“Colour and Illusion”: The Rembrandt-Hoogstraten Exhibition - Part 2

Note: This is a continuation of my write-up of the Rembrandt & Hoogstraten exhibition that I visited earlier this year. Part 1 can be read on Rembrandt-Hoogstraten: Colour and Illusion. Unfortunately, I forgot to finish this write-up.

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Room 3 - Emulation and eclecticism

This part of the exhibition focuses on the theme of emulation. 

The two artists collaborated in Rembrandt’s studio, and obviously came to dominated the market for portraits in Amsterdam for his use of light and his illusionistic styles. 

The exhibition explains that Van Hoogstraten adapted and became an eclectic artist whose works covered a broad range painting styles - from Pieter de Hooch and Gerard ter Borch, to Anthony van Dyck.

This part of the exhibition was excellently curated.

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Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl by Rembrandt (1636)

Rembrandt rarely painted still lifes. 

Two dead peacocks next to a girl. She is looking out of a dark window at the colourful feathers of the hanging bird. A pool of blood forming under the body of the left peacock on the left.

Bird’s head, with impressive shadow, protruding beyond the boundaries of the pictorial space.

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Still Life with a Dead Cockerel and a Cat by Van Hoogstraten (1669)

Stunning.

Exhibition suggesting this might be a response to Rembrandt’s Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks (above).

Unlike Rembrandt’s painting, Van Hoogstraten’s features a cat - and not a girl - gazing at the viewer.

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Man in Oriental Costume by Rembrandt (1632)

This painting was popular theme for Rembrandt (known as tronies which means “head, face, or grimace”) and often depicted anonymous people with interesting facial features or costumes rather than a formal portrait.

This is the Alte Pinakothek version.

The man in a turban and rich clothing is consistent with Rembrandt’s interest in “Oriental” style, exoticism and trade.

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The Prophetess Anna by Rembrandt (1635)

Love it.

This is Rembrandt’s mother. 💕

According to the Bible, the Prophetess Anna recognises that the infant Jesus in the temple is the Redeemer. 

The way the light falls on her face highlights her realisation.

Portrayed with quiet dignity and quiet resilience. 

The model for this paintings was probably his mother, Neeltgen Willemsdr. van Zuytbrouck.

Reddened eyes and slightly opened mouth draw our attention.

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Titus van Rijn, the Artist’s Son, Reading by Rembrandt (1658)

Affectionate.

This picture depicts the love of a father.

Titus van Rijn was Rembrandt’s only surviving son from the marriage to his first beloved, Saskia van Uylenburgh. He is a recurring subject to Rembrandt.

Here, Rembrandt captures his son - probably a teenager - absorbed in his readings. His soft chiaroscuro illuminates Titus’s face giving him a focused expression.

This was painted during the time of Rembrandt’s 1656 bankruptcy which was a financially and emotionally devastating event for the artist.

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View of the North Transept of Westminster Abbey in London by Van Hoogstraten (1662-67)

A monumental painting of the interior of Westminster Abbey from Van Hoogstraten’s time in London.

He combines different genres into a single architectural focus and perspective.

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Inner Courtyard of the Vienna Hofburg in a Feigned Picture Frame by Van Hoogstraten (1652)

A trompe-l’oeil painting.

Van Hoogstraten blurs the line between the painted world and the viewer’s reality with a feigned frame.

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The Slippers by Van Hoogstraten (1658)

Outstanding. 

This was, apparently, once confused with a Pieter de Hooch.

A masterful doorkijkje (vista) of a Dutch interior.

A mysterious scene devoid of human figures - with slippers in the middle of the floor & a broom leaning against a wall - in which the viewer is trying to piece together what has taken place. 

In Dutch 17th-century art, discarded slippers were an erotic/amorous symbol, and so are keys (which are very conspicuously dangling). As Louvre DNP says:

Despite the absence of figures in this peaceful interior, a human - specifically female - presence is skillfully suggested by several details such as the typical 17th-century Dutch slippers that have been carelessly removed and left in the hallway, and the book that lies open on the table.

As the eye moves from one room to the next, it encounters a number of objects of varying significance, from the broom that leans against the wall to the painting in the background. The longer the viewer looks, the more he is drawn into this scene with its aura of mystery.

It’s also a nod to Gerard ter Borch’s painting, The Gallant Conversation, which is depicted on the wall of the back room. One of themes of that painting is courtship. This is the painting:

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The Prophetess Anna by Rembrandt (1635)

According to the Bible, the Prophetess Anna recognises that the infant Jesus in the temple is the Redeemer. 

The way the light falls on her face highlights her realisation.

Portrayed with quiet dignity and quiet resilience. 

The model for this paintings was probably his mother, Neeltgen Willemsdr. van Zuytbrouck.

Reddened eyes and slightly opened mouth draw our attention.

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The Portrait of Joris de Caullery by Rembrandt (1632)

This painting comes from San Francisco.

Rembrandt was 26 years old when he painted this portrait (same year as Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp).

He had moved from Leiden to Amsterdam and was establishing his reputation as the finest portraitist. This was an age when portraits were no longer the preserve of the Royalty and Popes etc.

According to the San Francisco museum:

Joris de Caullery was serving as an officer in the city’s guard of armed infantrymen when he posed for Rembrandt. At the outset of his career in Amsterdam, the young artist met De Caullery while working on commissions from the Dutch chief magistrate’s court in The Hague.

Rembrandt captures the officer’s energy - the direct gaze, left hand confidently on hip, and casually gripping a musket. His signature chiaroscuro across the face gives a his face a vivid & fleshy quality, and a rather reddy nose. The self-assured pose of his subject.

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Portrait of a Woman by Rembrandt and workshop (1632)

See below

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Portrait of a Man by Rembrandt  (1632)

Very engaging expressions.

These two portraits are said to be pendant portraits - husband & wife.

The identity of the sitters is not known, easily the upper bourgeoisie.

The man is easily Rembrandt, but apropos the woman’s portrait:

The somewhat stiff and passive posture of the woman led the researchers involved in the Rembrandt Research Project to determine that this portrait was not an autograph work (by his own hand). Ferdinand Bol, who, however, only began working in Rembrandt’s studio after 1635, was proposed as the artist.

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Portrait of Sir Norton Knatchbull by Samuel van Hoogstraten (1667)

Excellent.

Sir Norton Knatchbull has an interesting biography as a biblical scholar and politician who sat in the House of Commons.

Recently sold to The Dodrechts Museum, it “makes clear the portrait painted in 1667 in London takes inspiration from both Van Dyck and Rembrandt (van Hoogstraten’s teacher)”. 

Thus, the detailed & character-filled realism of Rembrandt and the grand full-length manner of the English portraits style, of Sir Anthony van Dyck.

Knatchbull’s presence is both convincing and commanding.

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Portrait of the Preacher Eleazar Swalmius by Rembrandt (1637)

The preacher depicted was a minister for the Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam.

Swalmius’s portrait is beautiful. 

He has a kindly face with a warmth. The mastery of chiaroscuro means the preacher’s face and white ruff stand out from the darker background.

Rembrandt masterfully depicts the psychological hallmarks of his sitter.