizen. Brussels, Museum of Fine Arts
G. Terborch. Concert. Berlin, museum
In the portraits of Hals of the late period (50-60s), the carefree prowess, energy, and intensity in the characters of the depicted persons disappear. In the Hermitage portrait of a man, for all the impressiveness of the figure, even some swagger, fatigue and sadness can be traced. These features are further enhanced in the brilliantly painted portrait of a man in a wide-brimmed hat from the museum in Kassel (60s). Khaleh ceases to be popular these years because it never flatters and turns out to be alien to the degenerated tastes of rich customers who have lost their democratic spirit. But it was in the late period of creativity that Hale reaches the pinnacle of mastery and creates the most profound works. The coloring of his paintings becomes almost monochrome. It is usually dark, black clothing, with a white collar and cuffs, and a dark olive background color. The laconic pictorial palette is built, however, on the finest gradations.
Two years before his death, in 1664, Hale again returned to the group portrait. He paints two portraits of the regents and regents of a nursing home, in one of which he himself found refuge at the end of his life. In the portrait of the regents there is no spirit of camaraderie of previous compositions, the models are disunited, powerless, they have dull glances, devastation is written on their faces. The gloomy color scheme (black, gray and white) adds a special tension to the pinkish-red stain of fabric on the knee of one of the regents. So, in his ninth decade, a sick, lonely and impoverished artist creates his most dramatic and most exquisite works of skill.
V. Kheda. Breakfast with blackberry pie. Dresden, gallery
Hals's art was of great importance for its time; it influenced the development of not only portraiture, but also everyday genre, landscape, still life.
The landscape genre of 17th century Holland is especially interesting. This is not nature in general, a certain general picture of the universe, but a national, specifically Dutch landscape, which we recognize in modern Holland: the famous windmills, desert dunes, canals with boats gliding along them in the summer and with skaters in the winter. The air is saturated with moisture. The gray sky occupies a large place in the compositions. This is exactly how Holland is portrayed by Jan van Goyen (1596-1656) and Salomon van Ruisdael (1600/1603-1670).
The heyday of landscape painting in the Dutch school dates back to the middle of the 17th century. The greatest master of realistic landscape was Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682), an artist of inexhaustible imagination. His works are usually full of deep drama, whether he depicts forest thickets (Forest Swamp), landscapes with waterfalls (Waterfall) or a romantic landscape with a cemetery (Jewish Cemetery). Ruisdael's nature appears in dynamics, in eternal renewal. Even the simplest motifs of nature acquire a monumental character under the artist’s brush. Ruisdael tends to combine careful depiction with great vital integrity, with a synthetic image.
P. de Hach. Courtyard. London, National Gallery
Only the seascape (marina) was done by Jan Porcellis (circa 1584-1632). Along with the realistic, purely Dutch landscape, there was another direction at that time: landscapes of an Italian character, animated by mythological characters, figures of people and animals.
The animalistic genre is closely related to the Dutch landscape. Albert Cuyp's favorite motif is cows at a watering hole (“Sunset on the River”, “Cows on the Bank of a Stream”). Paul Potter, in addition to general plans, likes to depict one or several animals in close-up against the backdrop of a landscape (“Dog on a Chain”).
Still life achieves brilliant development. Dutch still life, in contrast to Flemish, is a painting of an intimate nature, modest in size and motifs. Pieter Claes (c. 1597-1661), Billem Heda (1594-1680/82) most often depicted so-called breakfasts: dishes with ham or pie on a relatively modestly served table. In a skillful arrangement, objects are shown in such a way that one can feel the inner life of things (it’s not for nothing that the Dutch called still life “stilliven” - “ quiet life”, and not “nature morte” - “dead nature”. True, as I. V. Linnik rightly noted, “quiet life” is a later poetic translation. In the language of the 17th century, this meant “fixed model,” which is more consistent with the practical insight and business approach of the Dutch of that time). The coloring is restrained and refined (Heda. “Breakfast with Lobster”, 1648; Class. “Still Life with a Candle”, 1627).
Wermeer of Delft. Girl's head. Fragment. The Hague, Mauritshuis
With the change in the life of Dutch society in the second half of the 17th century, with the gradual increase in the bourgeoisie’s desire for aristocracy and its loss of former democracy, the nature of still lifes also changed. Kheda’s “breakfasts” are replaced by Kalf’s luxurious “desserts.” Simple utensils are replaced by marble tables, carpet tablecloths, silver goblets, vessels made of mother-of-pearl shells, and crystal glasses. Kalf achieves amazing virtuosity in conveying the texture of peaches, grapes, and crystal surfaces. The uniform tone of the still lifes of the previous period is replaced by a rich gradation of the most exquisite colorful shades.
Dutch still life is one of the artistic implementations of the most important theme of Dutch art - the theme of the private life of an ordinary person. This theme is fully embodied in the genre film. In the 20-30s of the 17th century. The Dutch created a special type of small small-figure painting. The 40-60s were the heyday of painting, glorifying the calm burgher life of Holland, measured everyday existence. But even in the circle of Frans Hals, where Adrian Brouwer, the Flemish painter, also formed, a distinct interest in themes from peasant life was formed. Adrian van Ostade (1610-1685) initially depicts the shadowy sides of the life of the peasantry (“The Fight”). Since the 40s, satirical notes in his work have increasingly been replaced by humorous ones (“In a village tavern”, 1660). Sometimes these small paintings are colored with a great lyrical feeling. Ostade’s masterpiece of painting is rightfully considered his “Painter in the Studio” (1663), in which the artist glorifies creative work, without resorting to either declaration or pathos.
But the main theme of the “little Dutch” is still not peasant life, but burgher life. Usually these are images without any fascinating plot. In films of this genre, it’s as if nothing happens. A woman reads a letter, a gentleman and a lady play music. Or they have just met and the first feeling is born between them, but this is only outlined, the viewer is given the right to make their own guesses.
The most entertaining narrator in films of this kind was Jan Stan (1626-1679) (“Revelers”, “Game of Backgammon”). The slow pace of life, the precision of the daily routine, and some monotony of existence are perfectly conveyed by Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667, “Breakfast”, “The Sick Woman and the Doctor”),
Gerard Terborch (1617-1681) achieved even greater mastery in this. He started with the most democratic subjects (“The Grinder”), but with the changing tastes of the Dutch burghers he moved to more aristocratic models and had great success here.
The interior of the “little Dutch” becomes especially poetic. The life of the Dutch took place mainly in the house. The real singer of this theme was Pieter de Hooch (1629-1689). His rooms with a half-open window, with shoes inadvertently thrown or a broom left behind are often depicted without a human figure, but a person is invisibly present here, there is always a connection between the interior and the people. When he depicts people, he deliberately emphasizes a certain frozen rhythm, depicts life as if frozen, as motionless as the things themselves (“The Mistress and the Maid,” “The Courtyard”).
Rembrandt. Anatomy of Dr. Tulp. The Hague, Mauritshuis
New stage genre painting begins in the 50s and is associated with the so-called Delft school, with the names of such artists as Carel Fabricius, Emmanuel de Witte and Jan Wermeer, known in art history as Wermeer of Delft (1632-1675). Vermeer was one of those artists who predetermined many of the coloristic quests of the 19th century and in many ways paved the way for the Impressionists, although Vermeer’s paintings seem to be in no way original. These are the same images of frozen burgher life: reading a letter, a gentleman and a lady talking, maids doing simple housework, views of Amsterdam or Delft. Vermeer’s early painting “At the Procuress” (1656) is unusually (for “little Dutchmen”) large in size, monumental in form, and resonant in the color of large local spots: the gentleman’s red clothes, the girl’s yellow dress and white scarf.
