Chapter VI: Front Matter (6)

=Influence of Everdingen.=--The Norwegian Landscape (about five feet long) is also a large picture. Here the cascade tumbles over little rocks, and on the right are rocks, trees, a house, and one tall, isolated tree. This is cleverly painted, but the composition is not happy. The true accents of nature are lacking; for it is certain that Ruisdael never was in Norway, and that he devoted himself to cascades and rocks on account of his intimacy with Van Everdingen, whose bold landscapes, so different from Holland, surprised and delighted the Dutch. Everdingen had suffered shipwreck in Norway, and had been greatly taken with its bold, savage scenery. His favorite subject was a waterfall in a glen with sombre fringes of pines mingled with birch, and log huts at the base of rocks and craggy slopes. The prevalence of falling water in his pictures, when others could paint only the monotonous Dutch lowlands, gained for him the name "Inventor of Cascades."

Salomon Ruisdael (?-1670) has two fine landscapes, The Halt, dated 1660, and The Village Inn, dated 1655.

=Description of Hobbema's Water Mill.=--Hobbema is represented by two Water Mills and a Landscape. The picture in the Van der Hoop Collection shows a wooden mill with red-tiled roof in the centre of the picture; and behind it a background of tall trees. Hollowed-out-tree-trunks supported by boards carry the water to the mill wheel, over which it falls. The foreground is occupied with water in which ducks are swimming. In the shadows of the door of the house, a tiny figure of a man appears; and a small figure of a woman in bright red bodice, upon which the sunlight falls, is busy washing clothes in a copper. On the right, an old peasant in brown is holding by the hand a little boy who wears a red cap. The Landscape is diversified with trees and thickets. The sky is full of clouds, between which the rays of sunlight issue to gild the verdure. Delicate tones of olive and gray distinguish this beautiful picture.

=Description of Hobbema's Landscape.=--In the Landscape, which by some is thought superior to the Water Mill, a house and barn are seen on the right; two small figures are in front of the house, a man in black, standing, and a woman in red, bending over; and there are a group of trees, a large elm, and a hedge. All this is beautifully reflected in a sheet of water in the foreground,--a reflection that seems to tremble. This picture is only one foot five inches long by one foot high.

=Hobbema and his most Frequent Scenes.=--Meyndert Hobbema (1638-1709), supposed to have been a pupil of Jacob Ruisdael, or of Jacob's brother Salomon, was long neglected, and died in penury. He is now regarded second to none but Ruisdael and his works are worth their weight in gold. His most frequent scenes are villages surrounded by trees, such as are frequently met with in Guelderland, with winding pathways leading from house to house. A water mill occasionally forms a prominent feature,--so prominent, indeed, as to give its name to the picture. Again, he paints a slightly uneven country diversified by trees in groups or rows, wheat fields, meadows, and small pools; occasionally a view of a town with gates, or canals with sluices and quays; and more rarely the ruins of an old castle or a stately residence in the far distance.

=Hobbema, a Master of the Still Life of Woods and Waters.=--"It is
doubtful whether any one ever mastered so completely as he did the
still life of woods and hedges, or mills and pools. Nor can we believe
that he obtained this mastery otherwise than by constantly dwelling in
the same neighborhood, say in Guelders or on the Dutch Westphalian
border, where day after day he might study the branching and foliage
of trees and underwood embowering cottages and mills, under every
variety of light, in every shade of transparency, in all changes
produced by the season. Though his landscapes are severely and
moderately toned, generally in an olive key, and often attuned to a
puritanical gray or russet, they surprise us, not only by the variety
of their leafage, but by the finish of their detail as well as the
boldness of their touch. With astonishing subtlety light is shown
penetrating cloud, and illuminating--sometimes transiently, sometimes
steadily--different portions of the ground, shining through leaves
upon other leaves, and multiplying in an endless way the transparency
of the picture. If the chance be given him he mirrors all these things
in the still pool near a cottage, the reaches of a sluggish river, or
the swirl of a stream that feeds a busy mill. The same spot will
furnish him with several pictures. One mill gives him repeated
opportunity of charming our eye. And this wonderful artist, who is
only second to Ruisdael because he had not Ruisdael's versatility and
did not extend his study equally to downs and rocky eminences or
torrents and estuaries,--this is the man who lived penuriously, died
poor, and left no trace in the artistic annals of his country. It has
been said that Hobbema did not paint his own figures, but transferred
that duty to Adriaen van de Velde, Lingelbach, Barent Gael, and
Abraham Storck. As to this, much is conjecture."[25]

=Hackaert's Pictures.=--Jan Hackaert is perfect when he is simple and inspired by the character and style of his own country. The Rijks owns his beautiful Avenue of Ash-trees; a Clearing in the Forest; a Landscape with Cattle; and a Landscape, which is full of light and delicacy, and recalls the manner of Wijnants, although the arrangement follows the pseudo-Italians.

