ART 4
2-DAY 07 November |
^
Died on 07 November 1766: Jean-Marc
Nattier, Parisian painter specialized in portraits,
born on 17 March 1685, who, like his brother Jean-Baptiste Nattier [27 Sep
1678 – 23 May 1726], worked as a history painter, as had been the
intention of their father, the portrait painter Marc Nattier [1642 –
24 Oct 1705], but Jean-Marc is best known for his fashionable portraits.
His mother was the miniature painter Marie Nattier (née Courtois) [1655
– 13 Oct 1703]. — As well as being taught by his father, Jean-Marc Nattier was trained by his godfather, Jean Jouvenet, and attended the drawing classes of the Académie Royale, where in 1700 he won the Premier Prix de Dessin. From around 1703 he worked on La Galerie du Palais du Luxembourg. The experience of copying the work of Rubens does not, however, seem to have had a warming effect on his draftsmanship, which was described by the 18th-century collector Pierre-Jean Mariette as ‘cold’. Nattier was commissioned to make further drawings for engravers in the early part of his career, including those after Hyacinthe Rigaud’s famous state portrait of Louis XIV (1701) in 1710, which indicates that he had established a reputation while he was still quite young. Although he was offered a place at the Académie de France in Rome on the recommendation of Jouvenet, Nattier preferred to remain in Paris and further his career. In 1717 he nevertheless made a trip to Holland, where he painted portraits of Peter the Great and The Empress Catherine. The Tsar offered Nattier work at the Russian court, but the artist declined the offer. He remained in Paris for the rest of his life. — Nattier succeeded Hyacinthe Rigaud as the leading court portraitist of France. The son and brother of artists, he began his studies under the sponsorship of his godfather, Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet. He received early professional encouragement from Louis XIV when, in 1701, Nattier presented his drawing for the engraving after Rigaud's full-length portrait of the king. He was also influenced by Le Brun and Rubens, whose paintings he copied in Paris. In 1717 he went to Holland to work for Peter the Great and the next year was elected to membership in the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Thereafler he specialized in oil and pastel portraits, depicting the sitters as mythological figures. While reminiscent of a genre popular in the sixteenth century, these are completely different in spirit. Nattier portrayed many of the leading members of the court of Louis XV, but his reputation is firmly based on his portraits of the king, Queen Marie Lesczinska, and their daughters. He excelled as a painter of women, flattering his sitters by endowing them with the attributes of goddessesof Olympus and posing them against a backdrop of classical columns, sumptuous draperies, and decorative elements. — Giuseppe Baldrighi and Louis Tocqué [19 Nov 1696 – 10 Feb 1772] {qui, n'étant pas toqué, a épousé la fille de Nattier} were students of Nattier. LINKS — Madame Boudrey as a Muse (1752, 130x97cm; recommended quarter-size _ ZOOM to half-size, which makes the dense network of aging paint cracks very noticeable, especially against the skin tones _ ZOOM++ to full size, you get rewarded for your patience during the long dowload, by seeing the paint cracks in their full glory.) — Terpsichore, Muse of Music and Dance (1739, 136x125cm; 1/6 size _ ZOOM to recommended 1/3 size _ ZOOM++ to 2/3 size, where you can barely see the very fine paint cracks, but quite plainly a lot of white specks on the harp and elsewhere at the lower right.) — Thalia, Muse of Comedy (1739, 136x125cm; recommended 1/6 size _ ZOOM to 1/3 size _ ZOOM++ to 2/3 size.) Marie Adélaïde of France as Flora (1742, 94x128cm) _ In 1742 the Queen of France, Maria Leczinska, wife of Louis XV, impressed by Nattier's remarkable talent for portraits, requested that he paint her first daughter Henrietta [1727-1752]. A replica was made in 1745, probably for the Spanish Infanta Luisa Elisabetta, Henrietta's twin sister. The portrait shows Nattier's ability to construct an image that is something between 'naif' and 'flatterie'. The transposition into the mythological figure, the perfect turning of the body and the regularity of the brushstrokes do not suppress the characterization and recognizability of the face; the whole is rendered with a polished, silken pictorial style drawn from studies on Lebrun and Rubens. Marie Adélaïde of France as Diana (1745, 95x128cm) _ This painting represents Marie-Adélaïde (1732-1800), the third daughter of Louis XV. It is signed and dated lower left: Nattier pinxit 1745. The pendant of the painting (Marie Adelaide of France as Flora) is also in the Uffizi. Nattier specialized in portraying his sitters in mythological or allegorical fancy dress, and achieved great success with these portraits. Mademoiselle de Clermont "en Sultane" (1733, 109x105cm) _ The picture is a vivid example of French "turquerie" fashion; an elegant lady of the court, still wearing her ermine cloak, is painted as a sultana at the bath, surrounded by her slaves. Comtesse de Tillières (1750, 80x63cm) _ The silk pelisse of the the Comtesse is trimmed with squirrel fur. == Marc Nattier had a royal licence to reproduce the famous cycle of paintings The History of Marie de’ Medici by Rubens. Before he died, Marc made the licence over to his sons who produced a series of drawings after it for some of the foremost engravers of the day, including Gérard Edelinck, Bernard Picart and Gaspard Duchange. The drawings appeared in book form in 1710 under this cover:
They include the
following (all 50x35cm; first image is 3/5 size; zoom is 6/5 size) [in
small print, below the left corner of each is written something such as
Rubens
pinxit I.M. Nattier delineavit, or just Rubens
pinxit; and at the lower right corner Carol!