Later, Vermeer would abandon large sizes and paint the same small canvases that were accepted in genre painting of that time. But these paintings, simple in action: “A Girl Reading a Letter”, “A Cavalier and a Lady at the Spinet”, “An Officer and a Laughing Girl”, etc., are full of spiritual clarity, silence and peace. The main advantages of Vermeer as an artist are in the transmission of light and air. He combines a wide brush with a fine stroke, coordinating light and color. The dissolution of objects in a light-air environment, the ability to create this illusion, primarily determined the recognition and glory of Vermeer precisely in the 19th century. Later, Vermeer's writing became more fused, smooth, built on delicate combinations of blue, yellow, dark blue, united by amazing pearl, even pearl-gray (“Girl's Head”).
Vermeer did something that no one did in the 17th century: he painted landscapes from life (“Street”, “View of Delft”). They can be called the first examples of plein air painting. Vermeer's mature, classical in its simplicity art was of great importance for future eras.
The top Dutch realism, the result of the pictorial achievements of Dutch culture of the 17th century is the work of Rembrandt. But the meaning of Rembrandt, like everyone else genius artist, goes beyond just Dutch art and the Dutch school.
Harmens van Rijn Rembrandt (1606-1669) was born in Leiden, in the family of a fairly wealthy mill owner, and after Latin school he studied for a short time at the University of Leiden, but left it to study painting, first with a little-known local master, and then with the Amsterdam artist Pieter Lastman .
The period of study was short-lived, and soon Rembrandt left for hometown to start painting on your own in your own studio. Therefore, the years 1625-1632 are usually called the Leiden period of his work. This was the time of the artist’s formation, his greatest passion for Caravaggio, the master’s style during this period was still rather dry, and the interpretation of subjects was often melodramatic. This is the period when he first turned to etching.
In 1632, Rembrandt left for Amsterdam, the center artistic culture Holland, which naturally attracted the young artist. The 30s were the time of his greatest glory, the path to which was opened for the painter by a large commissioned painting of 1632 - a group portrait, also known as “The Anatomy of Doctor Tulp”, or “Anatomy Lesson”. On Rembrandt’s canvas, people are united by action, everyone is presented in natural poses, their attention is drawn to the main character - Doctor Tulp, demonstrating the muscle structure of a “dismembered” corpse. Like a true Dutchman, Rembrandt is not afraid of realistic details; like a great artist, he knows how to avoid naturalism. In 1634, Rembrandt married a girl from a wealthy family - Saskia van Uylenborch - and from then on he entered patrician circles. The happiest period of his life begins. He becomes a famous and fashionable artist. His house attracts the best representatives of the aristocracy of the spirit and wealthy customers; he has a large workshop where his many students work successfully. Saskia's considerable inheritance and his own works provide material freedom.
This entire period is shrouded in romance. The painter, as it were, specifically strives in his work to get away from the dull burgher everyday life and paints himself and Saskia in luxurious outfits, in fantastic clothes and headdresses, creating spectacular compositions, expressing in complex turns, poses, movements different states in which the common thing prevails - joy being. This mood is expressed in one self-portrait from the Louvre collection of 1634 and in the portrait of Saskia from the museum in Kassel (of the same year), as well as in the Hermitage image of Saskia in the image of Flora. But, perhaps, Rembrandt’s worldview of these years is most clearly conveyed by the famous “Self-Portrait with Saskia on her Knees” (circa 1636). The whole canvas is permeated with frank joy of life and jubilation. These feelings are conveyed by the simple-minded expression of the radiant face of the artist himself, who seemed to have achieved all earthly blessings; all the surroundings, from rich clothes to a solemnly raised crystal glass in hand; rhythm of plastic masses, richness of color nuances, light and shadow modeling, which will become the main means of expression in Rembrandt’s painting. An enchanting, fairy-tale world... The language of Baroque is closest to the expression of high spirits. And Rembrandt during this period was largely influenced by the Italian Baroque.
The characters in the 1635 painting “The Sacrifice of Abraham” appear before us from complex angles. From the body of Isaac, stretched out in the foreground and expressing the complete helplessness of the victim, the viewer’s gaze turns to the depths - to the figure of the elder Abraham and the messenger of God - an angel - breaking out of the clouds. The composition is highly dynamic, built according to all the rules of the Baroque. But there is something in the picture that distinguishes it precisely by the Rembrandt character of creativity: a soulful tracing of the mental state of Abraham, who, with the sudden appearance of an angel, did not have time to feel either the joy of being delivered from a terrible sacrifice, or gratitude, but is still experiencing only fatigue and bewilderment. The rich potential of Rembrandt as a psychologist manifests itself quite clearly in this picture.
In the same 30s, Rembrandt first began to seriously engage in graphics, primarily etching. The legacy of Rembrandt the graphic artist, who left both engravings and unique drawings, is no less significant than his paintings. Rembrandt's etchings are mainly biblical and evangelical subjects, but in his drawings, as a true Dutch artist, he often turns to the genre. True, Rembrandt's talent is such that every genre work begins to sound under his hand as a philosophical generalization.
On the edge early period creativity of the artist and his creative maturity, one of his most famous paintings appears before us, known as “The Night Watch” (1642) - a group portrait of the rifle company of Captain Banning Cock.
But a group portrait is only the formal name of the work, resulting from the wishes of the customer. Rembrandt moved away from the usual composition of a group portrait depicting a feast, during which each of the subjects is “introduced.” He expanded the scope of the genre, presenting rather a historical picture: upon an alarm signal, Banning Cock's detachment sets out on a campaign. Some are calm and confident, others are excited in anticipation of what is to come, but all bear the expression of general energy, patriotic enthusiasm, and the triumph of the civic spirit.
The image of people emerging from under an arch into the bright sunlight is full of echoes of the heroic era of the Dutch revolution, the time of triumphs of republican Holland. The group portrait painted by Rembrandt developed into a heroic image of the era and society.
But this very mood was alien to burgher Holland in the middle of the century, did not meet the tastes of customers, and painting techniques went against the generally accepted ones. The spectacular, undoubtedly somewhat theatrical, extremely free composition, as already mentioned, was not intended to represent each of the customers. Many faces are simply difficult to “read” in this harsh chiaroscuro, in these contrasts of thick shadows and bright sunlight into which the detachment emerges (in the 19th century the painting had already become so dark that it was considered a depiction of a night scene, hence its incorrect name. Shadow, falling from the figure of the captain onto the light clothes of the lieutenant, proves that this is not night, but day).
The appearance of strangers in this scene seemed incomprehensible and absurd to the viewer, especially a little girl in a golden-yellow dress, wormed into the crowd of warlike men. Everything here caused bewilderment and irritation of the public, and one can say that with this picture the conflict between the artist and society begins and deepens. With the death of Saskia in the same 1642, Rembrandt’s natural break with the patrician circles alien to him occurred.
The 40s and 50s are a time of creative maturity. Not only did Rembrandt’s external life change, but first of all he himself changed. This is the time of formation of his creative system, from which much will become a thing of the past and in which other, invaluable qualities will be acquired. During this period, he often turns to previous works in order to remake them in a new way. This was the case, for example, with “Danae,” which he wrote back in 1636. Even then, the main thing was expressed in this image: the sensual principle, pagan, to some extent “Titian” was in it only part of the general in the expression of complex emotional experiences, a single emotional impulse. The classic, beautiful, but also abstract in its beauty ideal was replaced by an expression of life's truth, a bright individuality of physical makeup. This ugly body was conveyed extremely realistically. But Rembrandt was not satisfied with the external truth. By turning to the painting in the 40s, the artist intensified his emotional state. He rewrote the central part with the heroine and the maid. Giving Danae a new gesture of a raised hand, he conveyed to her great excitement, an expression of joy, hope, appeal. The style of writing has also changed. In the untouched parts the painting is in cold tones, the form is carefully worked out; Warm, golden-brown colors predominate in the rewritten ones, the writing is bold and free. Light plays a huge role: the light stream seems to envelop the figure of Danae, she all glows with love and happiness, this light is perceived as an expression of human feeling.
