XVII century showed the world two art schools - Dutch and Flemish... Both were the heirs of the artistic traditions of the Netherlands, a European country, on whose territory by that time Catholic Flanders had formed, named after the most significant province (today it is the territory of Belgium and France). Other provinces, having defended their adherence to the ideas of the Reformation, united and began to be called the Dutch Republic or simply Holland. In the 17th century in Holland, about three-quarters of the population was urban, with the middle class considered the main class. The Reformed Church abandoned the splendor of the decor, there were no crowned customers and clan aristocracy, which means that representatives of the bourgeoisie became the main consumers of art. The space reserved for painting was limited to burgher houses and public buildings.
The dimensions of the paintings, as a rule, were not large (in comparison with palace painting or altar compositions for churches), and the plots were chamber in nature, depicting scenes of private, everyday life. The main achievement of Dutch art in the 17th century. - in easel painting. Man and nature have been objects of observation and depiction by Dutch artists. Diligence, diligence, love for 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 "Small Dutch" (a vast circle of Dutch painters of the 17th century. arose in connection with the chamber nature of their work, the small size of their paintings (landscape, interior, everyday subjects). Small Dutch painting is characterized by the subtlety of writing, the expressiveness of small details, the beauty of light and color nuances, a general feeling of comfort, closeness and unity of characters in a landscape or interior environment. Among the most prominent representatives are Jan Wermer, the Ostade brothers (Adrian van O. and Isak van O.), Gerard Terborch, Jan Steen, Gabriel Metsu).
Most of the artists found themes for their paintings within their native country, following Rembrandt's advice: “Learn, first of all, to follow the rich nature and reflect, above all, what you find in it. Heaven, earth, sea, animals, good and evil people - all serve for our exercise. Plains, hills, streams and trees provide enough work for the artist. Cities, markets, churches and thousands of natural resources cry to us and say: go 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 was a diverse differentiation by genre. There were artists who worked only in the genre of seascape or the genre of urban views, or depicted 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 mass character and self-sufficiency as in Holland in the 17th century.
The Dutch wanted to see the whole diverse world in their paintings. 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 addition of a certain range of topics, and the division of genres as a single process are completed by the 20s of the 17th century.
The 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 was almost entirely in Harlem. Here, already around 1616, he was promoted as the foremost major portrait painter and retained his role in this field until the end of his life. With the appearance of Hals, the strictly realistic and poignantly individual Dutch portrait reaches maturity. Everything timid, petty, naturalistic that distinguishes his predecessors is overcome.
The initial phase of Hals' art has not been clarified. We immediately see the master solving the most difficult problem of the group portrait. He paints one after another of the shooters of the St. Hadrian and St. George (Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum), where the liveliness of a crowded meeting and the brightness of the types of each of those present are conveyed with inimitable ease. The pictorial skill and the compositional resourcefulness of the groupings go hand in hand in these portraits with an extraordinary acuteness of characteristics. Hals is not a psychologist: the mental life of his models usually passes by for him. And he writes for the most part of people whose whole life passes in conditions of intense, vigorous 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, is able to grasp the most fleeting, but at the same time the most characteristic in facial expression, in posture, in gesticulation. Cheerful by nature, he seeks to capture every image in a moment of revival, joy, and no one conveys laughter with such subtlety and variety as he does. Portrait of an officer (1624, London, Wallace collection), swinging on a chair "Gaitgeisen" (late 1630s, Brussels, art gallery), "Gypsy" (late 1620s, Louvre), or the so-called The Harlem Witch - Malle Bobbé (Berlin) can be cited as typical examples of his poignant and often perky art. Men, women, 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 Hals technique itself contributes to the impression of liveliness, being unusually free and growing in its breadth over the years. The decorative brilliance of the early works is subsequently tempered, the color becomes silvery, the freedom to use black and white tones speaks of a skill that can afford the boldest painterly daring.
In the portraits of the late period (50-60s), carefree prowess, energy, and pressure disappear. In the Hermitage male portrait, for all the imposing figure, one can trace fatigue and sadness. 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 it never flatters and turns out to be alien to the degenerated tastes of rich customers that have lost their democratic spirit. But it was in the late period of creativity that Hals reached the pinnacle of skill and created the most profound work. In some works, impressionistic methods 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 - regents and regents of a shelter for the elderly, in one of which he found shelter at the end of his life. In the portrait of the regents there is no camaraderie of the previous compositions, the models are disunited, powerless, they have dull looks, devastation is written on their faces. A pinkish-red spot on the knee of one of the regents brings a special tension to the gloomy coloring (black, gray and white). So at the age of 9, a sick, lonely and impoverished artist creates his most dramatic and most exquisite works of art.
The art of Hals was of great importance for its time, it influenced the development of not only the portrait, but also the genre of genre, landscape, still life.
Landscape genre Holland 17th century especially interesting. This is not nature in general, some general picture of the universe, but a national, namely the 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 belongs to the middle. 17th century The greatest master of realistic landscape was Jacob van Ruisdael (1628-1682), artist of inexhaustible fantasy. 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 motives of nature acquire a monumental character under the artist's brush. Ruisdael has a tendency to combine careful writing with great 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 then only 18 years old. We can say with full 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 leaving, however, more than a hundred miles from his native Harlem. In the mid-1650s, the artist moved from Haarlem to Amsterdam, where he lived until the end of his days.
Metropolitan Amsterdam at the time of Ruisdael was strikingly different from provincial Haarlem (although the distance between these cities even then was overcome in two hours). Ruisdael did not paint his paintings 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 right above the shop of Hieronymus Sveerts, a dealer in paintings and books.
Meindert Hobbema (1638, Amsterdam, - December 7, 1709) - the most significant master of the 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.
He may have had to devote less time to painting than before, but his best work, The Alley at Middelharnis, is dated 1689, and another London painting, The Ruins of Brederode Castle, is from 1671. These later pieces belong to the most successful accomplishments of Dutch landscape painting and, in fact, draw a line in its development.
The artist died in poverty, but already in the 18th century he was imitated a lot, and his works became the subject of rivalry among collectors. Unlike Ruisdael, who preferred to capture wildlife, Hobbemu was attracted by quiet rural scenes with views of sunlit villages blended with tree clusters here and there. In these rural idylls, everything is written with great care, and especially the foliage.
Closely related to the Dutch landscape is animalistic genre... Many representatives of landscape painting have an interest in the transfer of animals. The latter very often turn out to be equivalent to purely landscape elements, and sometimes the landscape serves for them no more than a background. The ability to identify the breed of an animal, its structure, color, characteristic movements is one of the striking properties of the Dutch. Combined with this skill, the subtlety of conveying the atmosphere and light reaches exceptional perfection among some animalists. This is evidenced by numerous works Paulus Potter (1625-1654) and Albert Cape (1620-1691). Both of them, along with paintings depicting animals grazing or resting in the open air (Potter's Farm, Hermitage, 1649), also painted some of their copies in close-up. In addition to general plans, Potter likes to depict one or more animals in close-up against the background 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, horseman and peasants."
The peaceful rural scene is bathed in the golden glow of the sunset. Warm light penetrates every detail of the composition, creating a glowing effect. This strikingly distinguishes Cape color from the cold blues and greens of his contemporaries, such as Meindert Hobbema... The seeming randomness of the location of the animals is actually carefully thought out in order to show the play of light and shadow.
In addition, Cape belongs to one of the first places among the representatives of the pure landscape. His paintings are distinguished by the exceptional skill of transferring golden, sunlight, are extremely diverse in motives and include many marinas (sea views).
Only by the seascape (Marina) was engaged Ian Porsellis (1584-1632). Marina played a very important role in 17th century Dutch art and brought up a number of first-class specialists. The general course of development of the marina seems to be equal to that generally observed in the history of the Dutch landscape. Early on, the compositions are simple. The artist sees his goal achieved if he conveys the breadth of the sea, the ships swinging on it and the water itself with the greatest likelihood. So writes Jan Porcellis. In the next generation, the nature of the transfer of marine species changes towards greater dynamism. Still, it is true, pictures are being created depicting the calmness of the water element, but this is not enough now; storms begin to throw ships on 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 Bakgeisen (1631-1709). His brush with the same virtuosity conveys the serenity of the sky, cyclones, spray, rocks and traces of wrecks.
Still life achieves brilliant development. The Dutch still life is, in contrast to the Flemish, modest in size and motives paintings of an intimate nature. Peter Klass (1597-1661), Willem Head (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 feels as if the inner life of things (it was not for nothing that the Dutch called the still life “still leven” - “quiet life”, and not “nature morte” - “dead nature”). The color is restrained and refined (Kheda "Breakfast with lobster", 1658; Class "Still life with candles", 1627)
Willem Heda worked in Haarlem and was influenced by Peter Klas. Hed's modest still lifes - "breakfasts", which usually depicted a small set of household utensils and meals, are characterized by exquisite skill in conveying the texture of things, a restrained silvery-green or silvery-brown coloring ("Breakfast with a 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 desire of the bourgeoisie for aristocratization and the loss of its former democracy, the nature of still lifes also changed. "Breakfasts" Heads are replaced by luxurious "desserts" Willem Kalf (1619-1693). Simple utensils are replaced by marble tables, carpet tablecloths, silver cups, vessels made of mother-of-pearl shells, and crystal glasses. Kalf achieves amazing virtuosity in conveying the texture of peaches, grapes, 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. Later, Willem Kalf lived and worked mainly in Amsterdam. This still-life painter could have owed the deep, saturated colors of his paintings to the influence of the work of his contemporary Jan Vermeer. One of the greatest masters of the Dutch still life school, Kalf painted both modest paintings depicting poor kitchens and backyards ("The Courtyard of a Peasant House", State Hermitage, St. Petersburg), and spectacular compositions with precious utensils and exotic southern fruits ("Breakfast ”, State Museum, Amsterdam;“ Still life ”, State Hermitage, St. Petersburg). The virtuosity of the Kalfa still life painter manifested itself in the classic refinement of spatial constructions, a subtle sense of the originality and intrinsic value of each thing, the sophistication and richness of black and white and colorful relationships, the spectacular contrast of various textures and materials.