=Hackaert's Avenue of Ash-trees.=--The Avenue of Ash-trees is a charming picture, representing a park from which a hunting-party is about to set forth in the early morning. The light shines on the trunks of the trees that border the park, to the right of which is a large sheet of water. Huntsmen accompanied by dogs, one of which is barking at two swans in the pool, ladies and gentlemen on horseback, servants, and dogs, all issue forth with good wishes from the master of the _chateau_ at the gate. All of these elegantly painted little figures are the work of A. van de Velde.

=Joos van Winghen.=--Joos van Winghen (1544-1603) travelled to Rome, where he lived for four years; and, on his return, was appointed Court Painter to the Prince of Parma. He painted portraits, interiors, and Biblical subjects. A Banquet and Masquerade at Night is one of his best-known pictures.

=Pieter Aertsen.=--This artist has a picture called The Egg Dance, which claims attention by its life and spirit.

=Jan Lijs.=--Jan Lijs (d. 1629) was a pupil of Goltzius; and then visited France and Italy, where he executed large works under Caravaggio's influence. His Music Party is signed and dated 1625; and therefore belongs to his last and not his first period, as the catalogue informs us.

=Pieter van Rijck.=--Pieter Cornelisz van Rijck (1568-1628) painted interiors, especially kitchens, and landscape. He was a pupil of H. Jacobs Grimani, whom he accompanied to Italy; he remained there fifteen years. The big picture in the Rijks representing a kitchen interior was described in enthusiastic terms by Van Mander.

=Willem Duyster.=--Willem Cornelisz Duyster (1599-1635) was a pupil of Pieter Codde. His picture of Backgammon Players is matched by a similar subject in St. Petersburg, and another in Dresden. Another picture in the Rijks, variously attributed to J. v. Bijlert, Jan Lijs, P. Codde, Jan Miense Molenaer and others, has by recent discoveries been finally recognized as the work of Duyster. The subject is The Marriage of Adriaen Ploos van Amstel, Lord of Oudegein and Tienhoven, to Agnes van Bijler, widow Broekhuysen. A contemporary of whom little is known, Abraham van der Hecken (fl. 1650), has a Butcher's Shop, painted with much truth and spirit.

=Pieter de Bloot.=--Pieter de Bloot (1600-52) was a pupil of Jordaens; he painted, however, more closely after Teniers, with fine grasp of chiaroscuro and perspective, with a soft and agreeable coloring. He copied nature so faithfully as to reproduce his subjects in all their ignobleness. _Kermesses_ and interiors chiefly occupied his brush. The Lawyer's Office is signed and dated 1628; it is a fine specimen of the work of this artist in his prime.

=Van Gaesbeeck and Van der Kuyl.=--Adriaen van Gaesbeeck (?-1650), of the same period, was probably one of G. Dou's pupils. He painted _genre_ pictures of small dimensions. His Young Man in a Study is full of the feeling found in his master's work. Another painter of _genre_, who is represented here by two charming pictures, is Gysbert van der Kuyl (?-1673). He was a pupil of the famous Wouter Crabeth the Younger, and like his early master, spent many years in France and Italy. Later in life he modelled himself on Honthorst and Abraham Bloemaert. His Ruse Surpasses Force and The Music Party are worth more than a passing glance.

=Nicolas Moeyaert.=--Nicolas Cornelisz Moeyaert was a forerunner of Rembrandt in his treatment of light and shade. His powers of portraiture are exemplified here in a group of Regents; and another side of his art is charmingly displayed in the Choice of a Lover.

=Jan van Bijlert.=--Jan van Bijlert (1603-71) was a painter of _genre_, mythological, and historical subjects. Almost all his known pictures were ordered by foreign rulers. The Guitar Player is a small example of his work, for he usually painted his figures life-size. His style so much resembles that of G. Honthorst that his pictures have frequently been confounded with those of the latter.

=Adriaen Brouwer.=--Adriaen Brouwer studied with Adriaen van Ostade and under Hals; and afterwards adopted the Flemish style when he returned to Antwerp in 1631. However, he remained true to one ideal,--the striving after true action and physiognomy, and the feeling for character and expression. No finer examples of his powers in this field exist than The Village Orgy and The Peasant Combat. These both belong to the days when he was under the influence of Hals.

=Cornelis Saftleven.=--Cornelis Saftleven (1606-81) also took Brouwer as his model, for his usual types and favorite motives are borrowed from that master. Like Brouwer, he painted tavern interiors with men sitting at table before a pot of beer and a game of cards. Sometimes he mixes with his jovial companions a peasant who seems to have escaped from one of Teniers's _kermesses_; and sometimes he makes an excursion into the simple representation of rustic scenes. He is full of spirit, and groups his little characters with fine art. His compositions are full of life and movement, but his color is tame and lacks brilliance. His three pictures here are Peasants at an Inn (1642); Landscape with Peasants and Cattle (1652); and Peasants Praying: an Approaching Storm.

