Even those who are not very well versed in art know about Dutch or Flemish painting . But for many, these are nothing more than portraits of Rembrandt. Meanwhile, this is a special area of European culture, worthy of more detailed study, which reflects the original life of the people of Holland of those times.
Appearance story
Bright representatives of art began to appear in the country in the seventeenth century. French culturologists gave them a common name - “small Dutch”, which is not related to the scale of talents and denotes attachment to certain topics from everyday life, the opposite of the “big” style with large canvases on historical or mythological subjects. The history of Dutch painting was described in detail in the nineteenth century, and the authors of works about it also used this term. “Small Dutch” were distinguished by secular realism, appealing to the outside world and people, using painting rich in tones.
The main stages of development
The history of Dutch painting can be divided into several periods. The first lasted from approximately 1620 to 1630, when the assertion of realism took place in national art. Dutch painting experienced the second period in 1640-1660. This is the time when the real flowering of the local art school falls. 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 over this time. In the first period, leading artists worked in Haarlem, and the main representative was Halsa. Then the center shifted to Amsterdam, where the most significant work was performed by Rembrandt and Vermeer.
Everyday life scenes
Listing the most important genres of Dutch painting, you must definitely start with the everyday - the most vivid and original in history. It was the Flemings who opened the world to scenes from the everyday life of ordinary people, peasants and citizens, or burghers. Ostade and his followers Oudenrogge, Bega and Dusart became the pioneers. In the early canvases of Ostada, 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: at some works, peasants talk over a pipe and a glass of beer, spend time at a fair or with their family. The influence of Rembrandt led to the widespread use of soft chiaroscuro of golden color. City scenes inspired artists such as Hals, Leicester, Molenar and Codde. In the mid-seventeenth century, masters portrayed doctors, scientists in the process, their own workshops, household chores or social events. Each plot should have been entertaining, sometimes didactic to the grotesque. Some masters were inclined to poetize everyday life, for example, Terborch depicted scenes of playing music or flirting. Metsu used bright colors, turning everyday life into a holiday, and de Hoch was inspired by the simplicity of family life, bathed in diffused daylight. Later representatives of the genre, which include Dutch masters of painting such as Van der Werf and Van der Ner, often created somewhat pretentious plots in their quest for an elegant image.
Nature and landscapes
In addition, Dutch painting is widely represented in the landscape genre. It was first born in the works of such Haarlem masters as van Goyen, de Moylein and van Reisdal. It was they who began to depict rural corners in a certain silver light. The material unity of nature came to the fore in works. Separately, it is worth mentioning seascapes. Marinists were such Dutch artists of the 17th century as Porcellis, de Vliger and van de Capelle. They did not so much try to convey certain sea 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 arose in the genre. Maximally revealed the beauty of the Dutch landscape, Jan van Reisdal, depicting him in all the drama, dynamics and monumentality. Hobbem, who preferred sunny landscapes, became the continuation of his traditions. Koninck depicted panoramas, and van der Ner 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 image in landscapes of animals, for example, grazing cows and horses, as well as hunting and scenes with cavalrymen. Later, artists began to get involved in foreign nature - Bot, van Lahr, Venix, Burham and Hackert depicted Italy, bathing in the rays of the southern sun. The initiator of the urban landscape genre was Sanredam, whose best followers are the Berkheide and Jan van der Hayden brothers.
Image of interiors
A separate genre, which distinguished Dutch painting in its heyday, can be called sketches with church, palace and home rooms. The interiors appeared in the paintings of the second half of the seventeenth century by the masters of Delft - Haukgest, van der Vlita and de Witte, who became the main representative of the direction. Using Vermeer's techniques, the artists depicted scenes bathed in sunlight, full of emotion and volume.
Picturesque dishes and dishes
Finally, another characteristic genre of Dutch painting is still life, especially the image of breakfasts. For the first time, the Harlem Klas and Kheda took care of them, who drew covered tables with luxurious dishes. The picturesque mess and the special transmission of the cozy interior are filled with silver-gray light, characteristic of silver and tin dishes. Utrecht artists painted lush floral still lifes, and in The Hague, the masters especially succeeded in portraying fish and marine reptiles. In Leiden, a philosophical direction of the genre arose, in which skulls and hourglasses 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.