“Still life with lobster, wine horn and glasses”. A collection of exotic and luxurious objects laid out on a table, painted with brilliant craftsmanship and a deep sense of color. Lobster, a wine horn with a sparkling filigree silver setting, transparent glasses, lemon and a Turkish carpet are rendered with such amazing care that one gets the illusion that they are real and can be touched by hand. The place for each item has been chosen with such care that the group as a whole forms a harmony of color, shape and texture. The warm light enveloping objects gives them the dignity of precious jewelry, and their rarity, splendor and whimsicality reflect the refined tastes of Dutch collectors in the 17th century - a time when still lifes were extremely popular.
Dutch still life - one of the artistic transformations 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 painting. 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 Browver, a Flemish painter, also took shape, 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 the depiction of 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 the peasants only amusing creatures whose morals give rise to laughter and jokes ... ("In a village tavern" 1660).
In a later period, his art acquired the features of lyricism, and the previous plots were replaced by images of peaceful relaxation on the threshold of a hut or in the courtyard of a village tavern, as well as interiors with scenes of quiet family comfort (Village Concert, 1655, Hermitage). In addition to such small-figured paintings, Ostade often painted on a larger scale strictly realistic half-figures of representatives of various crafts. By right, Ostade's masterpiece of painting is considered his "Painter in the Studio" (1663), in which the artist glorifies human labor, without resorting to either declaration or pathos.
But the main theme of the "little Dutchmen" was still not peasant, but burgher way of life. Usually these are images without any fascinating storyline. In the pictures of this genre, nothing seems to happen. The woman reads the letter, the gentleman and the lady play music. Or they have just met and the first feeling is born to them, but this is only outlined, the viewer is given the right to speculate himself. The most entertaining storyteller in this kind of paintings was Jan Stan (1626-1679). For Sten, unlike most of his contemporaries, the plot side is not indifferent. He assigns a significant role to the narrative in his paintings and loves to depict various entertaining scenes from the everyday life of the petty bourgeoisie. In them, the master reveals a keen observation, aptly characterizes the types and tells the episodes he has chosen with subtle cheerful humor. The painting "The Sick and the Doctor" (c. 1660, Hermitage) is indicative for him. In the later period of Sten's activity, these features lose their sharpness, and, following the general trend, he enters the path of art, more elegant and dedicated to the problems of purely visual perception of the real world.
Achieved great skill Gerard Terborch (1617-1681). He started with the most democratic stories ("The Grinder"). He was distinguished by the utmost skill in the image of silks and satins, the transparency of glass glasses, the surface of any thing. Figures are very often characterized by Terborch's well-known 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 silver tones. Some of the artist's best paintings include "A Glass of Lemonade" (Hermitage) and "Concert" (Berlin, Dahlem).
The interior acquires special poetry among the small Dutchmen. The life of the Dutch took place mainly in the house. The real singer of this theme was Peter de Hooch (1629-1689). The illusory nature of the transfer of things recedes into the background for this master, and interest is focused on the development of spatial relations, in particular on the depiction of interiors, as well as courtyards and the streets that open behind them ("A hostess with a maid", Hermitage, circa 1660). his rooms with a half-open window with shoes thrown inadvertently or a broom left, as a rule, are depicted without a human figure, but people are invisibly present here, there is always a connection between the interior and people. When he depicts people, he deliberately emphasizes the frozen rhythm, depicts life, as it were, frozen, as motionless as the things themselves ("Yard").
The slowed down rhythm of life, the adjustment of the daily routine, some monotony of existence perfectly conveys Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667; "Breakfast"). By the general character of his genre images, he is close to Terborch, but more vivid in colors.
A new stage in genre painting begins in the 50s and is associated with the so-called. delft school, with the name of artists such as Karel Fabricius, Emmanuel de Witte and Jan Wermer(1632-1675), known in art history as Vermeer of Delft (named after his place of work). The art of Vermeer Delft belongs to the late period of the development of Holland. The generation of heroic but rude fighters for independence and sober businessmen - the organizers of the capitalist economy - belonged to the past. Their grandchildren entered the historical arena, who could safely use the acquired benefits. Under these conditions, a lively, joyful art of the last stage of the flourishing of the Dutch republic is taking shape.
This period includes the mature, heartfelt and at the same time clear and simple, despite all the sophistication of the technique, the art of Vermeer of Delft. There are few original works by Vermeer, only a few museums possess small and always precious paintings by the Delft master. Vermeer's theme is more or less traditional; young women reading letters, embroidering, in the company of a cavalier, a painter in front of an easel, a girl just dreaming at the window ("Girl with a Letter", Dresden; "Cavalier and a Lady at the Spinet," etc.) - in a word, everything that has been portrayed by Dutch painters more than once. 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 plots and introduce an element of action into the composition (At the Pimp, 1656, Dresden). Nevertheless, all of his images have a completely individual character. There is some kind of light and light poetry in all the characters he portrays, and along with this poetry and softness, a special feeling of harsh simplicity, something truly classic, is imprinted on all his works.
Vermeer is undoubtedly one of the greatest colorists in the history of Western European art. Not only his delicate taste in the choice of colors, but also his ability to find their relationship to each other makes Vermeer one of the most refined masters of color. With the utmost sense of proportion and tact, he combines lemon-yellow, blue, violet of a wide variety of shades, scarlet and pale green colors into one sonorous tonal range. It was in the work of Vermeer Delft that the problem of light, traditional for Dutch art, received its most perfect solution. Iridescent pearlescent light is one of the most characteristic features of the Delft master's paintings. There is no doubt, too, that Wermer of Delft was one of the most accomplished 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. Light in Vermeer's paintings is not just a transparent medium, but an air rich in the finest transitions of silvery tones.
Vermeer did what no one else did in the 17th century: he painted landscapes from nature ("The Little Street", "View of Delft"). They can be called the first examples of plein air painting. The mature, classical in its simplicity art of Vermeer was of great importance for future eras.
The pinnacle of Dutch realism, the result of the pictorial achievements of Dutch culture in the 17th century. was the work of Rembrandt. But the significance of R., like any artist of genius, goes beyond the limits of only Dutch art and the Dutch school. Occupying a central place in the Dutch school of its heyday, Rembrandt still stands apart among the many 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.
Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt was born in 1606 in Leiden and was the son of a well-to-do flour mill owner. He early discovered a passion for 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 Svannenburch, Rembrandt went to improve in Amsterdam, where he became a student of Lastman. Lastman, a skilled craftsman who studied in Italy, introduced Rembrandt to the effect of chiaroscuro, which is used to convey the volume and reveal the drama of action. This technique will become the main one in the artist's work. In subsequent years, Rembrandt worked in Leiden, gaining a reputation as a master of biblical and mythological scenes. Therefore, the years 1625-1632 are usually called. Leiden period of his work.
In 1632 he moved to Amsterdam, where he immediately gained fame, writing "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulpa." 30s - the time of the highest glory, the path to kt was opened for the painter by this picture, kt is considered a group portrait and is also called "Anatomy Lesson". On this canvas, people are united by m / at themselves by action, all are presented in natural poses, their attention is drawn to the main character - Dr. Tulpa, who demonstrates the structure of muscles in a corpse. He lives with the art dealer Hendrik van Eilenborch, who patronizes him, arranges commissions for portraits, which gives the young artist a reputation as a fashionable and successful master. In 1634, Rembrandt successfully married Hendrik's niece Saskia, and by 1639, together with his wife, acquired a magnificent house in the capital. Until the early 1640s. he enjoys great success with customers, this is the time of his personal well-being. In the 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 a festive table. Delicate play of golden tones, streams of light penetrating the picture convey the joyful mood of a young and successful artist and his wife, full of hopes and dreams.
This entire period is covered with romance. The painter, as it were, deliberately seeks to escape from the dull burgher everyday life in his work. He writes himself and Saskia in luxurious outfits, in fantastic outfits and headdresses, creating spectacular compositions, in everything, in poses, in movements, the general prevails - the joy of being. (Saskia as Flora). The Baroque language is closest to the expression of this elated mood. Rembrandt during this period was largely influenced by the Italian Baroque.
The characters of the painting "The Sacrifice of Abraham" (1635) appear before us in complex angles. The picture traces the state of mind of Abraham, who did not have time to feel either the joy of getting rid of the terrible sacrifice or gratitude when the angel suddenly appeared, but while experiencing only fatigue and bewilderment.
Rembrandt always paid great attention to etching (engraving) and drawing, and soon became the greatest master of graphic technique in Europe. The portraits and landscapes he executed in the etching technique, as well as everyday and religious scenes, were distinguished by the novelty of artistic techniques, deep psychologism of images, rich chiaroscuro, expressiveness and laconic lines. About two thousand of Rembrandt's drawings have come down to us. Among them are preparatory sketches, sketch drawings for paintings, sketches of scenes of everyday life and ideas that are born in his imagination.