=Jan Olis.=--Jan Olis (1610-70) was a painter of _genre_ and landscape. An interesting picture of a kitchen here is signed and dated 1645. Until recently, however, this picture was attributed to Sorgh.

=Van der Oudenrogge.=--Johannes van Oudenrogge (1622-53) also was a painter of this class. His picture of Peasants in a Weaving Factory is dated 1652.

=Egbert van der Poel.=--Egbert van der Poel (1621-64) was a prolific and versatile painter of the school of Isaac van de Velde and A. van der Neer. He painted pictures of all kinds,--portraits, still life, figures, landscapes, perspective, kitchen interiors, moonlit landscapes, and more particularly devoted his talents to conflagrations at night, in which he was very successful. Nothing could be more natural and animated than the large number of tiny figures he shows occupied in extinguishing the flames. His color is clear and strong. In his Ruins in the Town of Delft after the Explosion of the Powder Magazine, October 12, 1654, we have a good example of his style. He has also another picture of the Interior of a Farm, dated 1646.

=Pieter J. Quast.=--Pieter Jansz Quast (1606-47) was a follower in the steps of Adriaen Brouwer. His selection of subjects often verges on caricature. His characterization is well displayed in The Card Players. The figure of the young woman in this picture, however, has been entirely repainted by another hand.

=Thomas Wijck's Versatility.=--Thomas Wijck (1616-77) was another artist who visited Italy and painted its landscapes, especially coast scenery, after having been taught, or at least influenced, by P. de Laer. Besides marines, he painted interiors, fairs, etc. He had the talent to depict sea-gates full of movement, figures and merchandise, in the taste of J. B. Weenix, markets, outlandish charlatans, public squares, hunts, ruins, tavern scenes, and everything that the Italians call _capricci_.

=Chemical Laboratories his Forte.=--But the subject that he treated with the greatest care and taste, and with which he was most happily successful, was that of chemical laboratories. These he arranges, illuminates, and paints in a style entirely his own. Without endowing them with the magic of A. van Ostade, or enveloping them in that master's full and warm atmosphere, Wijck gave much charm to his alchemistic interiors, and the objects he multiplied therein are full of the right kind of feeling.

=His Picture of The Alchemist.=--Moreover, he has a sound comprehension of chiaroscuro, as may be seen here in his picture The Alchemist. He casts a shadow over the skeleton fish and stuffed crocodiles and other monstrous animals hanging from the ceiling. The principal light usually falls full upon a medley of phials, retorts, furnaces, bellows, and alembics--a whole apparatus of strange utensils that in a subject of this kind could not be regarded as mere accessories, and which are touched with spirit but also with sobriety. A second window at the end of the apartment admits a softer light that forms an echo to the principal one, and faintly illumines other objects that are toned down by the intervening atmosphere. Placed in the centre of his laboratory, wearing a red cap, Wijck's alchemist is quite individual in not being old, bald, bent, or grizzled; on the contrary, here is a man in the prime of life and full of health, with a bright eye and an open countenance that has no such melancholy in it as is generally affected by alchemists. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that Wijck has represented himself in the person of this seeker after gold.

The Rustic Interior depicts a woman spinning, with a child and a dog near her.

=Karel Slabbaert.=--Karel Slabbaert (1619-54), whose Grace before Meat is in this gallery, is supposed to have been one of G. Dou's pupils. His pictures are scarce. This one shows a woman cutting bread, while two children are saying grace. He paints in warm tones; his composition is good and full of feeling.

=Jan Wolfert.=--Jan Baptist Wolfert (1625-87) also travelled in Italy, and was famous for his classical landscapes with animals and human figures; he also painted _genre_. He was very learned; and his works show fine spirit and imagination. The Bagpipe Player is dated 1646, and is therefore an early work of this artist before he was subjected to foreign influence.

=Caspar Netscher.=--Besides three portraits of brilliant quality, Caspar Netscher has a beautiful little interior called Maternal Care, in which the influence of his master, Ter Borch, is noticeable. This picture of a mother arranging her child's hair is generally considered this artist's masterpiece. There is some story told with each of his portraits. He marvellously rendered the texture of stuffs; and his drawing is always full of grace and truth. Inferior to Ter Borch in harmony and chiaroscuro and to Metsu in touch, and to both in feeling for color, he equals them in the tasteful composition and the elegance of his figures, and surpasses them in beauty of form.

=Esaias Bourse.=--Esaias Bourse (1630-?) was a follower of Rembrandt. He had a roving career, making many voyages to the East Indies during sixteen years as an officer, and then working as a painter in Italy. His color is usually brownish in tone. His pictures have sometimes been confused with those of another of Rembrandt's pupils--Pieter de Hooch. An Interior with a Woman Spinning enables us to compare the merits of the two artists.