In the 40-50s, Rembrandt's mastery grew steadily. He chooses for interpretation the most lyrical, poetic aspects of human existence, that humanity that is eternal, all-human: maternal love, compassion. The greatest material for him is provided by the Holy Scripture, and from it, scenes from the life of the holy family, plots from the life of Tobias. There are no external effects in the works of this period. Rembrandt depicts simple life, ordinary people, as in the painting “The Holy Family”: only angels descending into the twilight of a poor home remind us that this is not an ordinary family. The gesture of the mother's hand, throwing back the curtain to look at the sleeping child, the concentration in the figure of Joseph - everything is deeply thought out. The simplicity of people's way of life and appearance does not ground the topic. Rembrandt knows how to see in everyday life not the small and ordinary, but the deep and enduring. The peaceful silence of working life and the holiness of motherhood emanate from this canvas. Chiaroscuro plays a huge role in Rembrandt's paintings - the basis of his artistic structure. The coloring is dominated by tonal relationships, into which Rembrandt likes to introduce strong spots of pure color. In The Holy Family, the red blanket on the cradle serves as such a unifying spot.
Landscape, both pictorial and graphic (etching and drawing), occupies a large place in Rembrandt’s work. In depicting real corners of the country, he is able, just as in a thematic picture, to rise above the ordinary (“Landscape with a Mill”).
The last 16 years are the most tragic years of Rembrandt's life; he is ruined, has no orders, he does not have his own home, he has lost all his loved ones, loved ones, and even his students betray him. But these years were full of amazingly powerful creative activity, as a result of which picturesque images were created, exceptional in their monumental character and spirituality, works of deeply philosophical and highly ethical nature. In these paintings by Rembrandt, everything is cleared of the transitory, the accidental. Details are kept to a minimum, gestures, postures, and head tilts are carefully thought out and meaningful. The figures are enlarged, close to the front plane of the canvas. Even the small-sized works of Rembrandt from these years create the impression of extraordinary grandeur and true monumentality. The main means of expression are not lines and masses, but light and color. The composition is based to a large extent on the balance of color sounds. The coloring is dominated by shades of red and brown, as if burning from within.
The color acquires sonority and intensity. It would be more accurate to say about the late Rembrandt that his color is “luminous,” because in his canvases light and color are one, his paints seem to emit light. This complex interaction of color and light is not an end in itself; it creates a certain emotional environment and psychological characteristics of the image.
Portraits of late Rembrandt are very different from portraits of the 30s and even 40s. These extremely simple (half-length or side-by-side) images of people close to the artist in their inner structure are always a figurative expression of a multifaceted human personality, striking with the master’s ability to convey unsteady, elusive spiritual movements.
Rembrandt knew how to create a biographical portrait; highlighting only the face and hands, he expressed the whole story of life (“Portrait of an Old Man in Red,” circa 1654). But Rembrandt achieved the greatest subtlety of characterization in his self-portraits, of which about a hundred have come down to us and in which the endless variety of psychological aspects and the variety of Rembrandt’s characteristics are perfectly visible. After the festive portraits of the 30s, we are presented with a different interpretation of the image; a man full of high dignity and extraordinary simplicity in the prime of his life in a portrait from the Vienna Collection of 1652; these traits would become predominant over time, as would the expression of fortitude and creative power (portrait 1660).
The final piece in the history of group portraits was Rembrandt’s depiction of the elders of the clothier’s workshop - the so-called “Sindics” (1662), where, with meager means, Rembrandt created living and at the same time different human types, but most importantly, he managed to convey the feeling of spiritual union, mutual understanding and interconnections of people united by one cause and tasks, which even Hals failed to do.
During his mature years (mostly in the 50s), Rembrandt created his best etchings. As an etcher, he has no equal in world art. His etching technique became incredibly complicated and enriched. He adds the “dry point” technique to etching, applies paint differently during printing, and sometimes makes changes to the board after receiving the first prints, which is why many etchings are known in several states. But in all of them the images have a deep philosophical meaning; they tell about the mysteries of existence, about the tragedy of human life. And one more feature of Rembrandt’s etchings of this period: they express sympathy for the suffering, the disadvantaged, and the artist’s ineradicable feeling for justice and goodness.
Rembrandt's graphics fully revealed the democratism of his worldview ("Blind Tobit", "Descent from the Cross", "Entombment", "Adoration of the Shepherds", "Three Crosses", 1653 and 1660).
He does a lot of drawing. Rembrandt left behind 2000 drawings. These include sketches from life, sketches for paintings and preparations for etchings. Rembrandt's technically brilliant, impeccable drawings demonstrate his usual evolution: from elaborate detail and compositional complexity to striking laconicism and classically clear, majestic simplicity.
The epilogue to Rembrandt’s work can be considered his famous painting “The Prodigal Son” (circa 1668-1669), in which the artist’s ethical height and pictorial skill were most fully demonstrated. The plot of the biblical parable about a dissolute son, who after many wanderings returned to his father’s house, attracted Rembrandt even earlier, as evidenced by one of his early etchings and several drawings. In this group - in the figure of a ragged young man falling to his knees and an old man laying his hands on his shaved head - there is extreme intensity of feelings, emotional shock, happiness of return and gain, bottomless parental love, but also the bitterness of disappointment, loss, humiliation, shame and repentance. This Inhumanity makes the scene understandable to different people of all times and gives it immortality. The coloristic unity here is especially striking. From the orange-red tones of the background, it is all a single picturesque flow, perceived as an expression of a single feeling.
Rembrandt had a huge influence on art. There was not a painter in Holland during his time who did not experience the influence of the great artist. He had many students. They assimilated the system of Rembrandt's chiaroscuro, but Rembrandt's comprehension human personality Naturally, they couldn’t comprehend it. Therefore, some of them did not go beyond external imitation of the teacher, and the majority betrayed him, moving to the position of academicism and imitation of the then fashionable Flemings, and then the French.
In the last quarter of the 17th century. the decline of the Dutch school of painting begins, the loss of its national identity, and from the beginning of the 18th century the end comes great era Dutch realism.
Dutch painting - 17th century paintings
A significant feature of Dutch art was the significant predominance in all its types of painting. Representatives of the highest echelons of power, poor burghers, artisans and peasants, decorated their homes with paintings. They were sold at auctions and fairs; artists sometimes even used them as a means to pay bills.
Road in the Forest, Meindert Hobbema, 1670
There was an abundance of painters, and there was quite fierce competition, since the artist’s profession was widespread. Not many could earn their living by painting. Most of the artists had to do a variety of jobs: Jacob van Ruisdael was a doctor, Meindert Hobbema worked as an excise official, and Jan Steen was an innkeeper.
In the 17th century, Dutch painting developed rapidly not only due to the growing demand for those wishing to decorate their homes with paintings, but also due to the fact that they began to be viewed as a commodity, a means of speculation and a source of profit. The artist was completely dependent on market trends, freeing himself from such direct customers as influential patrons (feudal lords) and the Catholic Church. The paths of development of Dutch society were determined, and artists who opposed them and defended their independence in terms of creativity became isolated and died prematurely in loneliness and poverty. In most cases, these were just the most talented artists, such as Rembrandt and Frans Hals.
Dutch painters mainly depicted the surrounding reality, which artists of other schools of painting did not depict so fully. The main place in strengthening realistic trends was occupied by portraits, everyday life, still lifes and landscapes, as artists turned to various aspects of life. They depicted the real world unfolding before them so deeply and truthfully, their works were so impressive.
Jan Steen, Meeting with Revelers, 1679
Each genre had its own movements. Among those depicting landscapes were marine painters and painters who preferred plains or forests; there were also masters of winter landscapes and views depicting moonlight. Among the genre artists, those who depicted bourgeois and peasants, scenes of domestic life and parties, bazaars and hunting stood out. There were also artists who specialized in church interiors and various types of still lifes, such as “bench”, “dessert”, “breakfast”, etc. The number of tasks performed was influenced by such a feature of Dutch painting as limitedness. However, the painter's virtuosity was facilitated by the fact that each artist focused on a specific genre. Only the most important Dutch artists painted in various genres.
The development of realistic Dutch painting took place in the fight against mannerism and a movement that imitated Italian classical art. Formally borrowed from Italian artists, representatives of these directions, the techniques were extremely unnatural for the traditions of national Dutch painting. Realistic trends manifested themselves more clearly in the everyday genre and portraits during the development of Dutch painting, which spanned 1609-1640.