At the turn of the early period of creativity, one of his most famous paintings "Night Watch" appears - a group portrait of a rifle guild. But the group porter is the formal name of the work arising from the wishes of the customers. In The Night Watch, Rembrandt resolves in a new way the group portrait genre, traditional for Dutch art. The painting (1642, Rijks Museum, Amsterdam) is a group portrait of the members of the shooting guild of Captain Banning Cock and is rendered by the artist as a real street scene. Rembrandt abandoned the static arrangement of all participants, which was accepted at that time, creating a scene full of movement. Contrasts of light and shadow, emotionality of painting convey the emotion of the event. The picture takes on a historical character, telling about courageous people who are ready to defend the freedom and national independence of their homeland with arms in hand. The clients did not understand the artist's intention, and starting from this painting the conflict with the dominant environment will intensify, but it will not diminish the master's energy, and Rembrandt will continue to create realistic canvases, remarkable in terms of the power of emotional impact. The spectacular, undoubtedly somewhat theatrical, free composition, as already mentioned, did not aim to present each of the customers. Many faces are simply poorly "readable" in sharp chiaroscuro, in the contrasts of thick shadows and bright sunlight, a detachment comes out to the kt (in the 19th century the picture darkened so much that it was considered a depiction of a night scene, hence the incorrect name. captain on the light clothes of a lieutenant, proves that this is not night, but day). It seemed incomprehensible and ridiculous to the viewer that strangers appeared in this scene, especially a little girl in a golden-yellow dress. Everything here caused bewilderment and irritation of the public, and we can say that with this picture a conflict between the artist and society begins. With the death of Saskia in the same year, Rembrandt naturally breaks with burgher circles alien to him.
Over the years, Rembrandt's realistic skill deepens. He refuses unnecessary details and decorative effects in favor of greater depth and emotional intensity of the artistic image. A very important place in the artist's work begins to take a chamber portrait. Rembrandt reveals the spiritual life of a person, as if lasting in time and space. This is a kind of portrait-biography. Such are, for example, "Portrait of an Old Woman", "Hendrickje at the Window", "Reading Titus", portraits of the artist's friends N. Breining, J. Six, numerous self-portraits (over a hundred in oil and coal).
40-50s - this is the time for creative maturity. This is the time of the addition of his creative system, from kt a lot will go into 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 wrote back in 1636. Referring to the picture in the 40s, the artist intensified his emotional state. He rewrote the center piece with the heroine and the maid. Giving Danae a new gesture of raised hand, he informed her of great emotion, an expression of joy, hope, appeal. Light plays a huge role: the luminous flux seems to envelop the figure of Danae, she all shines with love and happiness, this light is perceived as an expression of human feelings.
In the early 50s, the artist creates one masterpiece after another. It had already gone out of fashion, but wealthy customers did not translate.
During these years, he chooses for interpretation the most lyrical, poetic aspects of human life, the human, which is eternal and all-human: maternal love, compassion. The greatest material is given to him by the Holy Scriptures, and from it - scenes from the life of the holy family. Religious in nature, 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 inclinations in some cases, he creates, along with this breathtaking, strict realism of approach, pictures of an unadorned Dutch village. Small "Winter View" (1646, Kassel), depicting in the light of a clear frosty day a peasant yard and several figures on the surface of a frozen canal, in terms of the subtlety of feeling and the truthfulness of visual perception, serves as one of the most perfect examples of the realistic landscape of the Dutch.
Despite the vastness and artistic value of what was created during this period, Rembrandt's financial situation by the mid-1650s turned out to be extremely difficult. Due to the fall in the number of orders, the difficult sale of paintings, and especially the carelessness of the master in the conduct of his affairs, Rembrandt experienced great financial difficulties. The debt associated with the acquisition of an expensive house during Saskia's life threatened complete ruin. Attempts to extricate himself from debt could only postpone the disaster, but it still erupted. In the summer of 1656, Rembrandt was declared insolvent and all of 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, in acutely felt shortage, his last days passed.
These hardships, as well as the misfortunes that befell Rembrandt - the death of Hendrike, the death of Titus' only son - were powerless to stop the further growth of his genius.
The late 1650s and 1660s are the most tragic years of R.'s life, but they are full of Rembrandt's grandiose creative activity. It represents, as it were, a synthesis of all his previous psychological and pictorial searches. In these pictures, everything is cleansed of the transitory, accidental. Details are kept to a minimum, gestures, postures, head tilt are carefully thought out and comprehended. The figures are enlarged, close to the front plane of the canvas. Even small-sized works of these years create an 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 "radiant", 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.
In portraits, Rembrandt now finds himself freer in the choice of models and mainly paints faces with a pronounced individuality. These are mainly elderly women and old Jews. But with the same poignancy, he is able to convey the charm of a young woman's face or the charm of a youthful appearance. Everything petty is inferior in these portraits to a generalized, but at the same time unusually sharp presentation of the image. This is largely due to the increasing breadth of the manner of technical execution.
The final in the history of the group portrait was the image by Rembrandt of the elders of the cloth shop - the so-called. "Sindiki" (1662, Amsterdam). is deservedly considered one of the heights of Rembrandt's work). A sharp psychological characteristic, simplicity of construction, concealing the infallibility of the rhythm of lines and masses, as well as a mean number of colors, but an intense coloring summarize the entire previous path of Rembrandt as a portrait painter.
In the years of maturity (50s), Rembrandt created his best etchings. Rembrandt's distinctive depth of psychological analysis, expressive realism of images and mastery of artistic technique are reflected in a long series of remarkable sheets, thematically even more diverse than the master's painting. Among the most famous are "Christ Healing the Sick" (the so-called "Leaf of a Hundred Florins", c. 1649), "Three Crosses" (1653), portraits of Lutma (1656), Haring (1655), Six (1647 ), as well as landscapes known as "Three Trees (1643) and" The Estate of the Gold Weigher "(1651).
Drawings occupy no less significant place in Rembrandt's graphic heritage. The acuteness and originality of Rembrandt's perception of the world around them are reflected in these numerous and varied sheets with special force. The manner of drawing, like the pictorial manner of Rembrandt, noticeably evolves throughout the creative development of the master. If the early drawings of Rembrandt are worked out in detail and are rather complex in composition, then in a more mature period he performed them in a wide pictorial manner, unusually laconic and simple. Rembrandt usually drew with a goose or reed pen and was able to achieve, using the simplest techniques, an exceptional power of expressiveness. R. left behind 2000 drawings. His drawings, even when they are minute sketches of some everyday motive, represent a complete whole, fully conveying all the diversity of nature.
The epilogue of R.'s work can be considered his grandiose painting The Return of the Prodigal Son (circa 1668-1669, Hermitage), in which the artist's aesthetic height and pictorial skill were most fully manifested. The artist fills the gospel parable about a young man who left home, squandered his fortune and returned to his father with a deeply human meaning. The noble idea of \u200b\u200blove for a suffering person is revealed here in images that are striking in their life convincingness. The face of the old half-blind father and the gesture of his hands express infinite kindness, and the figure of the son in dirty rags, clinging to his father, is sincere and deep remorse. Perhaps no other painting by Rembrandt evokes so many deep and compassionate feelings. Rembrandt taught his viewers about love and forgiveness. Later, in recent years and months, Rembrandt's life is outwardly calm. Having survived Hendrickje and Titus, he died on October 4, 1669.
R. had a tremendous influence on art. There was no painter in Holland who had not experienced the influence of the great artist, of whom Ferdinand Bol (1616-1680), Herbrand van den Eckhout (1621-1674) and Art de Gelder (1645-1727) gained the greatest fame. Having mastered the subject matter, compositional techniques and types of teachers, they did not go beyond external imitation of Rembrandt's techniques in their figure painting. The living influence of the master, on the contrary, definitely affected the numerous landscape painters adjacent to him - Phillips Konink (1619-1688), Doomer (1622-1700) and others. But the majority betrayed him, switching to the position of academism and imitation of the then fashionable Flemings, and then, the French.
As is often the case in the history of art, in spite of his genius talent, Rembrandt died in poverty and loneliness, a forgotten, useless master. But the further time passes, the more valuable in the eyes of mankind the artist's heritage. It can be said without exaggeration that Rembrandt is one of the greatest artists in the history of world art. Many would call it unbeatable. Rembrandt's grave was 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 great era of Dutch realism is coming to an end.
Dutch artists made a great contribution to the work of masters who began their activity in the 17th century and have not stopped until now. However, they had an influence not only on their colleagues, but also on literary professionals (Valentin Proust, Donna Tartt) and photography (Ellen Coy, Bill Gekas and others).
The beginning of development
In 1648, Holland gained independence, but for the formation of a new state, the Netherlands had to endure an act of revenge on the part of Spain, which killed about 10 thousand people in the then Flemish city of Antwerp. As a result of the massacre, the inhabitants of Flanders emigrated from the territories controlled by the Spanish government.
Based on this, it would be logical to admit that the impetus for independent Dutch artists came precisely from Flemish creativity.
Since the 17th century, both state and artistic branches have taken place, which leads to the formation of two schools of art, differentiated by nationality. They had a common origin, but in characters they were quite different. While Flanders remained under the wings of Catholicism, Holland experienced an entirely new heyday, starting in the 17th century.
Dutch culture
In the 17th century, the new state just embarked on the path of its development, completely breaking the connection with the art of the past era.
The struggle with Spain gradually subsided. The national sentiment began to be traced in popular circles with a departure from the Catholic religion imposed earlier by the authorities.
Protestant rule had a contradictory view of decoration, which led to a reduction in works on religious topics, and later only played into the hands of secular art.
Never before has the real surrounding reality so often been depicted in pictures. In their works, Dutch artists wanted to show ordinary everyday life without embellishment, refined tastes and nobility.
The secular artistic explosion gave rise to such numerous directions as landscape, portrait, genre and still life (the existence of which even the most developed centers of Italy and France did not know).