=Daniel Boone.=--Daniel Boone (1631-98) painted mythological subjects and familiar scenes of peasant life. In the latter, his chief aim was to provoke laughter by the representation of grotesque situations and grimaces. In this he was generally successful. Peasants Playing Cards is painted in this vein.

=Pictures by Maes.=--Nicholas Maes is represented in the Dupper Collection by The Spinner. The old woman is seated before her wheel in a simply furnished room, which is dimly lighted from a window on the left. Through this the fading daylight falls, illuminating the rich red of her costume and the dull colors of the table-cloth. There is something inexpressibly still, solemn, and charming about the figure, the room, and the light.

Another Spinner, in the Van der Hoop Collection, is seated by her wheel. She wears a black cap, and the sleeves of her dress are red. She stands out boldly from the brightly lighted wall. The lights and the figure are heavily impasted. The forehead of the old woman is in sunlight, the rest of the face is in shadow.

A very pleasing picture of his earlier period is The Dreamer, sometimes called Musing, representing a young woman who is looking out of a window. From her glance we gather that she has spied her lover, who is looking up to her casement, so gracefully decorated with apricots and peaches.

=L. de Moni, an Imitator of Dou.=--Louis de Moni (1698-1771) was a pupil of F. van Kessel and K. E. Biset at Breda, and later (1721-25) of Philip van Dijk at The Hague. Blanc says that this mediocre painter endeavored to resuscitate the long-extinct style of G. Dou and the elder Mieris, and to constitute himself their posthumous disciple. In this he only partially succeeded, but at least he exhibited, along with a certain delicacy of touch, great care and patience. More than once he borrowed a subject from Dou--familiar scenes, and small pictures of one or two figures. He is good in detail but poor in color. The Rijks has a small and pleasing picture of his called The Gardener.

=J. Quinckhard.=--Julius Quinckhard (1736-76) was a pupil of his father, Jan Maurits, but soon abandoned art for commerce. He was an able painter of portraits and _genre_ nevertheless, as his Amateurs of Music (dated 1755) and Amateurs of Art (1757) attest. The figures in the latter are portraits of the painter and his friend, M. J. C. Ploos van Amstel.

=Eight Pictures by Paul Potter in the Rijks.=--Although there is nothing of Paul Potter's in the Rijks to compare in reputation with The Bull, or in beauty with _La Vache qui se mire_, there are no less than eight of his pictures there. Horses in a Meadow (1649) and Cows in a Meadow (1651), the latter having a dark sky that proclaims approaching rain, were acquired with the Van der Hoop Collection. The Shepherd's Hut, painted in 1645, is only ten inches long and six high, but is as brilliant in color as a Cuijp. The composition is simple: a shepherd guarding his cows and sheep is seated near his lowly dwelling. A Little Dog is dated 1653, as is also a Landscape with Cattle.

=Description of The Bear Hunt.=--An extraordinary picture is The Bear Hunt, eleven feet square. No one would ever imagine who the painter was if his signature were not in enormous letters on the trunk of a tree. This gigantic work was painted two years after The Bull and represents a gentleman on horseback and one on foot, six dogs, and two bears. The bloody contest is taking place in the foreground. This work was repainted during the first half of the nineteenth century, and only two dogs remain of the original painting.

=Crowe's Opinion of Orpheus Charming Animals.=--The celebrated Orpheus Charming Animals, painted in 1650, is much smaller (3 by 2 feet), and is much admired by critics. Crowe says:

"For power and fulness of warm tones this is one of his most beautiful
works. The left is occupied with little hills crowned with trees; the
right shows a forest, and a glimpse of the sky. In the foreground is a
meadow, where we see a camel, a boar, a cow, a buffalo, an ass, a ram,
a goat, a sheep, and a hare. In the middle distance, at the foot of a
hill, sits Orpheus playing his lyre; behind him is a dog, and in front
of him a crouching lion, an elephant, a horse, a white unicorn, a
wolf, and various other animals. On the right, at the border of the
forest, emerges a deer."

=Description of Shepherds and Flocks.=--Shepherds and Flocks, painted in the next year (1651), is also a masterpiece, remarkable for the clearness of its light golden tones, especially in the sky. It represents a hilly landscape with a shepherd playing on the bagpipes, a shepherdess singing to her child, and flocks of sheep, goats, and oxen grouped variously. By the side of the shepherd is a black dog. At the Van der Pot sale, in 1808, this picture brought 10,050 florins!

