On the walls of one of the halls art gallery in Berlin, several winter landscapes of the "small Dutch" are presented. Maybe in the summer or spring I would not linger around these works, but after the piercing January wind with drizzling rain, from which the walls of the gallery so well protected, it was the winter scenes that naturally fell on the soul. Artists of the 17th century were able to see beauty even where it was damp and dank, and the snow had only slightly powdered the road dirt and withered grass. In Art van der Neer's painting, attention shifts to the sunset sky. A golden glow argues with leaden clouds, its reflections enliven the ice, and following the people skating, our gaze slides to the horizon:

Nearby hangs a small canvas by Isaac van Ostade. Here, too, a wonderful pinkish sky. But the bad weather cleared up in earnest, people bend down under the wind. The boats are frozen in the ice. Both of these landscapes originated in the middle of the 17th century, as did the next two works by Jan van Goyen.

One of them depicts winter entertainment near the tavern, the other shows ice skating on a frozen canal or lake. The artist is true to himself: he depicts the most common: a flat landscape, old gnarled trees, an ordinary tavern. People are dressed simply, most often turned their backs to us. The first landscape enlivens only blue sky peeping through the clouds.

And on the second there is not even this - everything is in a foggy haze. It was about such canvases that Johan Huizinga wrote: “Naive devotion to the craft allows the landscape painter to discover unexpected possibilities, within which he simply follows the unstoppable dexterity of his brush. The transmission of the breadth of space and diffused light did not come from any school. Individual objects are either sharply defined or immersed in the atmosphere of the picture as a whole. Artists reach the pinnacle when they are not at all thinking about some big style, show only their unheard-of skill in depicting the everyday, in which they find treasures of beauty, hardly realizing it all. / J. Huizinga. Culture of the Netherlands in the 17th century. Erasmus. Selected letters. Drawings. SPb., 2009, p.112/

Ice skating is an extremely common motif Dutch painting XVII century. True, in Berlin there were no paintings by the artist who specialized in this topic - Hendrik Averkamp. Here is his painting from the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The people at the rink are smartly dressed. A waving flag is visible to the left. Perhaps some kind of holiday is depicted.

http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/images/aria/sk/z/sk-a-3247.z

On this canvas, as in the picture from the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, people of different classes gathered on the ice, having fun or doing their usual things. In the Moscow picture, in the foreground is a lady in a mask. How can you not think about the hidden meaning? “In the depiction of crowded scenes against the backdrop of a winter landscape, in which people participate different ages and social affiliation, moralistic and emblematic interpretations are already a priori assumed, in particular, as a “skating rink of life”, as a sliding of people full of surprises and dangers following a ghostly and deceptive luck” / A visible image and hidden meaning. Allegories and emblems in the painting of Flanders and Holland in the second half of the 16th - 17th centuries. M., 2004, p.2/

http://files.smallbay.ru/images9/avercamp_07.jpg

Among the skaters, H. Averkamp depicts a dandy balancing on one leg. I came across this image at an exhibition at the Queen's Gallery in London. The exhibition was dedicated to the "little Dutch". It featured not only paintings, but also drawings. One of the best was H. Averkamp's sketch:

But back to Berlin. Towards the end, two more winter landscapes, already without any entertainment. This is a canvas by Philips Wauwerman with fishermen, peasants carrying firewood, and a shaky wooden bridge.

After contemplating the Dutch winter landscape, you involuntarily think that we are still more fortunate with winter. And in Russian art there is not only the image of winter slush by Vasiliev or Savrasov, but also the sunny frosty days of Kustodiev.

On the walls of one of the halls of the Art Gallery in Berlin, several winter landscapes of the "small Dutch" are presented. Maybe in the summer or spring I would not linger around these works, but after the piercing January wind with drizzling rain, from which the walls of the gallery so well protected, it was the winter scenes that naturally fell on the soul. Artists of the 17th century were able to see beauty even where it was damp and dank, and the snow only slightly powdered the road dirt and withered grass. In Art van der Neer's painting, attention shifts to the sunset sky. A golden glow argues with leaden clouds, its reflections enliven the ice, and following the people skating, our gaze slides to the horizon:

Nearby hangs a small canvas by Isaac van Ostade. Here, too, a wonderful pinkish sky. But the bad weather cleared up in earnest, people bend down under the wind. The boats are frozen in the ice. Both of these landscapes originated in the middle of the 17th century, as did the next two works by Jan van Goyen.