The Dutch artists' own vision of realism, expressed in portrait, landscape, interior work and still life paintings, has generated interest from all walks of life in this skill.
Thus, Dutch art of the 17th century was nicknamed the "Golden Age of Dutch Painting", securing its status as the most outstanding era in Dutch painting.
It is important to know: there is a misconception that the Dutch school portrayed only the mediocrity of human existence, but the masters of those times brazenly destroyed the framework with the help of their fantastic works (for example, Bloomart's "Landscape with John the Baptist").
Dutch painters of the 17th century. Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is considered to be one of the largest artistic figures in Holland. In addition to being an artist, he was also engaged in engraving and was rightfully considered a master of chiaroscuro.
His legacy is rich in individual diversity: portraits, genre scenes, still lifes, landscapes, as well as paintings on the subjects of history, religion and mythology.
His ability to master chiaroscuro made it possible to enhance the emotional expressiveness and spirituality of a person.
Working on portraits, he worked on facial expressions.
In connection with the heartbreaking tragic events, his later works were filled with a dim light revealing the deep experiences of people, as a result of which brilliant works became of no interest to anyone.
At that time, external beauties were in vogue without attempts to immerse themselves in depth, as well as naturalism, going apart from frank realism.
Every Russian lover of fine arts can personally see the painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son", since this work is in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Frans Hals
Frans Hals is a great Dutch painter and a prominent portrait painter who helped introduce the genre of free writing into Russian art.
The work that brought him fame was a painting called "The Banquet of Officers of the Rifle Company of St. George", painted in 1616.
His portrait work for that time was too natural, which went apart from the present day. Due to the fact that the artist remained misunderstood, he, like the great Rembrandt, ended his life in poverty. The Gypsy Woman (1625-1630) is one of his most famous works.
Jan Steen
Jan Steen is one of the most witty and funny Dutch artists at first glance. Making fun of social vices, he loved to resort to the skill of satire of society. He, while entertaining the viewer with harmless, funny images of revelers and ladies of easy virtue, actually warned against such a lifestyle.
The artist also had quieter paintings, for example, the work "Morning Toilet", which at first glance seemed to be an absolutely innocent act. But if you look closely at the details, you can be quite surprised by their revelations: these are traces of stockings that previously squeezed the legs, and a pot filled with something indecent at night, as well as a dog that allows itself to be right on the mistress's pillow.
In the best of his own works, the artist was ahead of his colleagues in elegantly skillful combination of color palettes and mastery of shadows.
Other Dutch artists
In this article, only three bright persons out of dozens were listed, worthy of standing on a par with them in the same list:
So, in this article, you met with Dutch artists of the 17th century and their work.
Having won a victory in the struggle against Spain for its independence, bourgeois Holland became the most economically developed state in Western Europe. The main Dutch city of Amsterdam has been identified as one of the largest shopping centers in Europe.
Dutch painting is also developing along with the economy. Unlike other Western European countries, baroque paintings of palaces and castles were not popular in Holland - the weakness of the nobility served as an obstacle to the development of decorative arts. The Calvinist Church in Holland also did not seek to decorate its temples with paintings.
Nevertheless, painting flourished in Holland: artists received numerous orders from private individuals. Even Dutch peasants could hang a small picture in their home - these works of artists were so cheap.
In the XVII century. over two thousand artists worked in little Holland. They put the production of paintings on stream, produced canvases in whole batches and handed them over to sellers. Almost every master performed from two to five compositions per week.
Often, the production of paintings outstripped demand, so in order to feed themselves, artists had to simultaneously do other work. Such famous masters as J. Steen, M. Gobbema, J. van Goyen and many others were simultaneously employees, gardeners, and tavern owners.
Usually painters specialized in one specific topic. For example, H. Averkamp painted winter views, E. van der Poole portrayed night fires, G. Terborch and G. Metsu - everyday scenes, P. Claes and V.K.Heda - breakfast still lifes.
Very often, artists worked collectively on one picture: one painted the sky, the other - grass and trees, the third - human figures. The most successful works that were successful with the public were copied and served as a model for creating countless variations.
Although the art of talented painters was subordinated to commercial purposes, the masters usually managed to avoid falsity. Most of these canvases are distinguished by realism, integrity and clarity of composition, freshness of color and excellent technique of execution.
The portrait genre has become widespread in Dutch painting. A large role in the life of the country was played by various organizations (the shooting society, groups of representatives of the medical corporation and trade workshops), which contributed to the emergence of a group public portrait.
The long-term struggle with the Spanish colonialists sharpened the sense of national identity, therefore, in painting, in addition to realism, the depiction of characteristic national features was especially welcomed. Artists painted the sea and ships, cattle, flowers. In addition to the portrait, such genres as landscape and still life developed. There was also religious painting, but there was no element of mysticism in it; biblical stories were presented
artist rather like everyday scenes.
Frans Hals
Frans Hals was born around 1581 in Antwerp to the family of a weaver. In his youth, he came to Haarlem, where he lived almost without a break until his death (in 1616 he visited Antwerp, and in the mid-1630s - Amsterdam). Little is known about Hals' life. In 1610 he entered the guild of St. Luke, and in 1616 - into the chamber of rhetoricians (amateur actors).
Hals quickly became one of the most famous portrait painters in Haarlem. In the XV-XVI centuries. in the painting of the Netherlands there was a tradition to paint portraits only of representatives of the ruling circles, famous people and artists. Khals's art is deeply democratic: in his portraits we can see an aristocrat, a wealthy city dweller, an artisan and even a person from the very bottom. The artist does not try to idealize the depicted, the main thing for him is their naturalness and originality. His nobles behave in the same relaxed way as representatives of the lower strata of society, who are depicted in Khalsa's paintings as cheerful people, not devoid of self-esteem.
The group portrait occupies an important place in the artist's work. The best works of this genre were portraits of officers of the rifle company of St. George (1627) and the rifle company of St. Adrian (1633). Each character in the paintings has its own bright personality, and at the same time, these works are distinguished by their integrity.
Khals also painted custom-made portraits, in which wealthy burghers and their families are placed in casual poses (Portrait of Isaac Massa, 1626; Portrait of Hetheisen, 1637). Huls's images are lively and dynamic, it seems that people in the portraits are talking to an invisible interlocutor or are addressing the viewer.
Representatives of the folk environment in the portraits of Hals are distinguished by their vivid expressiveness and spontaneity. In the images of street boys, fishermen, musicians, visitors to taverns, the author's sympathy and respect is felt. His "Gypsy" is remarkable. A smiling young woman, whose sly gaze is directed at the interlocutor invisible to the audience, seems surprisingly alive. Hals does not idealize his model, but the image of a cheerful, disheveled gypsy woman delights with her perky charm.
Very often, Huls's portraits include elements of a genre scene. These are the images of children singing or playing musical instruments (The Singing Boys, 1624-1625). The famous "Malle Babbe" (early 1630s) was performed in the same spirit. It presented a tavern keeper known in Haarlem, whom visitors called the Harlem witch behind their backs. The artist has almost grotesquely depicted a woman with a huge beer mug and an owl on her shoulder.
In the 1640s. there are signs of a turning point in the country. Only a few decades have passed since the victory of the revolution, and the bourgeoisie has ceased to be a progressive class based on democratic traditions. The veracity of Hals' painting no longer attracts wealthy clients who want to see themselves in portraits better than they really are. But Hulse did not abandon realism, and his popularity plummeted. In the painting of this period, notes of sadness and disappointment appear ("Portrait of a Man in a Wide-brimmed Hat"). His palette becomes stricter and calmer.
At the age of 84, Hals creates two of his masterpieces: group portraits of the regents (trustees) and the regent of the asylum for the elderly (1664). These latest works of the Dutch master are distinguished by emotionality and bright individuality of images. The images of the regents - old men and women - breathe with sadness and death. This feeling is also emphasized by the color, sustained in black, gray and white tones.
Hals died in 1666 in deep poverty. His true, life-affirming art has greatly influenced many Dutch artists.
Rembrandt
In the 1640-1660s. Dutch painting was flourishing. The most significant artist of this time was Rembrandt.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in 1606 in Leiden. His father was a wealthy miller. Parents dreamed of a good education for their son and assigned him to a Latin school, after which Rembrandt entered Leiden University. But the young man was attracted by art. He left the university and began to study with the painter Jacob Svannenburkh. Three years later, the young artist went to Amsterdam, where he began to take lessons from Peter Lastman.
In 1624, Rembrandt returned to Leiden. Here he, together with the painter Jan Lievens, rented a studio. The artist works a lot from life, he paints not only in the studio, but also on the street and in the city bazaar.
At the end of the 1620s. Rembrandt gained popularity among the people of Leiden. He received many orders and the first student - Gerard Dow, who later became a fairly famous painter.
Rembrandt's early paintings are characterized by thoroughness of composition and conscientiousness of execution. At the same time, they are characterized by some constraint ("The Torment of St. Sebastian", 1625).
In 1631 Rembrandt settled in Amsterdam. The fame of him very quickly spread throughout the city, and orders fell on the painter. Rembrandt's personal life was also successful: in 1634 he married Saskia van Eulenburg, a girl from a well-known bourgeois family. The marriage brought the artist a significant fortune, which provided him with creative independence and allowed him to engage in collecting works of art and antiques.
Rembrandt enjoyed happiness in the company of his beloved wife, whom he portrayed many times. Often Saskia served as a model for paintings with a wide variety of subjects ("Flora", 1634; "Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees", c. 1639).