=Description of A. van de Velde's The Artist and his Family.=--A very beautiful work by Adriaen van de Velde is The Artist and his Family in the Van der Hoop Collection. It is generally considered one of the most incomparable and precious works in the gallery. This is a landscape bathed in the light of a lovely Autumn evening. The scene is probably near Haarlem, where the artist is enjoying the country with his family. Adriaen himself, about twenty-eight, is standing in the foreground, dressed very simply but elegantly in brown with a white collar, his hat under his left arm while his right rests on his huge and fashionable walking-stick. He has blue eyes, chestnut hair, a small moustache, a fine mouth, and a charming expression. On his left stands his wife, whose handsome figure is dressed in a crimson skirt, brown corsage, a white fichu, and a black cloak. She wears a little cap and long, ash-colored gloves. Her hands are crossed over her waist. Near this attractive couple is a little boy of seven dressed just like his father, leading a little spaniel by a string to a fountain. He has thrown his hat on the ground. A nurse dressed in a blue skirt, white apron, and yellow bodice is sitting at a little distance on a tree-trunk, taking care of the little daughter, who is playing with some flowers. Around them are some bushes and stumps, a kind of hedge, and an undulating and sandy ground that leads into a group of trees. On the road, in the middle distance behind Adriaen, is the carriage that has brought them here,--an open four-wheeled chariot, with red seats, drawn by two fine dappled-gray horses, whose harness a servant in gray is examining. On the right, a shepherd is lying on the grass, near a flock of sheep and a goat. In the background is a meadow with cattle, a winding stream, a house half hidden in the woods, and the distant line of the horizon. The landscape has all the delicacy of a Wijnants, but more breadth and harmony.

=Crowe's Opinion of this Picture.=--"This picture, signed and dated
1667, and of considerable size (4 ft. 8-1/2 in. high by 5 ft. 7 in.
wide), is without question the finest work of the master. The
composition of the whole is picturesque in no common degree; while
the union of a tenderly graduated tone in keeping with the most
delicate carrying out of all the parts shows what a height of
perfection the school had attained at this time."

This picture was bought in London in 1833 for 15,700 florins.

=Description of The Chase.=--The Chase (1669) shows a beautiful picture with a wooded background. On the left, through the gate of a park comes a huntsman with the hounds. A large chestnut palfrey with a green saddle embroidered with silver is led by a valet in red livery, and a little farther away a gray horse with trappings of scarlet velvet is led by another valet. On the right are seated two men: one in red, the other in brown, and before them a big fawn and a white dog; another large dog is sniffing the ground in the foreground on the left.

=Other Works by A. van de Velde.=--A Landscape with Cattle shows a somewhat sombre country with clumps of trees; on the left, sheep, goats, and a little shepherd; in full light two cows, one white standing in profile, and the other black, seen from behind and foreshortened. It brought 5,650 florins in 1838. A Landscape with Ferry (1666), The Cabin (1671), and another Landscape complete the list of A. van de Velde's works in the Rijks.

=An Appreciation of A. van de Velde's Pictures.=--His cattle browse in velvet meadows under a beautiful sky. Animals, meadows, grassy hills, and trees--he painted them all with affection. He excels in depicting the various hides and skins of goats, sheep, horses, and asses. Animals always occupy a prominent place in Van de Velde's canvases. The air seems to circulate--light, pure air gently moving the trees or slightly waving the grass. The blue sky is filled with vaporous clouds, which are often mirrored in tranquil lakes. The chestnut with its thick foliage, the willow with its flexible branches, the oak, he paints in masses, or singly, with exquisite skill.

=General Description of Aelbert Cuijp's Style.=--Aelbert Cuijp (1620-91), son and pupil of Jacob Cuijp, first followed his father's style, as is evidenced in the Hilly Landscape in the Rijks. Little by little he formed his own style and became thoroughly original. He excelled in depicting the humid atmosphere about Dordrecht, and on the horizon of all his landscapes generally the clock-tower of his native city is represented half veiled in golden mist emerging from the lush meadows, where placid cows repose in the bright sunshine.

=His Versatility.=--Though Cuijp loves to paint the calm meadows of Holland under a golden light, his elegant figures of men and animals, dashing cavaliers, boats driven by the approaching storm, and landscapes seen under the enchantment of moonlight prove how versatile he was. Moreover, he was a brilliant painter of still life, as the partridges in The Return from the Chase (in the Louvre), the Salmons Offered to Mr. de Roovere Directing the Fisheries in Dordrecht (in The Hague), and the Dead Game (in the Rotterdam Gallery) show.

=His Skill in painting Living Birds.=--As for painting living birds he is only equalled by Melchior d' Hondecoeter. It is only necessary to look at his magnificent Fight between a Turkey and a Cock which hangs in the Rijks. The sky has darkened in sympathy, as it were, with this epic combat, where two splendid specimens are using their beaks and claws with the greatest fury, and the brilliant feathers fly in all directions. Splendid in color, furious of action, and beautiful in its arrangement of light and shade, it deserves its great reputation.

The Rijks owns four other pictures: Portrait of a Young Man, Shepherds with their Flocks, Cattle, and View of Dordrecht.

=Description of Shepherds with their Flocks.=--Shepherds with their Flocks represents an Autumn morning in a meadow, where four grazing cows and a shepherd on a mule occupy the foreground; on the left, a man on an ass and a man on foot wearing a red vest; on the right, two large trees; in the middle distance, some trees, a river, and a tower; and in the background, mountains.