One of them depicts winter entertainment near the tavern, the other shows ice skating on a frozen canal or lake. The artist is true to himself: he depicts the most common: a flat landscape, old gnarled trees, an ordinary tavern. People are dressed simply, most often turned their backs to us. The first landscape is enlivened only by the blue sky, peeping through the clouds.

And on the second there is not even this - everything is in a foggy haze. It was about such canvases that Johan Huizinga wrote: “Naive devotion to the craft allows the landscape painter to discover unexpected possibilities, within which he simply follows the unstoppable dexterity of his brush. The transmission of the breadth of space and diffused light did not come from any school. Individual objects are either sharply defined or immersed in the atmosphere of the picture as a whole. Artists reach the top when they, not at all thinking about some great style, show only their unheard-of skill in depicting the everyday, in which they find treasures of beauty, hardly realizing it all. / J. Huizinga. Culture of the Netherlands in the 17th century. Erasmus. Selected letters. Drawings. SPb., 2009, p.112/

Ice skating is an extremely common motif of the Dutch painting XVII century. True, in Berlin there were no paintings by the artist who specialized in this topic - Hendrik Averkamp. Here is his painting from the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The people at the rink are smartly dressed. A waving flag is visible to the left. Perhaps some kind of holiday is depicted.

http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/images/aria/sk/z/sk-a-3247.z

On this canvas, as in the picture from the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, people of different classes gathered on the ice, having fun or doing their usual things. In the Moscow picture, in the foreground is a lady in a mask. How can you not think about the hidden meaning? “In the depiction of crowded scenes against the backdrop of a winter landscape, in which people of different ages and social affiliations participate, moralistic and emblematic interpretations are, as it were, a priori assumed, in particular, as a “skating rink of life”, as a sliding of people full of surprises and dangers following a ghostly and deceptive luck” / Visible image and hidden meaning. Allegories and emblems in the painting of Flanders and Holland in the second half of the 16th - 17th centuries. M., 2004, p.2/

http://files.smallbay.ru/images9/avercamp_07.jpg

Among the skaters, H. Averkamp depicts a dandy balancing on one leg. I came across this image at an exhibition at the Queen's Gallery in London. The exhibition was dedicated to the "little Dutch". It featured not only paintings, but also drawings. One of the best was H. Averkamp's sketch:

But back to Berlin. Towards the end, two more winter landscapes, already without any entertainment. This is a canvas by Philips Wauwerman with fishermen, peasants carrying firewood, and a shaky wooden bridge.

After contemplating the Dutch winter landscape, you involuntarily think that we are still more fortunate with winter. And in Russian art there is not only the image of winter slush by Vasiliev or Savrasov, but also the sunny frosty days of Kustodiev.

Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of the late 16th-18th centuries Published on 06.02.2017 15:37 Views: 2589

In our article we will talk about two artists: Jan van Goyene and Jacob van Ruisdale.

They both lived in the era of the liberation of Holland from a foreign yoke, and this was the Golden Age of Dutch painting. It was in the art of Holland that the following genres began to develop: portrait, landscape, everyday genre, still life. This was not observed then even in the outstanding centers of art - in Italy or France. The art of Holland in the 17th century. has become a phenomenon in the art world Europe in the 17th century The Dutch masters paved the way for the artists of other national European art schools.

Jan van Goyen (1596-1656)

Terborch "Portrait of van Goyen" (c. 1560)

Jan van Goyen is one of the first artists to depict nature naturally, simply, without embellishment. He is the creator of the national Dutch landscape. The nature of his country gave him enough subjects for his whole life.
Jan van Goyen was born in 1596 in Leiden to a shoemaker's family.
Although Jan van Goyen spent some time in his youth in Paris, but in France love for simple landscape was unknown, so it is hardly worth talking about any influence on his work by representatives of French painting.
In his own country, he had several painting teachers, but only in the studio of Isaiah van de Velde did he spend a year, and he communicated even less with the rest of the mentors.