Simonneau major scul:1709 or I.M.
Nattier delin. Cornellis Vermeunlen sculp. or I.M.
Nattier delin. B. Picard sculpsit or A.
Loir Sculp. ; at the lower right corner of each sheet
potential purchasers are notified by a notice such as Se
Vend à Paris chez le Sr.Duchange Graveur ordinaire du
Roy rüe St.Jacques au dessus de la rue des Mathurins devant
un Tapissier. Avec Privilege du Roy. or A
Paris chez le Sr. Nattier peintre de l'Academie Royale rue
Frementeau. Avec Privilege du Roy.]: — La Destinée de la Reine (1710) _ ZOOM _ The Rubens original (1625) Les Parques filent la vie de la Reine sous l'heureuse constellation de Jupiter . Ce Dieu est caressé par Junon,qui est la Déesse des accou- chemens,et qui veut assister à la naissance de la Princesse pour la rendre digne de tous les honneurs ou peut atteindre une mortelle . — La Naissance de la Reine _ ZOOM _ The Rubens original (1625) Junon Lucine Deesse des accouchemens met la jeune Princesse entre les mains de la ville de Florence, qui la reçoit tendrement entre ses bras, et dont elle admire les grandes destinées : ce qui est exprimé par un Génie qui tient une corne d'abondance, d'ou sortent len marques de la Royauté. sur le devant du Tableau , est le fleuve d'Arno accom- pagné des simboles qui le font connoître ; et le Sagittaire qui est en haut denote le tems de la naissance de la Reine. — Le débarquement de la Reine au port de Marseille (1710) _ ZOOM _ The Rubens original (1626, 394x293cm) L'Evêque de la ville de Marseille et la France, recoivent la Reine avec le dais sur un pont de barques,pendant que d'un côté la Renommée dans l'air,annonce au peuple la venue de leur Reine, et que d'un autre côté, Neptune après avoir rendu les flots favorables affermit la galère d'ou cette Princesse descent . Ce Dieu est accompagné de Sirennes et d'un Triton,qui de concert avec la Renommée,entonne avec sa conque des sons d'allégresses . — L'Accouchement de la Reine _ ZOOM La Reine qui vient de mettre au monde Loüis XIII . le regarde d'un amour maternel qui change en joye toutes les douleurs de l'enfantement. D'un côté la Justice dovve ce nouveau Prince en garde au Genie de la Santé ; et de l'autre est la fecondité qui dans sa corne d'abondance fait voir les cinq autres enfans qui doivent naître de la Reine . Le Soleil dans son char prend sa course en haut et donne a connoître par là que l'accouchement arriva le matin ; et la constellation de Castor qui est en haut marque qu'il fut heureux . — Le Roy part pour la guerre d'Allemagne _ ZOOM 19 Le Roy Henri IV . avant d'aller en Allemagne pour secourir les Marquis de Brandebourg et de Neubourg, et les mettre en possession de Cleves et de Juliers, donne à la Reine le gouvernement de son Royaume . Entre eux deux est le Dauphin, qui depuis fut Louis XIII.Du côté du Roy sont les officiers de son armée sous les armes qui attendent sa Majesté pour la suivre : et du côté de la Reine sont la Prudence et la Generosité . — Le Voyage de la Reine au Pont de Cé _ ZOOM La Reine à cheval le casque en tête comme une autre Bellone,va prevenir une guerre civile qui se preparoit par les tumultes du Pont de Cé. Cette Princesse est accompagnée de la Victoire,et de la Renommée qui sont en l'air, et de la Force qui la suit à pied avec son Lion. Le fond du Tableau est la ville du Pont de Cé,et au dessus de la ville,on voit un aigle qui poursuit des oiseaux de rapine; Allegorie qui signifie l'attention qu'avoit la Reine à dissiper les ennemis de l'Etat . — La Majorite du Roy Louis XIII _ ZOOM La Reine donne au Roy Louis XIII. le gouvernement du Royaume, marqué par une barque a laquelle la Force, la Religion, la Justice, et la Bonne foy donnent le mouvement. D'autres Vertus ont le soin des voiles , et mettent toutes ensemble la France en sureté. On voit d'un côté les étoiles Castor et Pollux presages des voyages heureux : et de l'autre sont deux Renommées qui publient la bonne conduite de la Reine au maniement des affaires. — La Reine s'enfuit de la ville de Blois _ ZOOM Parmi tous ces Tableaux la Reine voulut qu'il y en ut quelqu'un qui donnât des marques a la Posterité de sa mauvaise fortune.C'est pour cela qu'elle fit peindre dans celui-cy sa fuite de Blois lors qu'elle fut contrainte de se sauver par la fenetre de Château.Sa Majesté est accompagnée de Minerve,et escortée du Duc d'Epernon qui l'attendoit avec quelques gens armez: Et pour ne laisser aucun doute de cette action, le Peintre fait voir une femme de chambre qui suit la Reine et descend actuellement . — La Reine prend le parti de la paix _ ZOOM La Reine tient Conseil à Angers avec les Cardinaux de la Valette & de la Rochefoucaut. Le dernier fait signe à cette Princesse de prendre le rameau d'olive que lui resente Mercure,& la porte à faire la paix avec le Roy qui avoit envoyé des Deputez pour travailler à un accomodement. Le Cardinal de la Valette au contraire lui retient le bras & donne a connoître par là, qu'il est d'avis que la Reine soutienne ses interests par les armes. Auprès de la Reine est la Prudence qui lui suggere de se tenir sur ses gardes . — La Conclusion de la Paix _ ZOOM La Reine ayant accepté le parti de s'accomoder avec le Roy est conduite par Mercure au temple de la Paix : l'Innocence l'y pousse , & la Paix sur le devant du tableau brûle les intrumens de la guerre pendant que la Fraude, la Fureur & d'autres semblables vices veulent s'opposer aux bons desseins de la Reine & font un dernier effor dans le transport de leur desespoir . — Marie de Medicis sous la forme de Minerve Déeße des Arts – DEDIÉ AU ROY (1708) _ ZOOM — Le Tems decouvre la Verité (1710) _ ZOOM Le Peintre voulant faire voir que la mesintelligence qui avoit êté entre Louis XIII. & Marie de Medicis sa mere ne venoit que des faux avis, a representé dans ce tableau le Tems qui decouvre la Verité,pendant que le Roy & la Reine qui avoient êté surpris par la malice des hommes se reconcilient a la face du Ciel . |
^
Born on 07 November 1828: Paul~Jacques~Aimé Baudry,