Jacob van Ruisdael(1628-1682) was an outstanding master in the landscape genre (they painted the classic Dutch landscape - desert dunes, famous windmills, canal boats, skaters, and not nature in general), an artist of boundless imagination (“Waterfall”, “Forest Swamp” ", "Jewish Cemetery"). By diligently sketching nature, Ruisdael at the same time achieves monumentality.
Windmill in Wijk bei Dyrsted. 1670. Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam, Jacob van Ruisdael
One of the most talented portrait painters of this era can be called Frans Hals(ca. 1585-1666). He created many group portraits, such as images of rifle guilds (an association of officers for the protection of cities and defense). The burghers wanted to capture themselves, and the artist had to remember to respect each model. What is attractive in these paintings is the display of the ideals of the young republic, comradeship, equality and a sense of freedom. People who are confident in themselves and tomorrow, full of energy, look at the viewer from the canvases (“Streltsy Guild of St. George”, “Streltsy Guild of St. Adrian”). Naturally, they are depicted at a friendly feast. Thanks to the individual style of the artist - broad, confident, with rich, bright colors (red, yellow, blue, etc.) - an artistic document of the era is formed from these individuals.
Portrait of Stefan Gerads, 1652, Royal Museum, Antwerp
There is a lot of reckless zeal, pressure, irrepressible energy in individual portraits with the outlines of a genre painting. This disappears in later portraits. For example, in the Hermitage portrait of a man, one can see the sadness and fatigue of the hero Hals, despite all his impressiveness and even swagger. These features are further enhanced in another portrait (an image of a man in a wide-brimmed hat). In this late period, Hals reaches the highest level of skill, the tones in his works become monochromatic (usually dark, black clothes, with a white collar and cuffs, and a dark olive background color). Despite the laconicism of the pictorial palette, it is based on extremely subtle gradations.
Creation Rembrandt van Rijn(1606-1669) became the final achievement of Dutch art of the 17th century and the pinnacle of its realism.
From: Artemenko Alena, -
During this era, a bourgeois revolution took place in Holland. It led to a change in worldview and social structure. Now the main customers are burghers. The role of Calvinism, one of the Protestant movements, is increasing. Its peculiarity is the refusal to lavishly decorate church interiors. As a result, religious subjects became unpopular. In Holland, the so-called "art market". Works are ordered and sold. An artist's success is determined by the number of paintings sold.
Within the landscape genre there were also subsections: Marinism Plain landscapes Night or “lunar” landscapes In the everyday genre, interiors (secular and church) were also distinguished. The animal genre stands out separately. Portraits were divided into individual and group.
I. Porcellis. Sea breeze Hermitage Little Dutchmen
The world of nature for Jan van Goyen is the world of everyday life, this is the natural life of meadows and fields, expanses of water, charming rural views. The artist was especially successful in depicting dim cloudy days, humid, foggy air enveloping the outlines of houses and trees. J. van Goyen. "Summer landscape with a river"
Pieter de Hooch. Mistress and maid
G. Metsu. Music lesson e.
I. Stan. “The Garden of the Inn” Domestic genre. Scenes from the private life of middle and small burghers, the urban poor and peasantry, festivities and entertainment. Adrian van Ostade. "Room in a Peasant House"
The Dutch entered the history of world painting as unsurpassed masters of still life (French: “dead nature”). Peter Claes. Breakfast with ham Mr. Willem Heda. Still life with a golden glass.
Peter Claes. Breakfast Mr. Willem Heda. Breakfast with Blackberry Pie Mr. Pieter Claes focused on the depiction of objects surrounding a person in real, everyday life. Willem Heda preferred to write “interrupted breakfasts”, in which everything reminds of the person’s recent presence (crumpled tablecloth, mixed up serving items, food that has barely been touched).
F. Hulse. Portrait of a young man with a glove.
Vermeer of Delft - “the greatest magician and wizard of painting” Jan Wermeer (1632 – 1675) was awarded such an exalted assessment during his lifetime. Later, in the middle of the 19th century, he rightfully began to be ranked among the founders of plein air (French plain air - open air) painting, reproducing the slightest changes in the air environment caused by sunlight and the state of the atmosphere. "Street" Oak Amsterdam "View of Delft" Oak The Hague
Wermeer of Delft. Lacemaker Messrs.
J. Vermeer. "Girl with a Letter" Ok Mr.
J. Vermeer. "Girl with a Pearl Earring." Everything is accessible to paint - the precepts of wisdom, Vices and goodness, alliances and discord. The poet’s brush creates, revealing to our eyes That inner essence, hidden from view, which has lived our world and all creation since ancient times. Adrian van de Winne (poet-contemporary of J. Wermeer)
“Truth is the most beautiful and rare quality” - became the essence of the work of the greatest Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606 – 1669). He left his descendants a huge artistic heritage: about 800 paintings and works - evidence of the highest skill and artistic truth.
The Golden Age of Dutch painting is one of the most outstanding eras in the history of all world painting. The Golden Age of Dutch painting is considered 17th century. It was at this time that the most talented artists and painters created their immortal works. Their paintings are still considered unsurpassed masterpieces, which are kept in famous museums around the world and are considered an invaluable heritage of humanity.
At first 17th century In Holland, a rather primitive art still flourished, which was justified by the mundane tastes and preferences of rich and powerful people. As a result of political, geopolitical and religious changes, Dutch art changed dramatically. If before this artists tried to pander to the Dutch burghers, depicting their life and way of life, devoid of any lofty and poetic language, and also worked for the church, which commissioned artists to work in a rather primitive genre with long-worn subjects, then the beginning of the 17th century was a real breakthrough. In Holland, the dominance of Protestants reigned, who practically stopped ordering paintings on religious themes from artists. Holland became independent from Spain and asserted itself on the historical podium. Artists moved from previously familiar themes to images everyday scenes, portraits, landscapes, still lifes and so on. Here, in a new field, the artists of the golden age seemed to have a new breath and real geniuses of art began to appear in the world.
Dutch artists of the 17th century introduced realism in painting into fashion. Stunning in composition, in realism, in depth and unusualness, the paintings began to enjoy enormous success. The demand for paintings increased sharply. As a result, more and more new artists began to appear, who at an amazingly fast pace developed the fundamentals of painting, developed new techniques, styles and genres. Some of the most famous artists of the Golden Age were: Jan Vermeer, Cornelis Trost, Matthias Stom, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Esaias van de Velde, Frans Hals, Adrian Brouwer, Cornelis de Man, Anthony van Dyck and many others.
Paintings by Dutch painters
Cornelis de Man - Whale Oil Manufactory
Cornelis Trost - Fun in the Park
Ludolf Backhuizen - East India Campaign Dock in Amsterdam
Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Alchemist's Catastrophe
XVII century showed the world two art schools- Dutch and Flemish. Both were heirs to the artistic traditions of the Netherlands - a European country on whose territory by that time Catholic Flanders had been formed, named after the most significant province (today it is the territory of Belgium and France). Other provinces, having defended their commitment to the ideas of the reformation, united and became known as the Dutch Republic or simply Holland. In the 17th century in Holland, approximately three-quarters of the population was urban, and the middle class was considered the main class. The Reformed Church abandoned the splendor of decoration; there were no crowned customers and no patrimonial aristocracy, which means that representatives of the bourgeoisie became the main consumers of art. The space intended for painting was limited to burgher houses and public buildings.
The sizes of the paintings, as a rule, were not large (compared to palace paintings or altar compositions for churches), and the subjects were intimate in nature, depicting scenes of private, everyday life. The main achievement of Dutch art of the 17th century. - in easel painting. Man and nature were the objects of observation and depiction by Dutch artists. Hard work, diligence, love of order and cleanliness are reflected in paintings depicting Dutch life. That is why the Dutch masters of the 17th century (with the exception of Rembrandt and Hals) were called "little Dutch" ( a wide circle of Dutch painters of the 17th century. arose in connection with the intimate nature of their work and the small size of their paintings (landscape, interior, everyday subjects). Small Dutch painting is characterized by subtlety of writing, expressiveness of small details, beauty of light and color nuances, a general feeling of comfort, intimacy and unity of characters in a landscape or interior environment. Among the most prominent representatives are Jan Wermeer, the Ostade brothers (Adrian van O. and Izak van O.), Gerard Terborch, Jan Steen, Gabriel Metsu).