Jan van Goyen "Landscape with Dunes" (1630-1635). Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)

Creation

At first, Goyen painted Dutch villages or surroundings with their vegetation, then coastal views began to predominate in his paintings, where most of the paintings were occupied by sky and water.

Jan van Goyen "View of the River" (1655). Mauritshuis (The Hague)

Trees, huts or city buildings play a secondary role in his paintings, but have a very picturesque appearance, as well as small sailing and rowing ships with figures of fishermen, helmsmen and passengers.
Goyen's paintings are predominantly monotonous. The artist loved the simplicity of color, but at the same time his colors are harmonious. He applied paint with a light layer.

Jan van Goyen View of the Merwede near Dordrecht (c. 1645). Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)

The late works of the artist are distinguished by an almost monochrome palette, and the translucent ground gives them a special depth and unique charm.

Jan van Goyen Landscape with Two Oaks (1641). Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)

His paintings are pleasant precisely for their simplicity and realism. The artist created quite a lot of art canvases, but his work was not always rewarded in a worthy way. Therefore, Goyen had to earn extra money in other ways: he traded in tulips, was engaged in the evaluation and sale of works of art, real estate, land plots. But attempts at entrepreneurship usually did not lead to success.

Jan van Goyen "Winter Scene on Ice"

Now his work is appreciated, and any museum considers his paintings valuable exhibits.
Several paintings by Jan van Goyen are also in the Hermitage: “View of the river. Meuse, near Dortrecht", "Scheveningen coast, near The Hague", "Winter landscape", "View of the river. Meuse", "Rural View", "Landscape with Oak", etc.

Jan van Goyen "Landscape with Oak"

In addition to painting, Goyen was engaged in etching (a type of engraving on metal) and drawing.

In 1632, Goyen moved with his family to The Hague, where he lived until the end of his life - until 1656.

Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/1629-1682)

Jacob Isaacs van Ruisdael was born and died in Haarlem (Netherlands). There are no exact portraits of him. This portrait is only speculative.
Ruisdael is now considered the most important Dutch landscape painter, but his talent was not appreciated during his lifetime. His teacher could be his own uncle - the artist Solomon van Ruysdael.
Ruisdael was also a practicing surgeon based in Amsterdam.

Creation

The artist skillfully conveyed human emotions through the landscape. And for him, any component of the landscape was important: a tree branch bent by a gust of wind, a crushed blade of grass, storm cloud, a trodden path ... And all these components harmoniously combined in his paintings into a single NATURE.
He wrote in small strokes. He liked to paint forest thickets, swamps, waterfalls, small Dutch towns or villages, and above all this - a triumphant sky. Ruisdael's landscapes are understandable to any person of any nationality, because they express a common unity with nature for all people.
Ruisdael created about 450 paintings. Other sources give the number as 600. Most of his landscapes are dedicated to the nature of his native Netherlands, but he also painted the oak forests of Germany and the waterfalls of Norway.

Holland. 17th century The country is experiencing unprecedented prosperity. The so-called "Golden Age". At the end of the 16th century, several provinces of the country achieved independence from Spain.

Now the Protestant Netherlands went their own way. And Catholic Flanders (now Belgium) under the wing of Spain - its own.

In independent Holland, almost no one needed religious painting. The Protestant Church did not approve of the luxury of decoration. But this circumstance "played into the hands" of secular painting.

The love for this type of art woke up literally every inhabitant. new country. The Dutch wanted to see their own life in the pictures. And the artists willingly went to meet them.

Never before has the surrounding reality been depicted so much. Ordinary people, ordinary rooms and the most ordinary breakfast of a city dweller.

Realism flourished. Until the 20th century, he will be a worthy competitor to academism with its nymphs and Greek goddesses.

These artists are called "small" Dutch. Why? The paintings were small in size, because they were created for small houses. So, almost all paintings by Jan Vermeer are no more than half a meter high.