French painter, specialized in portraits,
who died on 17 January 1886. — Like many artistic children from the provinces in 19th-century France, he went to Paris with a grant from his municipality to pay his tuition fees. He entered the studio of Michel-Martin Drolling in 1844 and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1845. In five successive attempts at the Prix de Rome, he rose up through the ranks of the finalists, winning the first prize (which he shared with Bouguereau) in 1850 with Zenobia Found by Shepherds on the Banks of the Araxes. Critics had already noticed that he was more attracted by Venetian painting than was customary among candidates for the prize. This was reaffirmed by the works he sent from Rome to Paris, especially his La Fortune et le jeune enfant (1857, 146x194cm; angled photo of framed painting), which was clearly indebted to Sacred and Profane Love (1514, 118x279cm; 501x1459pix, 112kb), the masterpiece by Titian. Baudry entame sa carričre parisienne en 1857. Il exécute tout d'abord deux ensembles décoratifs, l'un pour M. Guillemin en 1857 (aujourd'hui ŕ l'Hôtel Marigny), l'autre pour le ministre Achille Fould en 1858 (pour l'Hôtel Fould, aujourd'hui au Château de Chantilly) et il reçoit la commande d'une vingtaine de portraits. Mais pour établir sa réputation il se devait d'exposer des compositions représentatives de son art au Salon, alors le seul moyen pour un artiste de montrer ses oeuvres, de se faire connaître et d'ętre jugé. Au Salon de 1857 il avait été accueilli de façon plutôt favorable, mais avec des oeuvres réalisées ŕ Rome dans le cadre de l'Académie de France. Au Salon de 1889 il exposa, outre des portraits, deux tableaux : La toilette de Vénus et La Madeleine pénitente. — Émile Schuffenecker was a student of Baudry. LINKS — Charlotte Corday (1860; 2695x2000pix, 3428kb) _ Compare La Mort de Marat (1793, 162x125cm) by David [30 Aug 1748 – 29 Dec 1825] Le Tourment de Vestale Le Lutteur Meissonier (1848) — Louis Cézard (1871, 77x64cm; 396x330pix, 46kb) _ The sitter looks more like a Louise than a Louis. — La Vague et la Perle (1862) — L'ivresse de Noé (188x298cm; 412x640pix, 57kb) |
^
Died on 07 November 1678: Erasmus Quellin
II (or Quellinus, Quellyn, Quellien II), Antwerp Flemish
Baroque
painter and philosopher born on 19 November 1607. Erasmus Quellin II was a member of a family of artists (mainly sculptors). His father was Erasmus Quellinus I [1584 – 22 Jan 1640], a sculptor, his brothers Artus (Arnoldus) I [bap. 30 Aug 1609 – 23 Aug 1668], the most distinguished sculptor member of the family, and Hubert [1619-1687], an engraver. Their mother was born Betje van Uden, the sister of the painter, draftsman, and engraver Lucas van Uden. Their sister Cornelia married Peeter Verbrugghen I. Erasmus Quellin II is perhaps best known for his work as a student and assistant of Rubens during the 1930s. He also painted numerous altarpieces depicting Counter-Reformation themes for churches and monasteries throughout the Southern Netherlands, as well as secular paintings that depict scenes from ancient history and mythology, and allegorical compositions. His humanistic and literary education is evident from the wide range of subjects in those monumental compositions, as well as from the fact that he had an extensive library. In fact it seems, from the marginal notes made by Erasmus Quellinus II’s son, Jan-Erasmus Quellinus [], in the copy of Cornelis de Bie’s Gulden cabinet (1661), that Erasmus II had earned a degree in philosophy, an assumption supported by the mention of a tract, Philosophia, said to have been written by him, in the 1679 inventory of his estate. It is probable that his father taught him to draw, as Erasmus the younger’s draftsmanship has the same incisive quality; more importantly, his compositions are based on a sound grasp of the technique. He became a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp in 1633–1634, and in 1634 married Catharina van Hemelaar [–1662], niece of the humanist and canon Johannes Hemelarius. LINKS Saul and David (detail) (1635, 58x80cm) _ In this painting by the Antwerp student of Rubens, the scene from the Old Testament is depicted in a large Baroque palace. On an ornamental throne, emphasized by columns, stairs and velvet drapery, is King Saul in the traditional pose of meditation, immersion in thought and spiritual tension, with his elbow on his crossed legs and his hand propping up his head. In his right hand he holds a spear which, under the spell of an evil spirit, he will hurl at David momentarily. The youth playing his harp before the throne pays less attention to his instrument than to the explosive anger of the king, so that he can dodge the weapon. The excited group of courtiers in the background also serve to heighten the drama of the episode. Their tempestuous feelings are expressed by distorted features: knotted brows, wrinkled foreheads and lips trembling with emotion. Even David's relief-bringing instrument, the arched harp, is decorated with a screaming monster-head. Such a dramatized presentation of biblical text is characteristic of Flemish Baroque painting, as well as of the spirit of Rubens' workshop, where this painting was created. Still Life in an Architectural Setting (1647) _ Quellin painted this still-life in collaboration with Jan Fyt [1611-1661], a student of Frans Snyders. Portrait of a Young Boy (136x103cm) _ The dogs and the falcon was painted by the animal painter Jan Fyt. |
^
Baptized as an infant on 07 November 1598: Francisco
Zurbarán, Spanish Baroque
painter, specializes in Religious
Subjects and in Still