=Description of Cattle.=--This painting represents a great red ox with a white head, standing in profile on the left, occupying half the picture; a little behind is seen a black ox, full face; both stand out from the gray wall of a house. In front of the red ox three lovely pigeons are pecking. On the left, in the middle distance, a brown and a dun-colored ox are lying down. In the background, on the horizon, are trees and the spires and towers of Dordrecht. The sky is superb.

The View of Dordrecht seen from a great expanse of water, marvellously painted, is also a beautiful picture.

=Jacob G. Cuijp's Scene Champetre.=--Jacob Gerritsz Cuijp (1594-1651?), father of Aelbert, is a painter whose pictures are very scarce. His Portrait of a Woman is dated 1651; and a very fine _Scene Champetre_, which brought no less than 4,000 florins in 1849, represents, according to Immergeel, the family of the painter Cornelis Troost, a gay and large family. The grandmother, father, mother, four boys, and two girls are walking in a landscape where is also seen a chariot drawn by a handsome black horse of the Frisian race that Aelbert Cuijp so often paints.

=The Cuijp Family.=--The founder of this family was Gerrit Gerritsz Cuijp, originally from Venlo, who settled in Dordrecht, where in 1585 he entered the Guild of St. Luke as a painter on glass. He sent his talented son, Jacob, to study with Abraham Bloemaert. Jacob Cuijp became known as a portrait-painter, and was noted for his fine drawing, splendid coloring, and force of expression. His pictures were ranked with those of Th. de Keijser. He was no less skilful in painting animals and landscapes and family groups in the open air, undisturbed by browsing cattle.

=Benjamin G. Cuijp's Style.=--Benjamin Gerritsz Cuijp (1612-52), brother of Jacob and uncle of Aelbert, a painter who has attracted much attention of late years, differed entirely in taste and style from them both. He was particularly fond of historical and mythological subjects, and belonged to the Italian group of Dutch painters, who tried to amalgamate the traditions of classic art with the growing realism of the day. Some of his works show the influence of the young Rembrandt. His Joseph Interpreting Dreams was acquired by the Rijks in 1883.

=Jan van Goyen.=--Jan van Goyen has five beautiful landscapes: River Scene, View on the Meuse and Town of Dordrecht, View of Valkenhof at Nimeguen, View of Dordrecht, and a Landscape.

=Burger's Explanation of the River Scene.=--"The view of a river in
the Van der Hoop Collection is the last expression of his magnificent
and exalted manner. A better name for this picture would be The
Windmill. In a few words here is the picture: A bit of the Meuse; on
the right a piece of ground covered with trees and houses, and on the
summit a black mill with its sails spread to the winds, extending high
upon the canvas; a stockade, against which the waves of the river
break gently, the water heavy, soft, and admirable; and a little
corner of the almost lost horizon, very attenuated, very firm, very
pale, yet very distinct, on which rises the white sail of a boat, a
flat sail without the slightest wind in the canvas, but having a value
tender and perfectly exquisite. Above, a great sky filled with clouds;
through the rifts and holes the shining blue that they efface, the
clouds all gray and filling the space from the stockade to the top of
the canvas; so that there is no light in any part of this powerful
tonality, composed of dark brown and sombre slate colors. In the
centre of the picture one ray of light glimmers like a smile upon the
clouds. A great square _grave_ picture, of an extreme sonority in the
deepest register, and my notes add _merveilleux dans l'or_."

=Karel Dujardin (1625-78).=--Of the Portrait of a Gentleman with a Dog and a Dead Hare (1670), Burger says:

=A Dead Picture of a Dead Hare.=--"The deadest one in the lot is not
the hare; for if the hare were alive the dog certainly could not run
after him, nor could the gentleman run after his dog. The gentleman is
dressed in tin-plate and is represented to the knees and of natural
size, with the background of a dark sky. The hands have been praised;
but they do not look as if they could move."

=A Good Portrait of Gerard Reinst.=--A Portrait of Gerard Reinst, a celebrated art collector of Amsterdam, who died in 1658, and who was a patron of Dujardin, is painted sympathetically. He is bareheaded, with a blond wig, and is dressed in a grayish violet with chocolate tones. One hand rests on his hip; the other is marvellously represented. A landscape and sky form the background, and two greyhounds are at the gentleman's side.

=A Portrait of Himself.=--A portrait of himself is signed and dated 1660. This is only nine inches by six and one-half inches. It is only a bust showing a shaven face with a thread of a moustache, long black hair, brilliant eyes, and handsome mouth. He wears a grayish costume with puffed sleeves, and his right hand somewhat pretentiously holds the drapery of his cloak on his chest.

