Why the "little Dutchman" Gerard Dow painted portraits without ears, which were more expensive than paintings by Rembrandt

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The golden age of the history of the Netherlands gave the world many talented painters. Among them was Gerard Dow, who was once highly rated, then almost forgotten, and in the 20th century, he returned to the ranks of the greats. No wonder - European monarchs were interested in his works, and each of them was worth fabulous money - Rembrandt lost in this to his pupil Dow. How deserved was this fame and why does the work of the "little Dutchman" from Leiden meet with contradictory responses?

Gerard Dow - Rembrandt's first student

Gerard (Gerrit) Dow lived and worked at a very favorable time for the artist. He was born in 1613 in the city of Leiden. His father was a master of stained glass making, and he gave his son the first skills in drawing and engraving. From the age of nine, the boy was sent to study with the engraver Bartholomew Dolendo, then he improved his skills with the glass artist Peter Cowhorn. When Dow turned fifteen, Rembrandt, also a resident of Leiden, became his teacher.

This circumstance should, it would seem, emphasize the special talent and talent of the young Leiden, but in reality everything was a little simpler - Rembrandt at that time was only twenty-two, and he himself was only looking for his own style. Dow, along with his mentor, participated in this quest. The first works of Gerard Dow really bear the imprint of the early style of Rembrandt. It is believed that in the painting "Woman Reading the Bible" Dow portrayed the mother of his teacher, although not all art critics are of this opinion. In 1631, Rembrandt left his hometown for Amsterdam, and Dow continued his independent career in art.

In those days, the artists had enough work, the customers also did not translate. Dutch burghers could afford to decorate the walls of the house with paintings - not so monumental, of course, as the works of Italians and French, intended more for palaces and palazzo. That is why works of a small format have become popular, but on everyday, chamber themes - they will later be called "Little Dutchmen". Dow not only took his place in this niche, he managed to bring the characteristic features of 17th century Dutch painting to special heights.

Gerard Dow's own style of writing developed quite early and practically did not change throughout his life - and there was no need for it to change, because the artist's works were extremely in demand and were valued extremely highly. Dow worked very carefully, painstakingly, and therefore for a long time. According to the stories of one of the customers, he could paint with only one hand on a portrait for five days. A tree pattern is visible on the broom handle, a sleeping cat or dog is written down to the grain. Numerous and faithfully reproduced details have become a characteristic feature of the artist.

Exquisite Artist

Most of Dow's paintings are small, the largest was the canvas called "The Witch Doctor", 83 by 112 centimeters. The small size and the large amount of details seemed to emphasize the special value of the painting. Dow used a magnifying glass to work, as well as hand-made brushes - "thinner than a human nail", as one of his fellow artists spoke of them.

The painting could have up to twelve layers of paint, while Dow achieved a smooth surface - this was probably due to his father's experience with glass. The artist's paintings often make the same impression as the dollhouse - the same abundance of familiar, but tiny and carefully crafted objects, the same desire to examine the visible, seek, guess what is hidden.

In those days, Dow had no end to admirers and buyers. He gave the agent of the Swedish queen Peter Spiering "the right of first refusal", that is, the opportunity to buy any work created by the artist; for this right, Spearing paid Dow five hundred guilders annually. The master also painted portraits, for work he took six guilders per hour. Taking into account how carefully the artist approached the process, how long it took to work on each painting, we can conclude that he came across wealthy customers. In one day, a simple worker - as well as a simple artist - at that time received about one guilder.

In the 1740s, Gerard Dow joined the Leiden Guild of St. Luke, an association of Dutch artists, and created his own school called Fijnschilders, or Fine Artists. Dow had many students and many imitators.

During Dow's lifetime, the Swedish Queen Christina, the English King Charles II, the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III Medici, and the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria became his admirers and buyers of paintings. Subsequently, Dow's paintings were acquired by other monarchs and members of their families, including Catherine II and Josephine Beauharnais. The artist lived in his native Leiden all his life, never married, was known as a bore and left a fortune of twenty thousand guilders. To date, he is attributed to about two hundred paintings.

Outdated or trendy artist?

In the 19th century, interest in Dow's works was almost completely lost, moreover, his style caused real irritation among the artists of the new era. This excessive thoroughness, painstaking pains when creating paintings seemed to be the complete opposite of the philosophy of the new masters, the impressionist philosophy. Gerard Dow was declared a soulless artist, in fact, a craftsman, a businessman. In a sense, this was true - Dow's painting pursued rather applied, practical goals - to create a kind of expensive toy for a wealthy customer, to offer him an intricate home decoration, a small canvas with a collection of small carefully written objects, this entertained the guests and allowed them to feel their own involvement. to the world of art. At the same time, a close look at Dow's paintings allows you to notice mistakes, for example, a violation of the proportions of the human body (too narrow shoulders, etc.), or the "absence" of ears in the characters.

Occupying a rather narrow niche, Dow wrote what customers wanted from him - for a lot of money. These were, as a rule, images of one or two figures in the interior, often decorated with sculptures or bas-reliefs; a window was certainly shown in the room; the characters in the picture are busy with their daily activities or doing their job, or reading the Bible. The foreground is well lit, while in the depths of the picture there is darkness, similar to carelessness when creating the background. Gerard Dow was called a follower of the Chiaroscuro technique, a contrasting chiaroscuro in the style of Caravaggio, critics of his style, however, see in this technique a peculiar way to save time and effort.

Be that as it may, the paintings of Gerard Dow continue to adorn the best museums in the world, including the Hermitage and the Louvre, and their value at the auction is estimated at millions of dollars. Since the second half of the 20th century, the attitude towards Dow's works has significantly improved, in his works they see not only a technique of execution that is rare in terms of thoroughness, but also hidden meanings and symbols, references to myths and proverbs.

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of the modern art lover is the freedom to choose paintings that are worthy of his attention and favor. And then Dow's works either like and fascinate, or become part of the history of European art, in particular, the history of the creation of pictures-trompe l'oeil.