Life, who died on 27 August 1664. He was a painter of saints and churchmen. His use of sharply defined, often brilliant, colors, minute detail in simple compositions, strongly three-dimensional modeling of figures, and the shadowed light that brightly illuminates his subjects all give his paintings a solidity and dignity evocative of the solitude and solemnity of monastic life. His work at its best fuses two dominant tendencies in Spanish art, realism and mysticism. — He was one of the greatest masters of the school of Seville and is renowned for his powerful and realistic interpretation of monastic life in 17th-century Spain. Zurbarán was the son of a trader and at 15 left his native village, south of the Estremadura mountains, for Seville. There he was apprenticed in the studio of Pedro Díaz de Villanueva, by whom no signed work is known, and became familiar with polychrome sculpture, which affected his style as a painter, in particular in his rendering of drapery. During the years in Seville he must also have been in contact with other gifted painters such as Juan de Roelas, Francisco de Herrera the elder, and above all Diego Velázquez and Alonso Cano, who were then young apprentices in the studio of Francisco Pacheco. In 1617 Zurbarán left Seville without obtaining the examination of incorporation that would have given him the right to practise his art, an omission for which he was subsequently severely reproached. He moved to Estremadura and for ten years was established in Llerena, where he also married, probably in 1617. None of his paintings of this period, for the churches of Fuente de Cantos, Llerena, or Montemolin, has survived. — Zurbarán was born of Basque ancestry in Fuente de Cantos, Badajoz Province. He was apprenticed to a minor Spanish painter in Seville but appears to have been influenced early in his career by Michelangelo. In 1617 he went to work in Llerena, and in 1629, at the invitation of the town council, he settled in Seville. Zurbarán spent the next 30 years there, with the exception of two years (1634-1635) that he spent in Madrid working for the royal court. Zurbarán left Seville in 1658, after his reputation declined there; he died in Madrid. Zurbarán was only slightly influenced by Diego Rodriguez Velázquez and Jusepe de Ribera. Late in his career, however, he changed his style, according to some critics, for the worse, after being influenced by Bartolomé Estéban Murillo. Zurbarán's earliest known work, painted when he was 18 years old, is an Immaculate Conception. Other notable early works include Crucifixion (1629); several large scenes of the life of Saint Peter Nolasco (died 1256), the founder of the Mercedarians, originally done for a convent in Seville (1628-29); The Apotheosis of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1631) and Still Life with Oranges (1633) Zurbarán was born in Fuente de Cantos (Estremadura) into the family of a petty merchant. His professional training he received in Seville in 1616-1617 in the workshop of Pedro Diaz da Villanueva. Then he settled near his birthplace to paint a large number of religious pictures for the monasteries and churches. In Seville, where he settled in 1629, he became the leading artist. There he produced many altarpieces and decorated a number of monasteries with extensive fresco style cycles. From 1630 to 1645, Zurbarán made many paintings of saints; they are evidence of his talent as a portraitist. They are usually individual full-length figures, with a dark or neutral background. These paintings and were hung on both sides of a central painting or altar in churches. Zurbarán also painted some for the Hospital de la Sangre in Seville. His style, with massively simple figures and objects, clear, sober colors and deep solemnity of feeling expressed in thickly applied paint, made him the ideal painter of the austere religion of Spain. Zurbarán's fortunes fell with Murillo’s rise. In 1658 he moved to Madrid, where he entered the Santiago Order. In order to support himself he had to become an art dealer, though he was not successful in business either. He died in Madrid in poverty. — The students of Francisco Zurbarán included his son, Juan de Zurbarán [23 Jun 1620 – 08 Jun 1649], and Sebastian López de Arteaga. LINKS Saint Apolonia (113x66cm) _ The painting was probably part of an altarpiece of Saint Joseph for a church in Seville. Saint Apolonia was the patron saint of dentists, this explains the attribute in her hand. Apostle Saint Andrew (1631, 147x61cm) _ Zurbarán's picture of Saint Andrew is in marked contrast to Ribera's dramatic representation of the crucifixion of the saint. There is the same close observation of detail, but Zurbarán's picture has the calm majesty seen in the work of El Greco. These various qualities Zurbarán blends into a unity with an individual touch of his own. Just as the figure in El Greco's picture is suffused with blue-green shades, so here the figure of the wise old man is suffused with warm greenish browns. Saint Andrew is seen leaning against two beams or branches which serve, in a quite uncontrived way, to identify the saint, being in the form of the cross of Saint Andrew, his attribute. It is obvious at a glance that this picture dates from Zurbarán's finest period: the lined face of the saint, the peasant hands roughened by hard work and the austere folds of the robes, together create an impression of the serenity and permanence so characteristic of Zurbarán's still-lifes as well as his large compositions. In all probability the painting once adorned an altar in the Carmelite church of Saint Adalbert of Seville, together with its companion piece, the painting of the Archangel Gabriel, which is now in the Montpellier Museum. |
The
Lying-in-State of Saint Bonaventura (1629, 250x225cm) _ The painting
belonged to a series of pictures now dispersed, painted for a convent in
Seville and having for subject the life of the saint. Dressed in the brilliant
white robes of a bishop, grasping the cross in his folded hands, the body
of the saint lies in state on a bier draped in sumptuous brocade, with the
red biretta of the cardinal at his feet. Pope Gregory X, who had appointed
him cardinal bishop of Albano in 1273 stands, a white bearded man, beside
the king, to whom he appears to be explaining the merits of the dead man.