Rembrandt's work during this period is diverse, he writes historical, mythological and religious compositions, portraits, everyday scenes, landscapes, still lifes, paintings with images of animals. But the main object of his attention is a person. Not only in portraits, but also in his other works, the artist seeks to convey the character and inner world of his heroes.
A remarkable master of the portrait genre, only in the 1630s. Rembrandt painted more than sixty commissioned portraits. The main thing for a painter is not an external resemblance to a model, but the depth of the inner world, the strength of emotional movements and experiences. The group portrait "Anatomy of Doctor Tulpa" (1632) was greeted with delight by his contemporaries. The artist made changes to the traditional composition of the classic group portrait, arranging the figures not in a row, as was customary, but freely. This construction gave the image liveliness and naturalness.
At the end of the 1630s. Rembrandt became the most famous master in Holland. His masterpiece, the famous "Danae" (1636), belongs to this period, the mastery of which surpasses everything that was created by his contemporaries.
artist. The perfection of its composition and the richness of colors, sustained in golden hues, amazes. It seems that there is nothing superfluous in this work, every detail is carefully thought out by the author. With the help of a free and lively brushstroke, the master conveys the lightness of the bedspread, folds of heavy curtains and draperies. The flexible plastic of a young woman lying on the bed is striking, the pale golden shades of the body illuminated by soft light. Although Danae does not shine with ideal beauty, her image delights the viewer with lively charm and freshness.
In the 1630s. the artist also works a lot in etching. He is attracted by everyday motives ("The seller of rat poison", 1632). Elements of genre are also inherent in works with biblical themes (The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1636). One of the best etchings of this period is The Death of Mary (1639), emotional and imbued with a sense of deep sorrow. The remarkable work “Christ Healing the Sick” (the so-called “A Hundred Guilder Leaf” - this name speaks of the value of the work) is also distinguished by the complexity of the composition and the monumental grandeur of the images.
In the 1640s. Rembrandt becomes the most famous and highest paid painter in Amsterdam. He was commissioned for portraits and compositions for the Dutch Stadtholder Palace in The Hague. Many aspiring artists are eager to study in his workshop. The fame of Rembrandt's art goes beyond the borders of Holland. Several paintings by the famous master are kept in the palace of the English king Charles I.
Rembrandt's talent manifested itself in his realistic and expressive still lifes ("The carcass of a bull") and landscapes ("Landscape with a mill", c. 1650). Subtle lyricism is inherent in the unassuming Dutch landscapes, striking the viewer with their almost tangible reality.
The death of his beloved wife in 1642 alienated Rembrandt from her noble relatives. The artist stopped communicating with his acquaintances from the aristocratic society. The changes in the master's life were reflected in his painting, which becomes deeper and more focused. If the early works of Rembrandt are distinguished by a calm and even mood, now in his paintings notes of anxiety and doubt begin to sound. The palette is also changing, in which reds and golds dominate.
The canvas "David and Jonathan" (1642, Hermitage, St. Petersburg), executed in golden-pink and golden-blue tones, is distinguished by its bright expressiveness.
All these new features in Rembrandt's painting did not meet with understanding among his contemporaries. Discontent was caused by the large monumental composition "Night Watch" (1642). The painting received this name in the 19th century. In fact, the action takes place not at night, but during the day, under sunlight, which confirms the nature of the shadows.
Over time, the colors darkened, and only the restoration carried out in 1946-1947 showed that the color scheme of this work was once much lighter.
The painting shows the arrows of Captain Banning Kok's company. The customer expected to see a traditional ceremonial portrait (a scene of a feast or presentation to the viewer by a commander of his subordinates). Rembrandt created ge-
Roiko-historical canvas depicting the performance of the shooters on the orders of the captain. The characters are excited and dynamic; the commander gives orders, the standard-bearer raises the banner, the drummer beats the drum, the arrows are loading the weapon. Here, it is not clear where it comes from a little girl with a rooster at her belt.
During these years, Hendrickje Stoffels appears in Rembrandt's life, first a servant, and then his wife, who became his faithful friend and assistant. The artist still works hard. He creates his famous "Holy Family" (1645), in which the religious theme is treated as a genre one. Along with the biblical compositions, the painter performs realistic landscapes with images of the village ("Winter View", 1646). His portraits of this period are distinguished by the desire to show the individual features of the models.
In the 1650s. the number of orders is significantly reduced. Rembrandt is experiencing great financial difficulties. He is threatened with complete ruin, because the debt associated with the purchase of a house during the life of Saskia's first wife has not yet been paid. In 1656 the artist was declared insolvent, and his art collection and all his property were sold at auction. The Rembrandt family had to move to the poor Jewish quarter of Amsterdam.
Despite all the hardships, the talent of the great painter does not dry out. But now the criterion for his skill is completely different. In the later works of Rembrandt, colorful strokes show up sharply on the surface of the canvas. Now the colors in his paintings serve not only to convey the appearance of the characters and the image of the interior - it is the color that takes on the semantic load of the work. Thus, the feeling of intense drama in the painting "Assur, Aman and Esther" (1660) is created through a complex tonal range and special lighting effects.
Deprived of orders, living in deep poverty, Rembrandt does not stop writing. He creates expressive and spiritual portraits, models for which are relatives and friends ("Portrait of the Artist's Brother's Wife", 1654; "Portrait of an Old Man in Red", 1652-1654; "Portrait of Titus's Son Reading", 1657; "Portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels at windows ", about 1659).
The son Titus, who finally received the state of his deceased mother, is trying to protect his father from material hardships and create conditions for him to work quietly. But misfortunes continue to haunt the artist: in 1663 Hendrickje dies, and a few years later Titus followed her.
It was at this tragic time that the old lonely artist created his masterpieces, distinguished by monumental grandeur and spirituality (David and Uriah, 1665-1666; Return of the Prodigal Son, c. 1668-1669).
Rembrandt died in 1669, forgotten by everyone. Only in the XVIII century. his art was finally understood and appreciated.
In the 1640-1660s. the genre was the leading genre in Dutch painting. Pictures depicting the most ordinary moments of reality are surprisingly poetic and lyrical. The main object of attention of painters is a person and the world around him. Most genre compositions are characterized by a calm narrative and lack of drama. They talk about the household chores of the hostess of the house (buying food, taking care of children, doing handicrafts), about the entertainment of the Dutch burgher (playing cards, receiving guests, concerts). Artists depict everything that happens in the house of a wealthy city dweller, ignoring the public side of a person's life.
Genre painters enjoyed great popularity: G. Dow, whose paintings were sold at a very high price, A. van Ostade, who painted scenes of peasant life ("Country Concert"), J. Sten, whose favorite themes were scenes of fun and holidays ("Merry Society" ), G. Terborch, whose graceful painting represented the life of a wealthy burgher family ("Glass of Lemonade"), G. Metsu with his ingenuous narration ("Sick Child"), P. de Hooch, who created contemplative lyrical canvases ("The Mistress and the Servant ").
K. Fabricius, who lived a short life (died in Delft in the explosion of a gunpowder store), sought to expand the scope of the genre genre. One of his best works is The Resurrection of Lazarus (c. 1643), which is notable for its drama and almost monumental scope. His portraits and self-portraits are also remarkable, placing the artist on a par with F. Hals and Rembrandt.
The fate of E. de Fabricius, a talented master of the domestic scene and works depicting church interiors ("Market in the Port", "Interior with a Woman at the Harpsichord"), is tragic. The artist did not seek to pander to the tastes of the bourgeois public, so his works, which did not have success with his contemporaries, were sold for a pittance. Often, Fabricius was forced to repay debts to homeowners. On a winter night in 1692, a seventy-five-year-old artist, thrown out of his house by the owner, hanged himself on the railing of a bridge. A similar fate was characteristic of many Dutch painters who did not want to abandon realistic traditions to please the public.
Jan Wermeer Delft
A prominent representative of Dutch genre painting is Jan Wermer, nicknamed Delft after his birthplace and work. The painter was born in 1623 in the family of a merchant in paintings and silk. Little is known about Vermeer's life. Perhaps his teacher was K. Fabricius. In 1653 the artist became a member of the guild of St. Luke and married the daughter of a wealthy citizen, Katerina Bolnes. In Delft, he was respected and famous, lived in a large house located on the market square.
Vermeer worked on his paintings very slowly and thoroughly, carefully writing out every detail. Painting could not provide the artist's family with a comfortable existence, although his canvases enjoyed great success. This is probably why Vermeer began to trade in paintings, continuing the work of his father.
Already in the first works of Vermeer, a combination of realism and a certain amount of idealization of images, characteristic of his work, appears ("Diana with the Nymphs", "Christ with Martha and Mary" - both until 1656). The next work - the large-figured canvas "At the Pimp" (1656), written on a plot used by many painters, is distinguished by its originality. The artist's ordinary everyday scene acquires an almost monumental significance. The painting stands out among other works with a similar theme for its bold color, sustained in pure yellow, red, black and white colors, and bright expressive images.
Later, Vermeer turned to chamber compositions traditional for Dutch painting. Like other Dutch masters, he depicts events taking place in wealthy burgher houses. The artist's favorite image is a girl reading a letter or trying on a necklace. His canvases represent ingenuous everyday scenes: a maid gives her mistress a letter, a gentleman brings a glass of wine to a lady. But these paintings, simple in composition, amaze with their integrity, harmony and lyricism, their images attract with their naturalness and calm poetry.
In the second half of the 1650s. the artist created his most remarkable works. The deeply lyrical "Sleeping Girl", "Glass of Wine", "Girl with a Letter" were marked with a warm feeling. Many Dutch painters of this time in their paintings depicted servants busy at work, but only Vermeer's image of a woman from the people has features of genuine beauty and grandeur ("The Maid with a Jug of Milk").