Most artists found subjects for their paintings within their native country, following Rembrandt's advice: “Learn, above all, to follow the rich nature and to depict, above all, what you find in it. Sky, earth, sea, animals, good and evil people - everything serves for our exercise. Plains, hills, streams and trees provide ample work for the artist. Cities, markets, churches and thousands of natural resources call to us and say: come, thirsty for knowledge, contemplate us and reproduce us.” The productivity of artists reached incredible proportions, as a result, competition arose among painters, which in turn led to the specialization of masters. And perhaps because of this, there has been a wide variety of genre differentiation. Artists appeared who worked only in the genre of seascapes or urban views, or depicted the interiors of premises (rooms, temples). There have been examples of still lifes and landscapes in the history of painting, but never before have these genres achieved such widespread popularity and self-sufficiency as in 17th-century Holland.
The Dutch wanted to see the whole diverse world in pictures. Hence the wide range of painting of this century, “narrow specialization” in certain types of subjects: portrait and landscape, still life and animalistic genre. In Holland there were no connections with Italy and classical art did not play the same role as in Flanders. The mastery of realistic tendencies, the development of a certain range of themes, and the division of genres as a single process were completed by the 20s of the 17th century.
History of Dutch painting of the 17th century. perfectly demonstrates the evolution of the work of one of the largest portrait painters in Holland Frans Hals(1580-1666) His activity took place almost entirely in Harlem. Here, around 1616, he emerged as the foremost major portrait painter and retained his role in this area until the end of his life. With the advent of Hals, the strictly realistic and acutely individual Dutch portrait reaches maturity. Everything timid, petty, naturalistic that distinguishes his predecessors is overcome.
The initial phase of Khalsa art is not clear. We immediately see the master solving the most difficult problem of a group portrait. He paints one after another paintings depicting the shooters of the St. Corporation. Adrian and St. George (Harlem, Frans Hals Museum), where both the liveliness of a crowded meeting and the brightness of the types of each of those present are conveyed with inimitable ease. Painterly skill and compositional resourcefulness of the groupings go hand in hand in these portraits with extraordinary sharpness of characterization. Hals is not a psychologist: the mental life of his models usually passes him by. And he writes, for the most part, of people whose whole life takes place in conditions of intense, active activity, but who do not delve too deeply into questions of a psychological nature. But Hals, like no one else, captures the appearance of these people, knows how to capture the most fleeting, but at the same time the most characteristic in facial expression, posture, and gestures. Cheerful by nature, he strives to capture every image in a moment of animation, joy, and no one conveys laughter with such subtlety and variety as he does. Portrait of an officer (1624, London, Wallace collection), rocking on a chair "Geitheusen" (late 1630s, Brussels, art gallery), "Gypsy" (late 1620s, Louvre), or the so-called "The Witch of Harlem" - "Malle Bobbe"(Berlin) can be cited as typical examples of his sharp and often playful art. Men, women, and children are portrayed by him with the same feeling of a living image (“ Portrait of a young man with a glove", OK. 1650, Hermitage). The impression of liveliness is also contributed to by the Khalsa technique itself, which is unusually free and growing over the years in its breadth. The decorative colorfulness of the early works is subsequently moderated, the color becomes silvery, the freedom of using black and white tones speaks of mastery that can afford the boldest pictorial daring.
In portraits of the late period (50-60s), carefree prowess, energy, and pressure disappear. In the Hermitage portrait of a man, despite the impressiveness of the figure, fatigue and sadness can be traced. These features are further enhanced in the brilliantly painted portrait of a man in a wide-brimmed hat (museum in Kassel). Hals in these years ceases to be popular because he never flatters and turns out to be alien to the degenerated tastes of rich customers who have lost their democratic spirit. But it was precisely in the late period of creativity that Hals reached the pinnacle of mastery and created the most profound work. In some works, impressionistic techniques of color solutions are outlined. Hals painted countless individual portraits until the last years of his life, but again returned to group portraits. He paints 2 portraits of the regents and regents of a nursing home, in one of which he himself found shelter at the end of his life. In the portrait of the regents there is no spirit of camaraderie of previous compositions, the models are disunited, powerless, they have dull glances, devastation is written on their faces. A pinkish-red spot on the knee of one of the regents adds special tension to the gloomy color scheme (black, gray and white). So, in his 9th decade, a sick, lonely and impoverished artist creates his most dramatic and most exquisite works of skill.
Hals's art was of great importance for its time; it influenced the development of not only portraits, but also everyday genres, landscapes, and still lifes.
Landscape genre Holland 17th century especially interesting. This is not nature in general, a certain general picture of the universe, but a national, specifically Dutch landscape, which we recognize in modern Holland: the famous windmills, desert dunes. The gray sky occupies a large place in the compositions. This is how Holland is portrayed Jan Van Goyen (1596-1656) and Salomon Van Ruisdael (1600-1670).
The dawn of landscape painting in the Dutch school dates back to the middle. 17th century The greatest master of realistic landscape was Jacob van Ruisdael (1628-1682), an artist of inexhaustible imagination. His works are usually full of deep drama, be it forest thickets (“Forest Swamp”), landscapes with waterfalls (“Waterfall”) or a romantic landscape with a cemetery (“Jewish Cemetery”). Ruisdael's nature appears in dynamics, in eternal renewal. Even the most complex motifs of nature acquire a monumental character under the artist’s brush. Ruisdael tends to combine careful depiction with great vital integrity, with a synthetic image.
He was born in Haarlem in 1628 or 1629. His very first surviving work, dated 1646, looks like the work of a mature master - and he was only 18 years old at the time. We can say with complete confidence that in 1648 Ruisdael became a member of the Haarlem Artists' Guild.
In his youth, Ruisdael traveled quite a lot in search of nature - without, however, leaving more than a hundred miles from his native Haarlem. In the mid-1650s, the artist moved from Haarlem to Amsterdam, where he lived until the end of his days.
Metropolitan Amsterdam in the time of Ruisdael was strikingly different from provincial Haarlem (although the distance between these cities even then was covered in two hours). Ruisdael painted his paintings not for private orders, but for free sale. Around 1670, he moved to the very center of the city, to Dam Square, where he rented an apartment directly above the shop of Hieronymus Sweerts, a dealer in paintings and books.
Meindert Hobbema(1638, Amsterdam, - December 7, 1709) - the most significant master of Dutch landscape after his mentor, Jacob van Ruisdael.
It is known that Hobbema and Ruisdael traveled together and made sketches from nature. In November 1668, Hobbema married the cook of the Amsterdam burgomaster and through her received the post of checking the quality of imported wines. For a long time it was believed that this was the end of his painting activities.
He may have had to devote less time to painting than before, but his best work, The Alley at Middelharnis, dates from 1689, and another London painting, The Ruins of Brederode Castle, dates from 1671. These late works belong to the most successful achievements of Dutch landscape painting and, in essence, draw a line in its development.
The artist died in poverty, but already in the 18th century he was much imitated, and his works became the subject of rivalry between collectors. Unlike Ruisdael, who preferred to capture wild nature, Hobbema was drawn to quiet rural scenes with views of sunlit villages, which are given variety by towering groups of trees here and there. In these rural idylls, everything is painted with great care, especially the foliage.