Most of the mourners, however, are simple Franciscan monks in their greyish
brown habits, pensively praying or meditatively contemplating the dead man.
He is indeed one of them, and the wan complexion of his tranquil face appears
to mirror the dull hue of the habits. The great scholar and administrator
of his order is here placed between the representatives of ecclesiastical
and worldly power and the world of simple Franciscan brotherhood. He was
accorded the title of "doctor seraphicus", meaning the "brilliant teacher
full of love". This is what Zurbarán paints: the teacher bound to practical
life, his face filled with mystical desire even in death. Saint Margaret (1631, 194x112cm) _ The painting is probably a portrait of a lady dressed as shepherdess. The serpent is the attribute of the saint. The apocryphal legend of the life and death of Margaret of Antioch was known in the western world as early as the 7th century. Cast out by her heathen father, she was martyred in the Diocletian persecution of Christians and decapitated. In the course of the centuries, more and more legends grew up around this popular martyr. Zurbarán has portrayed her with straw hat and staff, in the costume of a Spanish shepherdess. Behind her we see the dragon which she is said to have overcome with the sign of the cross. Completely inactive, with the Bible in her left hand and a woven shepherd's bag over her arm, she gazes at the spectator with a sweetly childish face. This painting does not tell the turbulent episodes of her life, but shows a saintly woman revered in the home country of the painter. The Vision of Saint Peter of Nolasco (1629, 179x223cm) _ The painting and its companion-piece was commissioned by the Mercedarian Monastery in Seville shortly after the canonization of Pedro Nolasco who four centuries before established a lay Order for freeing the Christians from Moorish captivity. In his vision Peter of Nolasco, in the white robe of his Order, sees the New Jerusalem showing by an angel. The heavenly city with its tower resembles to contemporary Avila. The Apparition of Apostle Saint Peter to Saint Peter of Nolasco (1629, 179x223cm) _ The painting and its companion-piece was commissioned by the Mercedarian Monastery in Seville shortly after the canonization of Pedro Nolasco who four centuries before established a lay Order for freeing the Christians from Moorish captivity. Adoration of the Shepherds The Adoration of the Shepherds (1638) _ Zurbarán attains religious feeling by realistic simplicity, an extreme density, the boldness of his colors and the calculated awkwardness of his composition. Saint Hugo of Grenoble in the Carthusian Refectory (1633, 102x168cm) _ Zurbarán's painting of a Carthusian refectory intensely reflects the ideal of this order of hermit monks: simplicity, sobriety and quiet contemplation. The room is unadorned, but for a painting showing the Virgin and Child with John the Baptist in the wilderness - an inspiration to the monks. An arched doorway opens out towards a typically simple Carthusian church. The monks, dressed in white cassocks, are seated at the table on which there are only plates of bread. With the exception of one monk whose hands are folded in prayer, they are all completely immersed in introspective contemplation with their eyes cast down, apparently paying no attention to the guest to whom the elderly abbot, Saint Hugo, appears to be explaining the life of the monastery. This painting exudes an atmosphere of tranquillity unaffected by the event portrayed. Still-life (46x84cm) _ The bleak, austere piety of Zurbarán's early pictures of saints, painted for more severe religious orders, made him the ideal painter of simple doctrinal altarpieces expressed in clear, sober color, with figures of massive solidity and solemnity, and with a Tenebrism owing little to Caravaggio or Ribera, but developed straight out of southern Spanish traditions of unidealized representations. For the same reason, he was one of the finest still-life painters. |
Still-life
with Lemons, Oranges and Rose (1633, 60x107cm) _ In the oeuvre of Zurbarán,
religious themes predominate, with particular emphasis on asceticism. He
also painted many still-lifes, which, however, reflect the same qualities
of asceticism, quiet contemplation and introversion for his choice of objects