Vermeer is a real virtuoso in conveying the essence of the world of things with the help of pictorial means. Still lifes in his paintings are executed with great skill. A dish with apples and plums, standing on a table covered with a patterned tablecloth in the canvas "Girl with a Letter", looks surprisingly beautiful and natural.
In the painting "The Maid with a Jug of Milk", bread and milk, pouring from the jug in a thick stream, delight with their freshness.
Light plays an important role in Vermeer's works. It fills the space of the canvases, creating an impression of extraordinary airiness; models shapes and penetrates colors, making them glow from within. It is thanks to this amount of light and air that a special emotional upliftment of most of Vermeer's works is created.
The remarkable skill of the painter manifested itself in landscape painting. A small corner of the city, enveloped in the humid atmosphere of a cloudy day, reproduces the clear and simple composition "Street" (c. 1658). The rain-washed city appears clean and fresh in View of Delft (between 1658 and 1660). The sun's rays make their way through the delicate silvery clouds, creating many bright glare on the surface of the water. The sonorous coloring with its subtle color transitions gives the picture expressiveness and harmony.
In the 1660s. Vermeer's painting becomes more refined and elegant. The palette is also changing, which is now dominated by cold colorful shades ("Girl with a Pearl"). The main heroes of the canvases are rich ladies and gentlemen surrounded by luxurious objects ("Love Letter", c. 1670).
Jan Wermeer Delft. A maid with a jug of milk. Between 1657 and 1660
Jan Wermeer Delft. Painter's workshop. OK. 1665 g.
In the last period of Vermeer's life, his works become superficial and somewhat far-fetched ("Allegory of Faith"), and the palette loses its richness and sonority. But even in these years, individual works of the artist amaze with their former expressive power. Such is his "Workshop of the Painter" (1665), in which Vermeer portrayed himself at work, and the paintings "Astronomer" and "Geographer", which captured scientists.
The fate of Vermeer, like many other Dutch masters, is tragic. At the end of his life, the sick artist, who had lost most of his former customers, was forced to move his large family from his old house to a cheaper home. Over the past five years, he has not painted a single picture. The painter died in 1675. His art was forgotten for a long time, and only in the middle of the 19th century. Wermeer was appreciated and placed on a par with such Dutch masters as Rembrandt and F. Hals.
17th century Dutch culture
The victory of the bourgeois revolution in the Northern Netherlands led to the formation of an independent state - the Republic of seven united provinces - Holland (by the name of the most significant of these provinces); for the first time in one of the countries of Europe a bourgeois-republican system was established. The driving forces of the revolution were the peasants and the poorest strata of the urban population, but the bourgeoisie took advantage of its conquests, which came to power.
The liberation from the yoke of Spanish absolutism and the Catholic Church, the elimination of a number of feudal restrictions opened the way for the rapid growth of the productive forces of the republic, which, according to Marx, “was an exemplary capitalist country of the 17th century.” Only in Holland at that time the urban population prevailed over the rural population, but the main source profits were not industry (although textile production and especially shipbuilding were developed here), but intermediary trade, which expanded thanks to the colonial policy. As the ruling classes grew rich, the poverty of the working people grew, the peasants and artisans were ruined, and by the middle of the 17th century class contradictions intensified.
However, in the first decades after the establishment of the republic, the democratic traditions of the revolutionary period were alive. The breadth of the national liberation movement, the rise in the self-consciousness of the people, the joy of liberation from the foreign yoke united the most diverse strata of the population. Conditions for the development of sciences and art have been created in the country. The progressive thinkers of that time, in particular the French philosopher Descartes, found refuge here, the materialistic philosophical system of Spinoza was formed. The highest achievements were achieved by the artists of Holland, such painters as Rembrandt, Ruisdael, Terborch, Hals, Hobbema, Honthorst and many other masters of painting. Dutch artists were the first in Europe to be freed from the oppressive influence of court circles and the Catholic Church and created art that was democratic and realistic, directly reflecting social reality.
Dutch painting of the 17th century
A distinctive feature of the development of Dutch art was a significant predominance among all its types of painting. Pictures adorned the houses of not only representatives of the ruling elite of society, but also poor burghers, artisans, peasants; they were sold at auctions and fairs; sometimes artists used them as a means of paying bills. The profession of an artist was not rare, there were a lot of painters, and they fiercely competed with each other. Few of them could feed themselves with painting, many took on a variety of jobs: Stan was an innkeeper, Hobbema was an excise official, Jacob van Ruisdael was a doctor.
The rapid development of Dutch painting in the 17th century was explained not only by the demand for paintings by those who wanted to decorate their homes with them, but also by looking at them as a commodity, as a means of profit, a source of speculation. Having got rid of the direct customer - the Catholic Church or an influential philanthropist-feudal lord - the artist found himself completely dependent on market demands. The tastes of bourgeois society predetermined the path of development of Dutch art, and artists who opposed them, defended their independence in matters of creativity, found themselves isolated, died untimely in want and loneliness. Moreover, these were, as a rule, the most talented masters. Suffice it to mention the names of Hals and Rembrandt.
The main object of the image for Dutch artists was the surrounding reality, which had never before been so fully reflected in the works of painters of other national schools. The appeal to the most diverse aspects of life led to the strengthening of realistic tendencies in painting, in which the genre and portrait, landscape and still life took a leading place. The more truthfully and deeply the artists reflected the real world opening up before them, the more significant were their works.
Each genre had its own offshoots. So, for example, among the landscape painters there were seascape painters (depicting the sea), painters who preferred the views of plains or forest thickets, there were masters who specialized in winter landscapes and landscapes with moonlight: among the genre painters, artists who depicted peasants, burghers, scenes of feasts and home life, hunting scenes and markets; there were masters of church interiors and various types of still lifes - "breakfasts", "desserts", "shops", etc. Affected by the limitations of Dutch painting, which narrowed the number of tasks for its creators. But at the same time, the concentration of each of the artists on a particular genre contributed to the refinement of the painter's skill. Only the largest Dutch artists have worked in a variety of genres.
The formation of realistic Dutch painting took place in the struggle with the Italianizing trend and mannerism. Representatives of these trends, each in their own way, but purely outwardly, borrowed the techniques of Italian artists, deeply alien to the traditions of national Dutch painting. At the early stage of the formation of Dutch painting, covering the years 1609-1640, realistic tendencies were more clearly manifested in the portrait and genre.
Holland landscape
The principles of the Dutch realistic landscape took shape during the first third of the 17th century. Instead of conventional canons and idealized, invented nature in the paintings of the masters of the Italian trend, the creators of the realistic landscape turned to the depiction of the real nature of Holland with its dunes and canals, houses and villages. They not only captured the character of the area with all the signs, creating typical motives of the national landscape, but tried to convey the atmosphere of the season, humid air and space. This contributed to the development of tonal painting, the subordination of all components of the picture to a single tone.
One of the largest exponents of the Dutch realistic landscape was Jan van Goyen (1596-1656). He worked in Leiden and The Hague. The favorite motives of the artist Jan van Goyen in his small landscapes: the valleys and water surface of wide rivers with cities and villages on their banks on gray, cloudy days. Jan van Goyen left a lot of space (about two-thirds of the picture) to the sky with swirling clouds saturated with moisture. Such is the painting "View of the Vaal River at Nijmegen" (1649, Moscow, State Museum of Fine Arts named after A. Pushkin), sustained in a fine brown-gray range of colors.
A special type of landscape depicting animals, pastures with cows, sheep was created by Paul Potter (1625-1654). Having perfectly studied the habits of animals, the artist often gave them close-ups, carefully writing out the texture of each material, soft wool, the smallest details. Such are the paintings "Bull" (1647, The Hague, Mauritshuis), "Dog on a Chain" (St. Petersburg, Hermitage).
Dutch still life
Along with landscape painting, still life, which was distinguished by an intimate character, was widely spread in 17th century Holland. Dutch artists chose a wide variety of objects for their still lifes, knew how to arrange them perfectly, to reveal the features of each object and its inner life, inextricably linked with human life.
Dutch painters of the 17th century Peter Claes (circa 1597 - 1661) and Willem Heda (1594-1680 / 1682) wrote numerous variants of "breakfast", depicting hams, ruddy buns, blackberry pies on the table, fragile glass goblets, half filled with wine, with an amazing skillfully conveying the color, volume, texture of each item. A person's recent presence is palpable in the disorder, the randomness of the arrangement of the things that have just served him. But this disorder is only apparent, since the composition of each still life is strictly thought out and found. A restrained grayish-golden, olive tonal range unites objects and gives a special sonority to those pure colors that emphasize the freshness of a freshly cut lemon or the soft silk of a blue ribbon.
Over time, the "breakfasts" of the still life masters, painters Klas and Kheda give way to the "desserts" of the Dutch painters Abraham van Beyeren (1620 / 1621-1690) and Willem Kalf (1622-1693). Beyeren's still lifes are strict in composition, emotionally rich, colorful. Willem Kalf throughout his life wrote in a free manner and democratic "kitchens" - pots, vegetables and aristocratic still lifes for the selection of exquisite precious objects, full of restrained nobility, like silver vessels, goblets, and shells saturated with internal burning of colors.
In its further development, still life follows the same paths as all Dutch art, which is losing its democracy, its spirituality and poetry, its charm. The still life turns into a decoration for the home of high-ranking customers. For all the decorativeness and skill of execution, later still lifes anticipate the decline of Dutch painting.