=Dujardin's Other Works.=--A Landscape, dated 1655, and showing a peasant winnowing corn, is noted for its silvery tone; A Trumpeter on Horseback shows a cavalier in a blue mantle and on a white horse, stopping before the door of an inn, and drinking from a glass offered by the hostess, who is standing at the door. His other works are an Italian Landscape with Animals and The Muleteers. Another Landscape in the Van der Hoop Collection was bought at the Duchesse de Berry's sale in 1837 for 4,000 florins. A copy after Karel Dujardin shows an Italian Landscape with figures, and a white horse.

=Adam Pynacker.=--Adam Pynacker has four landscapes: Border of a Lake in Italy, Italian Landscape, Landscape, and Pilgrimage.

=Johannes Both's Pictures.=--Johannes Both may be studied in The Courtyard of a Farm; two Italian Landscapes, one of which is a luminous picture of a summer morning, with mountains on the horizon on the left, trees to the right in the foreground, and many small figures on the road; and in Painters Studying from Nature. Here we see on a canvas about six feet by seven, a vast landscape of much beauty, having the Apennines for a background. Beneath a tall oak tree on the right and among the rocks, Johannes Both himself is seated, with his back turned to the spectator. He has a sketch book before him and is talking to a beggar; his brother Andries is facing us; and the fourth person is talking to some one in the distance. The time is a beautiful Summer morning.

=Jan Asselijn.=--Jan Asselijn (1610-60) was a pupil of Esaias van de Velde, but went when young to Italy, where he was called by the band of Dutch painters "Krabbetje," on account of a contraction in his fingers. His pictures are highly valued, representing, as a rule, views of Rome, enriched with figures and cattle in the style of N. Berchem. He greatly resembles Jan Both.

His Italian Landscape in the Rijks is considered a very true and important landscape, with a background of bluish mountains, and a bridge on the left. The artist has introduced Italian ruins and some muleteers. He is also represented by a Cavalry Combat, signed and dated 1646; and the Allegory on John de Witt.

=Philips Wouwermans's Hawking Scene.=--Of the thirteen pictures by Philips Wouwermans we may pause before the well-known Hawking Scene, noted as a specimen of his delicacy and precision on a small scale. It is only one foot high by eight inches wide. The exceedingly animated composition shows about a dozen people on horseback scattered through a delicate landscape. Other figures of men, women, and children enliven the scene. This is painted in his last and most prized period.

=His Horse-pond.=--The Horse-pond is a lovely picture, with a silvery sky filled with luminous morning clouds, and, far away in the distance, hills, trees, and women bleaching linen. In the centre of the picture, a lovely stream in which children are bathing, and a ferry with persons and animals passing over in little boats. It is the moment when grooms and peasants are taking their horses and animals to water; and naturally, therefore, we have some beautiful groups: here a man is leading two horses, one of which is kicking at a barking dog; other horses are at the edge of the stream; others have plunged in. Among the eight horses, there is one splendid white one, and there are about twenty figures, including washerwomen and children. It is impossible, even with Wouwermans, who is so _spirituel_ and clever, to find a richer, more animated, more varied, and more brilliant composition.

A Landscape with Water belongs to the first period when Wouwermans followed Wijnants; The Camp shows horsemen and other people; a horseman turned to the right and mounted on a white and brown horse is very remarkable.

=Description of The Kicking White Horse.=--A celebrated canvas is The Kicking White Horse. Two mounted horses and one lead horse are under a tree in the foreground. The white horse, after having knocked over an old woman with a basket of fruit, is kicking the lead horse on the right, while a dog is snarling at his heels. On the extreme left, a richly dressed lady and gentleman are watching the affair with interest, and in the middle distance, on the right, two men are watering their horses at a ford. There is fine painting of distance in the low landscape and beautiful aerial perspective in the Summer sky with its floating clouds.

Besides landscapes, a camp, and others in his usual style, there are two pictures of fighting peasants.

His brother, Pieter Wouwermans (1623-82), is represented by two works: Assault on the Town of Koevorden, 1672, and The Hunting Party. His works have frequently been mistaken for Philips's, though, as may be seen in these pictures, his brush work has less freedom, and his tones are heavier than his brother's.

=Jan Wijnants Unsuccessful in peopling his Scenery.=--Jan Wijnants (1600-79), who is said to have been the master of Philips Wouwermans, has eight pictures by which his qualities may be compared with those of that painter. These are Landscape in the Dunes, with Hunters; Mountainous Country; The Farm; and Flock in a Landscape; and four landscapes in the Van der Hoop Collection. He was a painter of extreme care and finish; and in painting nature he ranks among the highest. Like so many other Dutch landscape-painters, however, he was not successful with figures; and for peopling his scenery he availed himself of the assistance of his great pupil, Adriaen van de Velde (as in the case of the above-mentioned Landscape in the Dunes), Lingelbach, Wouwermans, Helt Stokade, and others.