indicates the transience of human life. Zurbarán does not do so by presenting a clock, a skull or an hourglass. Instead, on a brilliantly polished table, he shows us a pewter plate with lemons, a basket of oranges complete with leaves and blossoms, and a fine china cup on a silver saucer on which lies a rose in full bloom. Though lemons signify wealth in a Netherlandish still life, they have a very different meaning here, in the country where they actually grow. Even so, they are not represented as the fruits of daily life, but presented with all the solemn celebration of an offering on an altar. As in the paintings of his contemporary Sánchez Cotán, Zurbarán isolates the individual objects from one another - even the composition appears to be a conscious though not excessively artificial arrangement. Against the dark background, the objects are completely static, and appear to be torn out of the context of everyday life. The human beings to whom they apparently belong have no place here. Saint Casilda of Burgos (1642, 184x90cm) _ Zurbarán at his best may be said to have given new life to certain qualities found in the Mozarabic miniatures and Romanesque panel paintings - majesty, serenity and brilliance of color. He had already made his name, and was a court painter - though he had not yet come under the not altogether felicitous influence of Murillo - when he painted this Andalusian girl with her attractively irregular features, elegantly dressed in heavy, shimmering silks, wearing pearls and a coronet and holding roses in her hand, the only indication of her identity. For Saint Casilda is associated with the miraculous transformation of bread into roses as was Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and Thuringia. Casilda was the daughter of the Emir of Toledo and was secretly converted to Christianity. She gave bread to her father's prisoners. When the bread was miraculously turned into flowers she was saved from exposure like the charitable Elizabeth who gave food to the poor. The left side of the painting was cut. Rest on the Flight to Egypt (1659, 121x97cm) _ The painting shows the influence of Murillo and the Sevillan school. La Purisíma (1661, 136x102cm) _ The Immaculate Conception (in Spanish: Purisima) was a favourite subject in seventeenth-century Spanish painting. In these pictures Mary is usually represented as a child or as a young girl, her eyes turned heavenwards, personifying innocence and childlike devotion and rising amidst clouds and cherubs to heaven. Murillo painted innumerable versions of this theme [*see below], which also engaged the attention of Zurbarán: The Immaculate Conception (1661) Web Gallery of Art — The Immaculate Conception (1665) Olga's Gallery — Immaculate Conception Web Gallery of Art — The Immaculate Conception The Artchive — The Immaculate Conception (1634) Web Gallery of Art — Our Lady of Immaculate Conception (1630) Olga's Gallery. This painting is a late work of Zurbarán. The Virgin is a slender, delicate young girl with an exquisite oval face and golden hair falling to her shoulders, a vision in white and ultramarine seen against a golden sky peopled with cherubs. Though lacking in vigour, this late work has all the painterly qualities and expressive beauty of the great monumental paintings of Zurbarán's early period. There is a similar Immaculate Conception in the church of Langon near Bordeaux. The House of Nazareth (1645) _ Zurbarán painted an important series of paintings for the Jeronymites of the monastery of Guadalupe. Here the mood varies from a vein of realism to visions of miracles and scenes of contemplation in which the mysticism of the great Estremaduran artist has mingled with his colors. Perhaps the finest of these scenes is the mystical House of Nazareth, in the Cleveland Museum. Saint Francis (1660, 65x53cm) _ Born in 1181 or 1182 in Assisi as the son of a wealthy draper, Saint Francis died in poverty in the same town on 03 October 1226. Francis' life of poverty, humility, selflessness and serene neighbourly love made the order of Friars Minor which he founded one of the most widespread religious orders in the entire western world. Following the council of Trent in the mid 16th century, Saint Francis was invariably portrayed as an ascetic, penitent and ecstatic monk, frequently dressed in the habit of the Capuchin monks and with a skull as attribute. Zurbarán's saint bears the entire complexity of this figure. This is Francis the ascetic, dressed in a brown habit, without signs of office or adornment. This is the humble Francis dressed in the colors of the earth. This is Francis the ecstatic monk, who has received the stigmata of the five wounds. His young face is raised heavenwards in contemplation, one hand placed upon his heart, the other on the skull, the sign of meditation. He is shown as a holy man of spiritual profundity and scholarly intellect, as reflected in his facial traits. Yet he is not a monk who is alienated from daily life and caught up entirely in his mystical passion, but a man close to life, as Zurbarán shows. His "portrait" is an allegory of faith and simplicity. Saint Luke as a Painter before Christ on the Cross Saint Luke as a Painter before Christ on the Cross (1660) _ It is assumed by some scholars that Saint Luke is a self-portrait of Zurbarán. Defence of Cadiz against the English (1634, 302x323cm) _ This painting is from the Hall of the Realms in the Buen Retiro Palace and it belongs to the same series as Velázquez's Surrender of Breda. |