Social degeneration, the well-known aristocratization of the Dutch bourgeoisie in the last third of the 17th century give rise to a tendency to converge with the aesthetic views of the French nobility, lead to the idealization of artistic images, their crushing. Art loses its connection with the democratic tradition, loses its realistic basis and enters into a period of prolonged decline. Greatly exhausted in the wars with England, Holland is losing its position as a great trading power and a major artistic center.
17th century French art
In French art of the 17th century, the most complete reflection of the idea of \u200b\u200bman and his place in society, generated by the formation of centralized monarchies in Europe, was found. The classic country of absolutism, which ensured the growth of bourgeois relations, France experienced an economic upsurge and became a powerful European power. The struggle for national unification against feudal willfulness and anarchy contributed to the strengthening of the high discipline of reason, a sense of individual responsibility for their actions, and interest in state problems. The philosopher Descartes developed a theory of the will, proclaiming the dominance of the human mind. He called for self-knowledge and the conquest of nature, viewing the world as a rationally organized mechanism. Rationalism has become a characteristic feature of French culture. By the middle of the 17th century, a national literary language had developed - it affirmed the principles of logical clarity, accuracy and a sense of proportion. French classical tragedy reached its climax in the works of Corneille and Racine. In his dramas, Moliere recreates the "human comedy". France experienced a flourishing of national culture, it is no coincidence that Voltaire called the 17th century "great".
French culture of the 17th century was formed under the conditions of the establishment of absolutism. However, its diversity and contradictions determined the wide movement for national unification. It found lively responses to acute social conflicts that accompanied the birth of a new society. In the first half of the 17th century, peasant and urban uprisings and a large democratic movement of the parliamentary Fronde shook the foundations of the state. On this basis, utopias, dreams of an ideal society based on the laws of reason and justice, and free-thinking criticism of absolutism were born. The development of French art in the 17th century went through two stages, coinciding with the first and second half of the century.
18th century Western European art
The eighteenth century in Western Europe is the last stage of a long transition from feudalism to capitalism. In the middle of the century, the process of the initial accumulation of capital was completed, a struggle was waged in all spheres of social consciousness, a revolutionary situation was ripening. Later, it led to the dominance of the classical forms of developed capitalism. Over the course of the century, a gigantic breakdown of all social and state foundations, concepts and criteria for evaluating the old society was taking place. A civilized society arose, periodicals appeared, political parties were formed, and there was a struggle for the emancipation of man from the shackles of a feudal-religious world outlook.
In the visual arts, the importance of a directly realistic representation of life increased. The sphere of art expanded, it became an active exponent of liberating ideas, filled with topicality, a fighting spirit, exposed the vices and absurdities of not only feudal, but also the emerging bourgeois society. It also put forward a new positive ideal of the unrestrained personality of a person, free from hierarchical ideas, developing individual abilities and at the same time endowed with a noble sense of citizenship. Art became national, appealing not only to a circle of sophisticated connoisseurs, but to a wide democratic environment.
| The fine art of the 18th century in the best works is characterized by the analysis of the subtlest human experiences, reproduction of the nuances of feelings and moods. Intimacy, lyricism of images, but also analytical observation (sometimes merciless) are characteristic features of the art of the 18th century. both in the genre of a portrait and in everyday painting. These features of the artistic perception of life are the contribution of the 18th century to the development of world artistic culture, although it must be admitted that this was achieved at the cost of losing the universal completeness in the depiction of spiritual life, integrity in the embodiment of the aesthetic views of society inherent in the painting of Rubens, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Poussin. | |
The main trends in the social and ideological development of Western Europe in the 18th century in different countries manifested themselves unevenly. If in England the industrial revolution, which took place in the middle of the 18th century, consolidated the compromise between the bourgeoisie and the nobility, then in France the antifeudal movement was more widespread and was preparing a bourgeois revolution. Common to all countries was the crisis of feudalism, its ideology, the formation of a broad social movement - the Enlightenment, with its cult of primary untouched Nature and Reason, protecting it, with its criticism of modern corrupted civilization and the dream of the harmony of benevolent nature and a new democratic civilization gravitating towards natural condition.
The eighteenth century is the age of Reason, all-destroying skepticism and irony, the age of philosophers, sociologists, economists; the exact natural sciences, geography, archeology, history, and materialistic philosophy, connected with technology, developed. By invading the mental everyday life of the era, scientific knowledge also created the foundation for art for accurate observation and analysis of reality. The enlighteners proclaimed the goal of art to imitate nature, but nature is ordered, improved (Diderot, A. Pop), cleared by reason of the harmful effects of man-made civilization created by the absolutist regime, social inequality, idleness and luxury. The rationalism of philosophical and aesthetic thought of the 18th century, however, did not suppress the freshness and sincerity of feelings, but gave rise to an aspiration for proportionality, grace, harmonious completeness of artistic phenomena of art, starting with architectural ensembles and ending with applied art. The enlighteners attached great importance in life and art to feeling - the focus of the noblest aspirations of mankind, a feeling that thirsts for purposeful action that contains the power that revolutionizes life, a feeling that can revive the primordial virtues of a "natural man" (Defoe, Rousseau, Mercier), following natural laws nature.
Rousseau's aphorism "A man is great only by his feelings" expressed one of the remarkable aspects of social life of the 18th century, which gave rise to an in-depth sophisticated psychological analysis in a realistic portrait and genre, the lyrical landscape (Gainsborough, Watteau, Berne, Robert) was imbued with the poetry of feelings "lyric novel", " poems in prose ”(Russo, Prevost, Marivaux, Fielding, Stern, Richardson), it reaches its highest expression in the rise of music (Handel, Bach, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Italian opera composers). On the one hand, “small people” became the heroes of the works of art of painting, graphics, literature and theater of the 18th century - people, like everyone else, put in the usual conditions of the era, not spoiled by wealth and privileges, subject to ordinary natural movements of the soul, content with modest happiness. Artists and writers in them were delighted with sincerity, naive spontaneity of the soul, close to nature. On the other hand, the focus is on the ideal of an emancipated civilized intellectual person born of the enlightenment culture, the analysis of his individual psychology, contradictory mental states and feelings with their subtle shades, unexpected impulses and reflective moods.
Sharp observation, refined culture of thought and feeling are characteristic of all art genres of the 18th century. The artists strove to capture everyday life situations, diverse in shades, original individual images, gravitated towards entertaining narratives and enchanting entertainment, sharp conflict actions, dramatic intrigues and comically constructed fables, refined grotesque, buffoonery, graceful festivities.
New problems were raised in architecture as well. The importance of church building has diminished, and the role of civil architecture has grown, exquisitely simple, updated, freed from excessive imposing. In some countries (France, Russia, partly Germany), the problems of planning cities of the future were solved. Architectural utopias were born (graphic architectural landscapes - Giovanni Battista Piranesi and the so-called "paper architecture"). The type of private, usually intimate residential building and urban ensembles of public buildings became characteristic. At the same time, in the art of the 18th century, in comparison with previous eras, synthetic perception and the fullness of the coverage of life decreased. The former connection of monumental painting and sculpture with architecture was broken, the features of easel painting and decorativeness increased in them. The art of everyday life and decorative forms became the subject of special cult. At the same time, the interaction and mutual enrichment of various types of art increased, the achievements acquired by one type of art were more freely used by others. Thus, the influence of the theater on painting and music was very fruitful.
The art of the 18th century went through two stages. The first lasted until 1740-1760. It is characterized by the transformation of late baroque forms into the decorative rococo style. The peculiarity of art of the first half of the 18th century is a combination of witty and derisive skepticism and sophistication. This art, on the one hand, is refined, analyzing the nuances of feelings and moods, striving for graceful intimacy, restrained lyricism, on the other hand, tending to the "philosophy of pleasure", to the fabulous images of the East - Arabs, Chinese, Persians. Simultaneously with the rococo, the realistic direction developed - among some masters it acquired an acutely incriminating character (Hogarth, Swift). The struggle of artistic trends within national schools was openly manifested. The second stage is associated with the deepening of ideological contradictions, the growth of self-consciousness, the political activity of the bourgeoisie and the masses. At the turn of the 1760s-1770s. The Royal Academy in France opposed Rococo art and tried to revive the ceremonial, idealizing style of academic art of the late 17th century. The gallant and mythological genres have given way to the historical, with plots borrowed from Roman history. They were intended to emphasize the greatness of the monarchy that had lost its authority in accordance with the reactionary interpretation of the ideas of "enlightened absolutism." Representatives of progressive thought turned to the heritage of antiquity. In France, Count de Keyluz opened the scientific era of research in this area (Collection of Antiquities, 7 volumes, 1752-1767). In the middle of the 18th century, the German archaeologist and art historian Winckelmann (History of Antiquity Art, 1764) urged artists to return to "the noble simplicity and calm grandeur of ancient art, reflecting the freedom of the Greeks and Romans of the republican era." The French philosopher Diderot found in ancient history plots denouncing tyrants, calling for an uprising against them. Classicism arose, opposing the decorativeness of the Rococo to natural simplicity, to the subjective arbitrariness of passions - the knowledge of the laws of the real world, a sense of proportion, the nobility of thought and actions. For the first time, artists studied ancient Greek art on newly discovered sites. The proclamation of an ideal, harmonious society, the primacy of duty over feeling, the pathos of reason are common features of classicism of the 17th and 18th centuries. However, the classicism of the 17th century, which arose on the basis of national unification, developed in the conditions of the flourishing of the noble society. The classicism of the 18th century was characterized by an anti-feudal revolutionary orientation. He was called to unite the progressive forces of the nation to fight absolutism. Outside of France, classicism did not have the revolutionary character that it distinguished in the early years of the French Revolution.
Simultaneously with classicism, experiencing its impact, the realistic trend continued to live. Rationalistic tendencies were outlined in it: artists sought to generalize life phenomena.