In close connection with the Dutch landscape is animalistic genre. Many representatives of landscape painting are interested in depicting animals. The latter very often turn out to be equivalent to purely landscape elements, and sometimes the landscape serves as nothing more than a background for them. The ability to identify the breed of an animal, its structure, color, and characteristic movements is one of the striking properties of the Dutch. The subtlety of conveying atmosphere and light combined with this skill reaches exceptional perfection in some animal painters. This is evidenced by numerous works Paulus Potter(1625-1654) and Albert Cuyp(1620-1691). Both of them, along with paintings depicting animals grazing or resting in the open air (“The Farm” by Potter, Hermitage, 1649), also painted individual examples of them in close-up. Potter, in addition to long shots, likes to depict one or several animals in close-up against the backdrop of a landscape (“Dog on a Chain”). Cape's favorite motif is cows at a watering hole (“Sunset on the River”, “Cows on the Bank of a Stream”). Painting “Landscape with a herd, a horseman and peasants.”
The peaceful rural scene is bathed in the golden glow of sunset. Warm light permeates every detail of the composition, creating a glowing effect. This makes the Cape's coloring strikingly different from the cool blues and greens of its contemporaries, such as Meindert Hobbema. The apparent randomness of the arrangement of the animals is in fact carefully considered in order to show the play of light and shadow.
The Cape also holds one of the leading places among pure landscapes. His paintings are distinguished by their exceptional skill in conveying golden, sunlight, are extremely diverse in motifs and include many marinas (sea species).
Only seascape (Marina) was studying Ian Porcellis(1584-1632). Marina played a very important role in the art of 17th century Holland and promoted a number of first-class specialists. The general course of development of the marina seems to be equal to what is generally observed in the history of the Dutch landscape. At an early stage, the compositions are simple. The artist sees his goal achieved if he conveys the expanse of the sea, the ships rocking on it and the water itself with the greatest verisimilitude. So writes Jan Porcellis. In the next generation, the nature of the transmission of marine species changes towards greater dynamism. True, paintings are still being created depicting the calmness of the water element, but this is no longer enough; storms begin to throw ships onto the rocks, giant waves threaten them with death and drive sailors to take refuge in the harbor. In both cases there are no difficulties for Backhuisen (1631-1709). His brush conveys cloudless skies, cyclones, splashes, rocks and traces of wrecks with equal virtuosity.
Still life achieves brilliant development. Dutch still life, unlike Flemish still life, is a painting of an intimate nature that is modest in size and motifs. Peter Klass (1597-1661), Willem Heda(1594-1680) most often depicted the so-called. breakfasts: dishes with ham or pie on a relatively modestly served table. In a skillful arrangement, objects are shown in such a way that one can feel the inner life of things (it is not for nothing that the Dutch called still life “still leven” - “quiet life”, and not “nature morte” - “dead nature”). The coloring is restrained and refined (Heda “Breakfast with Lobster”, 1658; Class “Still Life with Candles”, 1627)
Willem Heda worked in Haarlem and was influenced by Pieter Claes. Head's modest still lifes - “breakfasts”, which usually depicted a small set of household items and meals, are characterized by subtle skill in conveying the texture of things, a restrained silver-green or silver-brown color (“Breakfast with Blackberry Pie”, 1631, Art Gallery, Dresden; “Ham and silverware”, 1649, State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow).
With the change in the life of the Dutch community in the 2nd half. 17th century, with the gradual increase in the bourgeoisie’s desire for aristocracy and its loss of former democracy, the character of still lifes also changed. Kheda's "breakfasts" are replaced by luxurious "desserts" Willem Kalf (1619-1693). Simple utensils are replaced by marble tables, carpet tablecloths, silver goblets, vessels made of mother-of-pearl shells, and crystal glasses. Kalf achieves amazing virtuosity in conveying the texture of peaches, grapes, and crystal surfaces. The uniform tone of the still lifes of the previous period is replaced by a rich gradation of the most exquisite colorful shades.
Dutch painter. In 1640-1645 he worked in France, from 1653 - in Amsterdam. Subsequently, Willem Kalf lived and worked mainly in Amsterdam. Deep, rich colors This still life painter may have owed his paintings to the influence of the work of his contemporary Johannes Vermeer. One of the greatest masters of the Dutch school of still life, Kalf painted both modest paintings based on poor kitchens and backyards (“The Courtyard of a Peasant House,” State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg) and spectacular compositions with precious utensils and exotic southern fruits (“Breakfast ”, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; “Still Life”, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg). Kalf's virtuosity as a still life painter was manifested in the classical precision of spatial constructions, a subtle sense of the originality and intrinsic value of each thing, the sophistication and richness of light and shadow and colorful relationships, and the effectiveness of the contrasting comparison of various textures and materials.
“Still life with lobster, wine horn and glasses.” The collection of exotic and luxurious objects laid out on the table is painted with brilliant craftsmanship and a deep sense of color. The lobster, the wine horn with its sparkling silver filigree rim, the clear glasses, the lemon and the Turkish carpet are rendered with such amazing care that the illusion arises that they are real and can be touched with your hand. The placement of each item is chosen with such care that the group as a whole forms a harmony of color, shape and texture. The warm light that envelops the objects gives them the dignity of precious jewelry, and their rarity, splendor and whimsy reflect the refined tastes of Dutch collectors in the 17th century, a time when still life paintings were extremely popular.
Dutch still life- one of the artistic implementations of the most important theme of Dutch art - the theme of the private life of an ordinary person. This theme is fully embodied in the genre film. In the 20-30s. 17th century The Dutch created a special type of small small-figure painting. 40-60s - the flourishing of painting glorifying the calm burgher life of Holland, measured everyday existence. Even in the Hals circle, where Adrian Brouwer, the Flemish painter, also formed, a distinct interest in themes from peasant life was formed. Adrian van Ostade(1610-1685) - was the largest in terms of its pictorial merits in depicting peasant life. He usually depicts its shadow sides (“Fight”) Like its other representatives, he usually approaches his themes entirely in the spirit of the ideology of the ruling class and either idealizes reality or sees in peasants only funny creatures whose morals give rise to laughter and jokes . (“In the village tavern” 1660).
In a later period, his art acquired features of lyricism, and the previous subjects were replaced by images of peaceful relaxation on the threshold of a hut or in the courtyard of a village inn, as well as interiors with scenes of quiet family comfort (“Village Concert”, 1655, Hermitage). In addition to such small-figure paintings, Ostade often painted strictly realistic half-figures of representatives of various crafts in a larger plan. His “Painter in the Studio” (1663) is rightfully considered Ostade’s masterpiece of painting, in which the artist glorifies human labor without resorting to either declaration or pathos.
But the main theme of the “little Dutch” was still not peasant life, but burgher life. Usually these are images without any fascinating plot. In films of this genre, nothing seems to happen. A woman reads a letter, a gentleman and a lady play music. Or they have just met and their first feeling is born, but this is only outlined, the viewer is given the right to make their own guesses. The most entertaining narrator in films of this kind was Ian Stan(1626-1679). For Stan, unlike most of his contemporaries, the plot side is not indifferent. He assigns a significant role to the narrative element in his paintings and likes to depict certain entertaining scenes from the everyday life of the petty bourgeoisie. In them, the master reveals keen observation, aptly characterizes the types and tells the episodes he has chosen with subtle, cheerful humor. The painting “The Sick Woman and the Doctor” (c. 1660, Hermitage) is indicative of him. IN late period During Stan's activity, these features lose their sharpness, and, following the general trend, he embarks on the path of art, more elegant and dedicated to the problems of purely visual perception of the real world.
Achieved great mastery Gerard Terborch(1617-1681). He started with the most democratic subjects (“The Grinders”). He was distinguished by his utmost skill in depicting silks and satins, the transparency of glass glasses, and the surface of any thing. Terborch's figures are very often characterized by a certain aristocratic appearance, which is explained by his choice of models from among the nobility. The sophistication of Terborch's art is largely due to its color, which is dominated by exquisite silvery tones. Among the artist’s best paintings are “A Glass of Lemonade” (Hermitage) and “Concert” (Berlin, Dahlem).