^
Died on 07 November 1924: Hans Thoma,
German painter, printmaker, and museum director, born on 02 October 1839. — Born in the Black Forest, Thoma was the son of a miller, craftsman and smallholder and studied briefly as a lithographer in Basle in 1854 before being apprenticed to a watchcase painter in Furtwangen. Returning home the same year, he started to draw and paint in his spare time. In 1859 he enrolled at the Kunstschule in Karlsruhe, where he studied until 1866 under Ludwig Des Coudres [1820–1878] and the landscape painter Johann Wilhelm Schirmer, by whom he was especially influenced. He spent his summer vacations drawing and painting in Bernau, and his landscapes, portraits and genre pictures from this time record his transition from amateur painter to accomplished artist. His pictures of his mother and his sister Agathe, which he produced from about 1864 onwards, show increasing similarities with the painterly realism of contemporary French painting (e.g. the double portrait of his Mother and Sister Reading the Bible, 1866). Thoma went to Paris in 1868 to study under Courbet who was a major influence on him. In 1874 he visited Italy. From 1899 Thoma was Director of the Karlsruhe Academy. He developed a highly individual style, not being influenced by the major schools of his time. His landscapes, genre paintings and prints all have a slightly ethereal quality. — Hans Thoma wurde in Bernau geboren. Sein Vater war als Schindelmacher tätig, die Mutter entstammte einer bäuerlichen Kunsthandwerkerfamilie. Thoma hatte noch zwei Geschwister, einen älteren Bruder und eine jüngere Schwester. Nachdem er die Volksschule in Bernau besucht hatte, verließ der junge Thoma mit 14 Jahren seine Heimat um bei einem Lithographen und einem Maler in Basel in die Lehre zu gehen. Nach kurzer Zeit kehrte er jedoch wieder nach Bernau zurück und nahm zunächst Zeichenunterricht. Eine neue Lehre, die er 1855 bei einem Uhrenschildmaler in Furtwangen begann, musste er nach vier Wochen wieder abbrechen, da sein Vater gestorben war und die Mutter das Lehrgeld nicht mehr bezahlen konnte. Hans Thoma blieb zu Hause in Bernau, bildete sich mit eigenen Mal- und Zeichenstudien weiter und arbeitete wie besessen. Während dieser Zeit beispielsweise die Bilder Ansicht von St. Blasien (1858) und In Bernau Dorf (1859). Inzwischen war man auf den jungen Maler aufmerksam geworden und schickte einige seiner Bilder zur Begutachtung an die Kunstschule Karlsruhe, wo diese positiv beurteilt wurden. Dadurch erhielt Hans Thoma 1859 ein Stipendium des Großherzogs Friedrich I. von Baden. Seine Lehrer in Karlsuhe waren Wilhelm Schirmer und Ludwig des Coudres. Die Bilder, die Thoma meist während der Sommermonate in Bernau malte, stießen jedoch an der Kunstschule auf große Kritik und er sah keine Möglichkeit dort künstlerisch weiterzukommen. Schließlich ging Thoma 1867 nach Düsseldorf und lernte dort den Maler Otto Scholderer kennen, der als einer der ersten sein großes Talent erkannte. Dieser nahm ihn ein Jahr später mit auf eine Reise nach Paris, wo Thoma unter anderem mit Gustave Courbet und dessen Werk bekannt wurde. Diese für ihn wichtige Begegnung beschrieb er später so: "Nun glaubte ich meine Bilder malen zu können. Es war eine schöne Zeit aufblühender Hoffnung." Diese erfüllte sich jedoch nicht, denn die folgenden zwei Jahre verbrachte Thoma in finanzieller Not und ohne künstlerische Anerkennung in Bernau, Säckingen und Karlsruhe. Erst der Wechsel in die "Malerstadt" München im Jahre 1870 brachte ihm den Zuspruch gleichgesinnter Künstler. In dieser Zeit entstanden die bekannten Bilder Der Rhein bei Laufenburg (1870) und Der Rhein bei Säckingen (1873). Thoma hielt sich wiederholt gerne am Hochrhein auf und erwies unserer Heimatstadt mit dem Satz: "Wie schön ist doch Laufenburg!" seine Referenz. Im Sommer 1873 lernte Thoma den Franfurter Arzt Dr. Otto Eiser kennen, der sein lebenslanger Förderer wurde und ihm zahlreiche Aufträge verschaffte. Im Jahr darauf unternahm Hans Thoma auch seine erste Italienreise, die ihn nach Oberitalien, die Toskana und Rom führte. Im Frühjahr 1875 war er wieder in München und lernte dort Cella Berteneder kennen, die als Malermodell arbeitete und zwei Jahre später seine Frau wurde. Nach der Hochzeit, die in Säckingen stattfand, zog Thoma mit seiner Familie nach Frankfurt a.M., wo er über zwanzig Jahre verbrachte. In dieser Zeit, die von einer großen Schaffensenergie gekennzeichnet war, entstand der größte Teil seines künstlerischen Werkes. Und dennoch fand die erste Ausstellung mit Werken von Hans Thoma nicht in Deutschland, sondern in England statt. Charles Minoprio aus Liverpool, ein gebürtiger Frankfurter, kaufte1879 sein erstes Landschaftsbild von Thoma und fügte dem in den folgenden Jahren