In the second half of the 18th century, sentimentalism was born with its cult of feelings and passion, admiration for everything simple, naive, sincere. A pre-romantic direction in art associated with it arose, and interest in the Middle Ages and folk art forms aroused. Representatives of these movements affirmed the value of the noble and active feelings of man, revealed the dramatic nature of his conflicts with the environment, prompting him to intervene in real public affairs in the name of the triumph of justice. They paved the way "to the knowledge of the human heart and the magical art of presenting to the eyes the birth, development and collapse of a great passion" (Lessing) and expressed an urgent need for an excited, pathetic art.
19th century art
During the 19th century, capitalism became the dominant formation not only in Europe, but also on other continents. It was during this period that the struggle between two cultures sharply intensified - the progressive democratic and the reactionary bourgeois. Expressing the advanced ideas of the time, the realistic art of the 19th century asserted the aesthetic values \u200b\u200bof reality, glorified the beauty of real nature and the man of labor. Realism of the 19th century differed from previous centuries in that it directly reflected in art the main contradictions of the era, the social conditions of people's life. Critical positions formed the basis of the 19th century realistic art method. His most consistent incarnation was the art of critical realism - the most valuable contribution to the artistic culture of the era.
Various areas of culture of the 19th century developed unevenly. World literature (Victor Hugo, Honore Balzac, Henri Stendhal, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy), music (Johann Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Richard Wagner) reach the highest peaks. With regard to architecture and applied art, after the rise that determined the Empire style, both of these art forms are in crisis. There is a disintegration of monumental forms, stylistic unity as an integral artistic system covering all types of art. The most fully developed easel forms of painting, graphics and, in part, sculpture, which tends in the best forms to monumental forms.
Given the national identity in the art of any capitalist country, common features are strengthened: a critical assessment of the phenomena of life, historicism of thinking, that is, a deeper objective understanding of the driving forces of social development of both past historical stages and the present. One of the main achievements of 19th century art is the development of historical themes, which for the first time reveals the role of not only individual heroes, but also the masses, and more specifically recreates the historical environment. All types of portraits, genre genres, landscapes with a pronounced national character are becoming widespread. Satirical graphics are flourishing.
With the victory of capitalism, the big bourgeoisie becomes the main interested force in limiting and suppressing the realistic and democratic tendencies of art. The creations of the leading figures of European culture Constable, Goya, Gericault, Delacroix, Daumier, Courbet, Manet were often persecuted. The exhibitions were filled with refined works of the so-called salon artists, that is, who occupied a dominant place in art salons. To please the tastes and demands of bourgeois customers, they cultivated superficial description, erotic and entertaining motives, the spirit of apologetics of bourgeois foundations and militarism.
Back in the 1860s, Karl Marx noted that "capitalist production is hostile to certain branches of spiritual production, such as art and poetry." Art interests the bourgeoisie mainly as either a profitable investment (collecting), or as a luxury item. Of course, collectors met with a true understanding of art and its purpose, but these were very few exceptions to the rule. In general, acting as a trendsetter of tastes and the main consumer of art, the bourgeoisie imposed on artists its limited understanding of art. The development of mass production with its impersonality, relying on the market entailed the suppression of creativity. The division of labor in capitalist production cultivates the one-sided development of the individual and deprives labor itself of creative integrity. Speaking about the hostility of capitalism to art, Marx and Engels did not mean in general the impossibility of artistic progress in the 19th and 20th centuries. In their writings, the founders of scientific communism praised the achievements, for example, critical realism of the 19th century.
The democratic line of art, revealing the role of the people as the driving force of history and affirming the aesthetic values \u200b\u200bof the democratic culture of the nation, goes through a number of stages of development. At the first stage, from the Great French Revolution of 1789-1794 to 1815 (the time of the national liberation struggle of peoples against Napoleonic aggression), the exploitative essence of bourgeois society was not yet fully realized. Democratic art is formed in the struggle against the remnants of the noble artistic culture, as well as against the manifestations of the limitations of bourgeois ideology. The highest achievements of art at this time were associated with the revolutionary pathos of the masses, who believed in the victory of the ideals of freedom, equality and brotherhood. This is the heyday of revolutionary classicism and the birth of romantic and realistic art.
The second stage, from 1815 to 1849, falls on the time of the establishment of the capitalist system in most European countries. In the advanced democratic art of this stage, the transition to a decisive criticism of the exploitative essence of bourgeois society takes place. This is the period of the highest flowering of revolutionary romanticism and the addition of the art of critical realism.
With the sharpening of the class contradictions between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, which reached its climax during the Paris Commune (1871), the antagonism between the reactionary bourgeois and democratic cultures became even stronger. At the end of the 19th century, criticism of the capitalist structure, both in literature and in works of art, is carried out from the standpoint of the growing worldview of the revolutionary proletariat.
Similar information.
Meanwhile, this is a special area of \u200b\u200bEuropean culture worthy of more detailed study, which reflects the original life of the people of Holland at that time.
History of appearance
Outstanding representatives of art began to appear in the country in the seventeenth century. French cultural scientists gave them a common name - "Little Dutchmen", which is not related to the scale of talents and denotes an attachment to certain themes from everyday life, opposite to the "big" style with large canvases on historical or mythological subjects. The history of the emergence of Dutch painting was described in detail in the nineteenth century, and authors of works about it also used this term. The Little Dutchmen were distinguished by secular realism, appealed to the world around them and people, and used painting rich in tones.
The main stages of development
The history of the emergence of Dutch painting can be divided into several periods. The first lasted from about 1620 to 1630, when the establishment of realism took place in national art. Dutch painting experienced the second period in the years 1640-1660. This is the time when the local art school really flourished. Finally, the third period, the time when Dutch painting began to decline - from 1670 to the beginning of the eighteenth century.
It is worth noting that cultural centers have changed during this time. In the first period, the leading artists worked in Haarlem, with Khalsa as the main representative. Then the center shifted to Amsterdam, where the most significant works were performed by Rembrandt and Vermeer.
Scenes of everyday life
When listing the most important genres of Dutch painting, it is imperative to start with everyday life - the most striking and distinctive in history. It was the Flemings who opened the world to scenes from the everyday life of ordinary people, peasants and townspeople or burghers. The pioneers were Ostade and his followers Oudenrogge, Bega and Dusart. In Ostad's early canvases, people play cards, quarrel and even fight in a tavern. Each picture is distinguished by a dynamic, somewhat brutal character. Dutch painting of those times also tells about peaceful scenes: in some works, peasants talk over a pipe and a glass of beer, spend time at a fair or with their families. Rembrandt's influence led to the widespread use of a soft chiaroscuro golden color. Urban scenes have inspired artists such as Hals, Leicester, Molenaire and Codde. In the middle of the seventeenth century, masters portrayed doctors, scientists in the process of work, their own workshops, chores around the house, or Each plot was supposed to be entertaining, sometimes didactic to the grotesque. Some masters were inclined to poeticize everyday life, for example, Terborch depicted scenes of playing music or flirting. Metsu used bright colors, turning everyday life into a holiday, while de Hooch was inspired by the simplicity of family life, flooded with diffused daylight. Later representatives of the genre, which include such Dutch masters of painting as Van der Werf and Van der Neer, often created somewhat pretentious subjects in their pursuit of elegant depiction.
Nature and landscapes
In addition, Dutch painting is widely represented in the landscape genre. It first appeared in the works of such Haarlem masters as van Goyen, de Molane and van Ruisdael. It was they who began to depict the countryside in a certain silvery light. The material unity of nature came to the fore in the works. Separately, it is worth mentioning seascapes. Marine painters were 17th century such as Porcellis, de Vlieger and van de Capelle. They did not so much strive to convey certain marine scenes as they tried to depict the water itself, the play of light on it and in the sky.
By the second half of the seventeenth century, more emotional works with philosophical ideas emerged in the genre. Jan van Ruisdael revealed the beauty of the Dutch landscape to the maximum, depicting it in all its drama, dynamics and monumentality. The continuer of his tradition was Hobbem, who preferred sunny landscapes. Koninck painted panoramas, while van der Neer was engaged in the creation of night landscapes and the transmission of moonlight, sunrise and sunset. A number of artists are also characterized by the depiction of animals in landscapes, for example, grazing cows and horses, as well as hunting and scenes with cavalrymen. Later, artists began to get carried away with foreign nature - Bot, van Lar, Veniks, Berchem and Hackert depicted Italy bathing in the rays of the southern sun. The genre was pioneered by Sunredam, whose best followers are the brothers Berkheide and Jan van der Heyden.
Image of interiors
A separate genre that distinguished Dutch painting during its heyday was scenes with church, palace and home rooms. Interiors appeared in the canvases of the second half of the seventeenth century by the masters of Delft - Haukgest, van der Vliet and de Witte, who became the main representative of the trend. Using Vermeer's techniques, the artists depicted scenes bathed in sunlight, full of emotion and volume.
Scenic food and dishes
Finally, another characteristic genre of Dutch painting is still life, especially the image of breakfast. For the first time, the residents of Harlem Klas and Kheda, who drew laid tables with luxurious crockery, took care of it. The picturesque disorder and special rendering of the cozy interior are filled with the silvery-gray light typical of silver and pewter dishes. Utrecht artists painted lush floral still lifes, and in The Hague, the masters were especially successful in depicting fish and sea reptiles. In Leiden, the philosophical trend of the genre arose, in which skulls and an hourglass are adjacent to the symbols of sensual pleasure or earthly glory, designed to remind of the transience of time. Democratic kitchen still lifes have become a hallmark of the art school of Rotterdam.