The interior becomes particularly poetic among small Dutch people. The life of the Dutch took place mainly in the house. The real singer of this theme was Pieter de Hooch(1629-1689). The illusory nature of the transfer of things recedes into the background for this master, and interest is concentrated on the development of spatial relationships, in particular on the depiction of interiors, as well as courtyards and the streets that open behind them (“The Mistress with the Maid”, Hermitage, ca. 1660). his rooms with a half-open window with accidentally thrown shoes or an abandoned broom are usually depicted without a human figure, but the person is invisibly present here, there is always a connection between the interior and the people. When he depicts people, he deliberately emphasizes the frozen rhythm, depicts life as if frozen, as motionless as the things themselves (“Courtyard”).
The slow rhythm of life, the precision of the daily routine, and some monotony of existence perfectly conveys Gabriel Metsu(1629-1667; "Breakfast"). In the general nature of his genre images he is close to Terborch, but is brighter in colors.
A new stage of genre painting begins in the 50s and is associated with the so-called. Delft school, with the names of such artists as Karel Fabricius, Emmanuel de Witte and Jan Wermeer(1632-1675), known in art history as Wermeer of Delft (nicknamed after the place of his activity). The art of Wermeer of Delft belongs to the late development of Holland. The generation of heroic but crude fighters for independence and sober businessmen - the organizers of the capitalist economy - already belonged to the past. Their grandchildren entered the historical arena and could safely enjoy the acquired benefits. In these conditions, living, joyful art is formed. last stage the rise of the Dutch Republic.
The mature, soulful and at the same time clear and simple, despite all the sophistication of technology, art of Wermeer of Delft belongs to this period. Authentic works There are few Vermeers, only a few museums possess small and always precious paintings by the Delft master. Vermeer's subject matter is more or less traditional; young women reading a letter, embroidering, in the company of a gentleman, a painter in front of an easel, a girl simply dreaming by the window (“Girl with a Letter,” Dresden; “The Cavalier and the Lady at the Spinet,” etc.) - in a word, everything that has been depicted more than once Dutch painters. In terms of subject matter, in the narrow sense of the word, Vermeer has nothing original. Only in rare cases does he turn to entertaining subjects and introduce an element of action into the composition (“At the Pimp”, 1656, Dresden). However, all his images have a completely individual character. There is some kind of light and bright poetry in all the characters he portrays, and along with this poetry and softness, a special feeling of stern simplicity, something truly classical, stamps all of his works.
Vermeer is undoubtedly one of the greatest colorists in history Western European art. Not only his subtle taste in choosing colors, but also his ability to find their relationship to each other make Vermeer one of the most sophisticated masters of color. With the utmost sense of proportion and tact, he combines lemon yellow, blue, violet of various shades, scarlet and pale green colors into one sonorous tonal range. It was in the work of Wermeer of Delft that the traditional problem of light in Dutch art received its most perfect solution. Iridescent mother-of-pearl light is one of the most characteristic features of the Delft master’s paintings. There is also no doubt that Wermeer of Delft was one of the most advanced technicians of his time. His few paintings are painted in rich and varied textures. His method of applying paint, predetermining the later technique of the Impressionists, made it possible for Vermeer himself to depict the light enveloping objects in all its pictorial concreteness. The light in Vermeer's paintings is not just a transparent medium, but air, rich in subtle transitions of silvery tones.
Vermeer did something that no one did in the 17th century: he painted landscapes from life (“Street”, “View of Delft”). They can be called the first examples of plein air painting. Vermeer's mature, classical in its simplicity art was of great importance for future eras.
The pinnacle of Dutch realism, the result of the pictorial achievements of Dutch culture of the 17th century. is the work of Rembrandt. But the significance of R., like any brilliant artist, goes beyond the boundaries of only Dutch art and the Dutch school. Occupying a central place in the Dutch school during its peak era, Rembrandt still stands apart among the numerous artists of his homeland. The breadth of the range of Rembrandt’s artistic interests and the deep psychologism of his work remained alien to them.
Harmens van Rijn Rembrandt was born in 1606 in Leiden and was the son of a wealthy flour mill owner. He early discovered an attraction to painting and, after a short stay at Leiden University, devoted himself entirely to art. At the end of the usual three-year period of study with the insignificant local artist Jacob Swannenburch, Rembrandt went to Amsterdam for improvement, where he became a student of Lastman. Lastman, a skilled craftsman who studied in Italy, introduced Rembrandt to the effect of chiaroscuro, used to convey volume and reveal the drama of the action. This technique will become central to the artist’s work. Rembrandt spent the following years working in Leiden, gaining a reputation as a master of biblical and mythological scenes. Therefore, the years 1625-1632 are usually called. the Leiden period of his work.
In 1632 he moved to Amsterdam, where he immediately gained fame by writing "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp." The 30s were the time of greatest glory, the path to CT was opened for the painter by this painting, which is considered a group portrait and also bears the name “Anatomy Lesson.” On this canvas, people are united by their action, everyone is presented in natural poses, their attention is drawn to the main character - Doctor Tulpa, demonstrating the structure of the muscles of a corpse. He lives with the art dealer Hendrik van Uylenborch, who patronizes him, arranges orders for portraits, which creates to a young artist reputation as a fashionable, successful master. In 1634, Rembrandt successfully married Hendrik Saskia's niece, and by 1639, together with his wife, he acquired a magnificent house in the capital. Until the early 1640s. he enjoys great success with customers, this is a time of his personal well-being. IN famous masterpiece of this period - “Self-Portrait with Saskia on her Knees” (circa 1635, Art Gallery, Dresden) Rembrandt depicted himself with his young wife at the festive table. Gentle shimmers of golden tones and streams of light piercing the picture convey the joyful mood of a young and successful artist and his wife, full of hopes and dreams.
This entire period is shrouded in romance. The painter, as it were, specifically strives in his work to get away from the dull burgher everyday life. He paints himself and Saskia in luxurious outfits, in fantastic outfits and headdresses, creating spectacular compositions, in everything, in poses, in movements, the common thing prevails - the joy of being. (Saskia as Flora). The language of Baroque is closest to the expression of this elevated mood. Rembrandt during this period was largely influenced by the Italian Baroque.
The characters in the painting “The Sacrifice of Abraham” (1635) appear before us from complex angles. The picture traces the state of mind of Abraham, who, with the sudden appearance of an angel, did not have time to feel either the joy of getting rid of the terrible sacrifice, or gratitude, but for now only feels fatigue and bewilderment.
Rembrandt always paid great attention etching (engraving) and drawing, and soon became the largest master of graphic technology in Europe. The portraits and landscapes, everyday and religious scenes he executed using the etching technique were distinguished by the novelty of artistic techniques, deep psychologism of images, richness of chiaroscuro, expressiveness and laconism of lines. About two thousand drawings by Rembrandt have reached us. Among them are preparatory sketches, sketches for paintings, sketches of scenes of everyday life and ideas born in his imagination.
At the turn of the early period of his creativity, one of his most famous paintings, “Night Watch,” appears - a group portrait of a rifle guild. But group porter is the formal name of the work, resulting from the wishes of the customers. In "The Night Watch" Rembrandt takes a new approach to the genre of group portraits, traditional for Dutch art. The painting (1642, Rijks Museum, Amsterdam) is a group portrait of members of the rifle guild of Captain Banning Cock and is depicted by the artist as a real scene on the street. Rembrandt abandoned the static arrangement of all participants accepted at that time, creating a scene full of movement. The contrasts of light and shadow, the emotionality of the painting convey the excitement of the event. The picture takes on a historical character, telling the story of courageous people who are ready to defend the freedom and national independence of their homeland with arms in hand. The customers did not understand the artist’s intentions, and, starting from this painting, the conflict with the dominant environment will intensify, but it will not reduce the master’s energy, and Rembrandt will continue to create realistic canvases, remarkable in their emotional impact. The impressive, undoubtedly somewhat theatrical, free composition, as already mentioned, was not intended to represent each of the customers. Many faces are simply difficult to “read” in the harsh chiaroscuro, in the contrasts of thick shadows and bright sunlight, as a squad emerges (in the 19th century, the painting became so dark that it was considered a depiction of a night scene, hence the incorrect name. The shadow cast by the figure captain to the lieutenant's light clothes, proves that it is not night, but day). The appearance of strangers in this scene, especially the little girl in a golden yellow dress, seemed incomprehensible and absurd to the viewer. Everything here caused bewilderment and irritation of the public, and one can say that with this picture the conflict between the artist and society begins. With the death of Saskia in the same year, Rembrandt’s natural break with the burgher circles alien to him occurred.