But I like the other version better. In the Netherlands in the 17th century he lived and worked Great master, the "big" Dutchman. And all the others were "small" in comparison with him.

We are talking, of course, about Rembrandt. Let's start with him.

1. Rembrandt (1606-1669)

Rembrandt. Self-portrait at the age of 63. 1669 National London gallery

Rembrandt had a chance to experience the widest range of emotions during his life. Therefore, in his early works so much fun and bravado. And so many complex feelings - in the later ones.

Here he is young and carefree in the painting “The Prodigal Son in the Tavern”. On her knees is Saskia's beloved wife. He is a popular artist. Orders are pouring in.

Rembrandt. The prodigal son in the tavern. 1635 Old Masters Gallery, Dresden

But all this will disappear in some 10 years. Saskia will die of consumption. Popularity will disappear like smoke. Big house with a unique collection take for debt.

But the same Rembrandt will appear, which will remain for centuries. The naked feelings of the characters. Their most secret thoughts.

2. Frans Hals (1583-1666)

Frans Hals. Self-portrait. 1650 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Frans Hals is one of the greatest portrait painters of all time. Therefore, I would also rank him among the "big" Dutch.

In Holland at that time it was customary to commission group portraits. So there was a lot of similar works depicting people working together: shooters of the same guild, doctors of the same town, managing a nursing home.

In this genre, Hals stands out the most. After all, most of these portraits looked like a deck of cards. People sit at the table with the same expression on their faces and just look. Hals was different.

Look at his group portrait "Arrows of the Guild of St. George".

Frans Hals. Arrows of the Guild of St. George. 1627 Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands

Here you will not find a single repetition in posture or facial expression. At the same time, there is no chaos here. There are many characters, but no one seems superfluous. Thanks to the surprisingly correct arrangement of figures.

Yes, and in a single portrait, Hals surpassed many artists. His models are natural. People from high society in his paintings are devoid of far-fetched grandeur, and models from the bottom do not look humiliated.

And his characters are very emotional: they smile, laugh, gesticulate. Like, for example, this "Gypsy" with a sly look.

Frans Hals. Gypsy. 1625-1630

Hals, like Rembrandt, ended his life in poverty. For the same reason. His realism went against the tastes of customers. Who wanted to embellish their appearance. Hals did not go for outright flattery, and thus signed his own sentence - "Oblivion".

3. Gerard Terborch (1617-1681)

Gerard Terborch. Self-portrait. 1668 Mauritshuis Royal Gallery, The Hague, Netherlands

Terborch was a master household genre. Rich and not very burghers talk slowly, ladies read letters, and a procuress watches courtship. Two or three closely spaced figures.

It was this master who developed the canons of the domestic genre. Which will then be borrowed by Jan Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch and many other "small" Dutch.

Gerard Terborch. A glass of lemonade. 1660s. State Hermitage, St. Petersburg

"A glass of lemonade" is one of the famous works Terborch. It shows another advantage of the artist. Incredible realistic image dress fabrics.

Terborch has and unusual work. Which speaks of his desire to go beyond the requirements of customers.

His "Grinder" shows the life of the poorest inhabitants of Holland. We are used to seeing cozy courtyards and clean rooms in the pictures of the “small” Dutch. But Terborch dared to show unattractive Holland.

Gerard Terborch. Grinder. 1653-1655 Berlin State Museums

As you understand, such works were not in demand. And they are a rare occurrence even in Terborch.

4. Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)

Jan Vermeer. Artist's workshop. 1666-1667 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

What Jan Vermeer looked like is not known for certain. It is only obvious that in the painting "Artist's Workshop" he depicted himself. True from the back.

Therefore, it is surprising that a new fact from the life of the master has recently become known. It is associated with his masterpiece "Street of Delft".

Jan Vermeer. Delft street. 1657 State Museum in Amsterdam

It turned out that Vermeer spent his childhood on this street. The house pictured belonged to his aunt. She raised her five children there. She may be sitting on the doorstep sewing while her two children are playing on the sidewalk. Vermeer himself lived in the house opposite.