weitere Bilder hinzu. So entstand eine Sammlung von über 60 Werken in englischem Besitz, mit denen 1884 die erste Sammelausstellung im Liverpooler Kunstverein eröffnet wurde. In diesen Jahren waren die Bilder Hans Thomas von fast allen deutschen Ausstellungen zurückgewiesen worden. Minoprio war es auch, der Thoma beauftragte ein weiteres Mal nach Italien zu reisen und dort verschiedene Landschaften zu malen. Die Reise in Begleitung seiner Frau führte den Maler nach Florenz, Neapel, Rom und Siena. In den nächsten Jahren arbeitete Thoma überwiegend in Frankfurt und war u.a. mit der Ausmalung von Gebäuden beschäftigt. Erst 1890, Hans Thoma war inzwischen schon 51 Jahre alt geworden, gelang mit einer großartigen Ausstellung im Münchner Kunstverein der große künstlerische Durchbruch. Die meisten der 36 Gemälde wurden verkauft und brachten Thoma, der in den nächsten Jahren zahlreiche Auszeichnungen erhielt, seinen späten Ruhm. Davon profitierte auch die Heimatgemeinde, als im Jahre 1892 die von Thoma entworfene und gemalte Fahne für den Gesangverein Bernau eingeweiht wurde. Nach weiteren Italienreisen, längeren Aufenthalten im Schwarzwald, sowie Reisen in die Niederlande, wo Thoma die alten Meister, vor allem Rembrandt und Potter, studierte, wurde er im Jahre 1899 durch den Badischen Großherzog Friedrich nach Karlsruhe berufen und zum Direktor der Kunsthalle und Professor der Kunstschule bestellt. In die Zeit seines größten Erfolges fiel auch der Tod von Thomas Mutter, die ihm sehr viel bedeutet hatte und stets seine große Stütze war. Mit der Umsiedelung der Familie und Thomas Berufung nach Karlsruhe stand er als nunmehr Sechzigjähriger nicht nur auf dem Höhepunkt seiner Karriere, sondern er gehörte auch zu den beliebtesten Malern seiner Epoche. Zu seinem 70.Geburtstag im Jahre 1909 eröffnete die Karlsruher Kunsthalle das Hans-Thoma-Museum. An seinem achtzigsten Geburtstag erhielt er neben anderen Ehrungen den Ehrenbürgerbrief der Stadt Freiburg, sowie im selben Jahr den der Stadt Karlsruhe. — Karl Hofer was a student of Thoma. — Selbstbildnis (black-and-white photo, 600x470pix, 70kb) — Ella mit Strohhut (1888; 629x429pix, 150kb) — Im Sonnenschein (1867, 108x85cm) Gemälde von Hans Thoma von seiner Schwester Agathe am Ufer. — Der Rhein (1027x724pix — or adjust the size to your liking — 69kb either way) — Landschaft (1896, 18x26cm; full size) _ This is a color alograph, the name Thoma applied to lithographs off plates of aluminum instead of stone or zinc. — Offenes Tal (1872, 84x114cm) with Offenes Tal (2000) — Mainlandschaft (1875, 85x123cm) — Rheinfall bei Schaffhausen (1876, 84x114cm) — Taunuslandschaft (1890) — Der Holzhausenpark in Frankfurt a. M. (1880, 51x72cm) — Der Geiger (1895 lithograph, 27x22cm; 3/4 size) — Hühnerfütterung (1867, 105x62cm) _ detail 1 _ detail 2 _ detail 3 _ detail 4 _ Die Schwester des Künstlers Hans Thoma, Agathe, betrachtet liebevoll die ihr anvertraute Hühnerschar. Ihr Blick wendet sich nach links unten, zu den Küken. Sind noch alle vorhanden oder fehlt etwa eins? Der Hahn paßt schon auf, daß keins von der Katze geholt wird! Das Huhn rechts in der Mitte des Bildes, auf dem Holzbalken sitzend, kann es gar nicht abwarten mit der Fütterung. Keck blickt es zu Agathe auf, es weiß, in der Schürze sind die begehrten Körner! Die Glucke hat nur eins im Sinn: ihre Küken, die sie mit schräggelegtem Kopf betrachtet. Ganz vorn sitzt ein weißes Huhn, etwas kränklich wirkend, es betrachtet auch die Küken, hätte vielleicht selbst gern welche. Wenn ein Huhn Küken hat, steigt es in der Achtung und der Rangordnung im Hühnerhof. Der Hahn bringt der Glucke die besten Leckerbissen. Neun Küken, sieben Hühner und ein Hahn sind im Bild zu bewundern, und der Maler hat es meisterhaft verstanden, ihnen ein individuelles Aussehen zu geben. Der kleine Kerl links unten, als zweites Küken im Bild, wird mit Sicherheit ein Hahn. Stolz reckt er seinen kleinen Hals, und ein ein winzigkleiner Kamm leuchtet rot auf dem Köpfchen. Das Küken ganz rechts unten schlägt mit den Flügeln und sieht sehr wach aus, alle anderen wirken müde vom anstrengenden Herumlaufen. Das Bild ist ganz in Erdfarben gehalten, die Kleidung von Agathe korrespondiert in der Farbe mit den Federkleidern der Hühner. Rotbraun wie der Hahn ist das Kleid, die Ärmel der Bluse sind in der Farbe und in der Form eine Wiederholung des hellen Huhnes rechts unten im Bild. Welch eine sanfte Harmonie! — Der Kinderreigen (1884, 113x154cm; 400x577pix, 58kb) — Im Sonnenschein (1867, 108x85cm; 400x313pix, 43kb) — Der Bienenfreund (1864; 583x471pix, 228kb) — Bildnis der Schwester Agathe (1863; 553x461pix, 141kb) — Die Mutter des Künstlers im Stübchen (1871; 637x479pix, 141kb) — Bildnis des Kunsttheoretikers Conrad Fiedler (1884; 619x461pix, 127kb) — Charon (1876 engraving; 800x1092pix, 174kb) — Brandung (Tanz in den Wellen) (1871 engraving; 800x1115pix, 200kb) |