Over the years, Rembrandt's realistic mastery deepened. He abandons unnecessary details and decorative effects in favor of greater depth and emotional intensity of the artistic image. The chamber portrait begins to occupy a very important place in the artist’s work. Rembrandt reveals the spiritual life of a person, as if lasting in time and space. These are a kind of portrait-biography. Such are, for example, “Portrait of an Old Lady”, “Hendrickje at the Window”, “Titus Reading”, portraits of the artist’s friends N. Breuning, J. Six, numerous self-portraits (more than a hundred in oil and charcoal).
40-50s – this is the time of creative maturity. This is the time of the formation of his creative system, from which much will become a thing of the past and new, invaluable qualities will be acquired. During this period, he often turns to previous works in order to remake them in a new way. This was the case with “Danae,” which he painted back in 1636. Turning to the painting in the 40s, the artist intensified his emotional state. He rewrote the central part with the heroine and the maid. Giving Danae a new gesture of a raised hand, he conveyed to her great excitement, an expression of joy, hope, appeal. Light plays a huge role: the light stream seems to envelop the figure of Danae, she all glows with love and happiness, this light is perceived as an expression of human feeling.
In the early 50s, the artist created one masterpiece after another. It had already gone out of fashion, but rich customers were not transferred.
During these years, he chooses for interpretation the most lyrical, poetic aspects of human existence, that which is human, eternal and all-human: maternal love, compassion. The greatest material for him is provided by the Holy Scripture, and from it - scenes from the life of the holy family. Religious in theme, but purely genre in its interpretation of the plot, the Hermitage painting “The Holy Family” (1645) is extremely characteristic of this time.
Along with biblical genre compositions, this period is replete with a new type of depiction of reality for Rembrandt - landscapes. Paying tribute to his romantic desires in some cases, he creates, along with this, pictures of an unadorned Dutch village that are exciting with their strict realism approach. The small “Winter View” (1646, Kassel), depicting a peasant yard and several figures on the surface of a frozen canal in the light of a clear frosty day, in terms of subtlety of feeling and truthfulness of visual perception, serves as one of the most perfect examples of realistic Dutch landscape.
Despite the vastness and artistic value created during this period, Rembrandt's financial situation by the mid-1650s proved extremely difficult. Due to the drop in the number of orders, the difficult sale of paintings, and especially the master’s negligence in managing his affairs, Rembrandt experienced great financial difficulties. The debt associated with the acquisition of an expensive house during Saskia’s lifetime threatened complete ruin. Attempts to get out of debt could only delay the catastrophe, but it still broke out. In the summer of 1656, Rembrandt was declared insolvent and all his property was sold at auction. Deprived of his usual shelter, he was forced to move with his family to the poor Jewish quarter of the trading capital, and here his last days passed in acutely felt lack.
These adversities, as well as the misfortunes that later befell Rembrandt - the death of Hendrik, the death of his only son Titus - were powerless to stop the further growth of his genius.
The end of the 1650s and 1660s are the most tragic years of R.'s life, but they are full of Rembrandt's tremendous creative activity. It represents, as it were, a synthesis of all his previous psychological and pictorial quests. In these paintings everything is cleared of the transient and the accidental. Details are kept to a minimum, gestures, postures, and head tilt are carefully thought out and meaningful. The figures are enlarged, close to the front plane of the canvas. Even the small-sized works of these years create the impression of extraordinary grandeur and true monumentality. The main means of expression are light and lines. It would be more accurate to say about the late R. that his color is “luminous,” because in his canvases light and color are one, his colors seem to emit light. This complex interaction of color and light is not an end in itself; it creates a certain emotional environment and psychological characteristics of the image.
In portraits, Rembrandt now finds himself freer when choosing models and paints mainly faces with a pronounced individuality. These are mainly elderly women and old Jewish men. But with the same sharpness he is able to convey the charm of the young female face or the charm of a youthful appearance. Everything petty in these portraits gives way to a generalized, but at the same time unusually poignant presentation of the image. This is greatly facilitated by the increasing breadth of the manner of technical execution.
The final piece in the history of group portraits was Rembrandt’s depiction of the elder of the cloth workshop - the so-called. "The Syndics" (1662, Amsterdam). deservedly considered one of the pinnacles of Rembrandt’s work). Acute psychological characteristics, simplicity of construction, concealing the infallibility of the rhythm of lines and masses, as well as the meager number of colors, but intense coloring, summarize the entire previous path of Rembrandt as a portrait painter.
In his mature years (50s), Rembrandt created his best etchings. Rembrandt's distinctive depth psychological analysis, expressive realism of images and perfection of ownership artistic technique were reflected in a long series of remarkable sheets, thematically even more diverse than the master’s paintings. Particularly famous ones include “Christ Healing the Sick” (the so-called “Leaf of a Hundred Florins”, ca. 1649), “Three Crosses” (1653), portraits of Lutma (1656), Haring (1655), Six (1647 ), as well as landscapes known as “Three Trees” (1643) and “The Gold Weigher’s Estate” (1651).
No less significant place Rembrandt's graphic heritage includes drawings. The acuity and originality of Rembrandt's perception of the surrounding world was reflected with particular force in these numerous and varied sheets. The manner of drawing, like Rembrandt’s painting style, noticeably evolves throughout the master’s creative development. If Rembrandt's early drawings were worked out in detail and were quite complex in composition, then in a more mature period he executed them in a broad pictorial manner, unusually laconic and simple. Rembrandt usually painted with a quill or reed pen and was able to achieve exceptional power of expression using the simplest techniques. R. left behind 2000 drawings. His drawings, even when they are minute sketches of some everyday motif, represent a complete whole, fully conveying the entire diversity of nature.
The epilogue to R.’s work can be considered his grandiose canvas “The Return of the Prodigal Son” (circa 1668-1669, Hermitage), in which the artist’s aesthetic height and pictorial skill were most fully demonstrated. The artist fills the Gospel parable about a young man who left home, squandered his fortune and returned to his father pitiful, ragged, and humiliated with deeply human content. The noble idea of love for a suffering person is revealed here in images that are striking in their life-like persuasiveness. The face of the old half-blind father and the gesture of his hands express endless kindness, and the figure of the son in dirty rags, clinging to his father, expresses sincere and deep repentance. Perhaps no other painting by Rembrandt evokes so many deep and compassionate feelings. Rembrandt taught his viewers love and forgiveness. Later, in last years and months, Rembrandt's life proceeds outwardly calmly. Having survived Hendrickje and Titus, he died on October 4, 1669.
R. had a huge influence on art. There was no painter in Holland during his time who would not have experienced the influence of the great artist, of whom the most famous were Ferdinand Bol (1616-1680), Gerbrand van den Eckout (1621-1674) and Art de Gelder (1645-1727). Having mastered the topic, compositional techniques and teacher types, they still did not go in their figure painting beyond external imitation of Rembrandt’s techniques. The living influence of the master, on the contrary, was definitely felt among numerous landscape painters adjacent to him - Philips Koninck (1619-1688), Doomer (1622-1700) and others. But the majority betrayed him, switching to positions of academicism and imitation of the then fashionable Flemings, and then the French.
As often happens in the history of art, despite his brilliant talent, Rembrandt died in poverty and loneliness, a forgotten, useless master. But the further time flies, the more valuable the artist’s legacy is in the eyes of humanity. It can be said without exaggeration that Rembrandt is one of the most greatest artists in the history of world art. Many would call it unsurpassed. Rembrandt's grave is lost, but his works will live on for centuries.
In the last quarter of the 17th century. the decline of Dutch painting begins, the loss of its national identity, and from the beginning. 18th century The end of the great era of Dutch realism is coming.