But more often he depicted the interior of these houses and their inhabitants. It would seem that the plots of the paintings are very simple. Here is a pretty lady, a wealthy city dweller, checking the work of her scales.

Jan Vermeer. Woman with weights. 1662-1663 National Gallery of Art, Washington

How did Vermeer stand out among thousands of other "small" Dutch?

He was consummate master Sveta. In the painting “Woman with Scales”, the light gently envelops the face of the heroine, fabrics and walls. Giving the image an unknown spirituality.

And the compositions of Vermeer's paintings are carefully verified. You will not find a single extra detail. It is enough to remove one of them, the picture will “crumble”, and the magic will go away.

All this was not easy for Vermeer. Such amazing quality required painstaking work. Only 2-3 paintings per year. As a result, the inability to feed the family. Vermeer also worked as an art dealer, selling works by other artists.

5. Pieter de Hooch (1629-1884)

Peter de Hooch. Self-portrait. 1648-1649 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Hoch is often compared to Vermeer. They worked at the same time, there was even a period in the same city. And in one genre - household. In Hoch, we also see one or two figures in cozy Dutch courtyards or rooms.

open doors and windows make the space of his paintings multi-layered and entertaining. And the figures fit into this space very harmoniously. As, for example, in his painting "Servant with a girl in the yard."

Peter de Hooch. Maid with a girl in the yard. 1658 London National Gallery

Until the 20th century, Hoch was highly valued. But few people noticed the few works of his competitor Vermeer.

But in the 20th century, everything changed. Hoch's glory faded. However, it is difficult not to recognize his achievements in painting. Few people could combine the environment and people so competently.

Peter de Hooch. Card players in the sun room. 1658 Royal Art Collection, London

Please note that in a modest house on the canvas "Card Players" there is a picture in an expensive frame.

This once again speaks of how popular painting was among ordinary Dutch. Pictures adorned every house: the house of a wealthy burgher, a modest city dweller, and even a peasant.

6. Jan Steen (1626-1679)

Jan Stan. Self-portrait with a lute. 1670s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid

Jan Steen is perhaps the most cheerful "small" Dutchman. But loving moralizing. He often depicted taverns or poor houses in which vice was found.

Its main characters are revelers and ladies of easy virtue. He wanted to entertain the viewer, but implicitly warn him against a vicious life.

Jan Stan. Chaos. 1663 Art History Museum, Vienna

Stan also has quieter works. Like, for example, "Morning toilet". But here, too, the artist surprises the viewer with too frank details. There are traces of stocking gum, and not an empty chamber pot. And somehow it’s not at all the way the dog lies right on the pillow.

Jan Stan. Morning toilet. 1661-1665 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

But despite all the frivolity, Stan's color schemes are very professional. In this he surpassed many of the "small Dutch". See how the red stocking goes perfectly with the blue jacket and bright beige rug.

7. Jacobs Van Ruysdael (1629-1882)

Portrait of Ruisdael. Lithograph from a 19th century book. Winter landscape in Western European painting reaches its highest peak in the work of the Dutch masters of the 17th century.
The Dutch winter landscape has become a kind of hallmark of Holland.
Dutch artists no longer considered winter landscapes as part of the "Seasons" or "Months", but turned them into independent works of art.
“At this time of the year, things usually went more slowly, and everyone had more free time. In those days and weeks when the lakes and canals were ice-bound, no one parted with skates. Young and old, men and women, preachers, burgomasters, princes - literally all lived on ice.
Sliding on wooden skates with a metal blade bent at the nose, twice the length of the feet, people skated either alone, with their hands behind their backs, leaning slightly forward, or in pairs, clasping their hands with a pretzel.
Children and old people were carried in chairs on skids. The boys glided in the sled, pushing with sticks.
At the edge of the ice rink, innkeepers pitched tents and lit fires. Here you could have a drink, warm your hands on the fire and return to the ice again"
(Paul Zumthor)
We suggest choosing buy paintings dutch winter landscape contemporary artists in our online art gallery.