=Jan Wijnants's Love of painting the Dunes.=--Durand Greville says:

"His dated pictures are of his last period, 1641-79, so that he may
claim the honor of first having introduced into the landscape the
neighboring dunes of Haarlem and of having been the first to love
them. He faithfully translated in their blond harmony the dunes, gray
or golden, with the sun, the trees with their pale foliage, and the
skies with their light vaporous veilings. To his last hour he went
back again and again to that inexhaustible theme in its apparent
monotony. He put into the execution of the dazzle of the sand,
tree-trunks, spaces of moss and clumps of grasses an astonishing
sincerity, perhaps even somewhat too minute from the point of view of
the impression of the whole, but, even by that, quite accessible to
the taste of the majority of people. None the less he remains to-day
one of the most remarkable landscape-painters of Holland."

=Cornelis van Poelenburg.=--Cornelis van Poelenburg has four characteristic pictures in his favorite Italian style: The Bathers, Women Coming from the Bath, Adam and Eve Expelled from Paradise, and The Bathers Spied Upon.

=Winter Scenes by A. van der Neer.=--The most noted painter of winter scenes and of the magic beauty of snow and ice is Aart van der Neer (1603-77), a friend of A. Cuijp, from whom he doubtless learned much, as they frequently worked together on the same canvas. His winter pieces are generally warm in their lighting. Two fine specimens hang in this gallery, one of which is brightened by numerous figures skating and playing ball on a frozen canal. The sky is full of dark snow-clouds. He may also be studied by a Landscape.

=His Moonlight Scenes.=--He is also famous for his beautiful towns on the canals, lighted by the moon, and his conflagrations. No other painter has depicted the broad masses of shadow, and the effects of light and tranquillity of character peculiar to a moonlight night, with so much truthfulness as Van der Neer. In his rendering of the warm glow of sunset he has been compared to his friend Cuijp.

=Hendrick Averkamp.=--In this connection The Skaters, by Hendrick Averkamp (1585-after 1663), should be noted. This artist was surnamed "the Mute of Kampen" because of his taciturnity. He produced many marines, landscapes, and festivals on the ice, which have, unfortunately, lost their color.

=Esais van de Velde's Pictures.=--Winter amusements by Esais van de Velde will afford pleasure to the student, who may also see this artist's Dutch Landscape, painted in 1623; The Surrender of Bois-le-Duc (1629-30), and an original replica of his curious satire on religious quarrels in 1618-19, Prince Maurice Fastening Bells on a Cat. Many of the architectural painters have depicted the well-known street scenes and buildings under the mantle of winter.

=Three Excellent Pictures by Hendrik Dubbels.=--Hendrik Dubbels (1620-76?), about whom comparatively little is known, has three pictures of great excellence: A Marine, a Calm, and a River Scene. Dubbels is supposed to have taught Ludolf Bakhuysen (1631-1708), who was also a pupil of Allart van Everdingen.

=Bakhuysen, Painter of Stormy Seas.=--Bakhuysen loved the ocean in its angry moods, and used to hire fishermen to take him out in their boats in the fury of storms. His works are highly valued, and some critics prefer them to the more placid pictures of Willem van de Velde. The Rijks owns two views of The Ij (or Y) near Amsterdam; The Port of Amsterdam, painted in 1673; Agitated Water: Haarlemmer Meer (for which 3,500 florins was paid in 1840); Stormy Sea After the Storm (1672); Embarkation of Jan de Witt on the Dutch Fleet; and Portrait of the Painter by himself.

=Van de Velde, the Elder and the Younger.=--Willem van de Velde the Elder (1611-93), who was Court Painter to Charles II. and James II. of England, is represented in the Rijks by eleven marine drawings. We have already seen fine examples of his more famous son, Willem van de Velde, at the Mauritshuis, but thirteen splendid examples hang in this gallery.

=Some Notable Pictures of Naval Warfare.=--The Ij (or Y) at Amsterdam, dated 1686, which formerly hung in the Schreierstoren in Amsterdam, was described by Sir Joshua Reynolds as follows:

"At the office of the Commissary of the Wharfs is one of Vandervelde's
most capital pictures: it is about twelve feet long; a view of the
port of Amsterdam with an infinite quantity of shipping."

The Four Days' Combat is a picture of the moment when the English flag-ship, the "Prince Royal," is striking her colors in the fight with the Dutch fleet in 1666; and its companion, The Capture, shows four English men-of-war brought in as prizes in the same fight. Here the painter has represented himself in a small boat, for in such a position he actually witnessed the battle. An Agitated Sea, with various sailing-vessels, is delightful because of the warm lighting and movement of the waves; two Calms represent the painter in the mood he best loves to paint the sea. Other canvases represent the sea under squalls, light breezes, etc. The Canon Shot, with a large ship in the foreground, was bought in 1834 for 3,000 florins.

=A Beautiful Picture of the Dutch Coast.=--View on the Coast of Scheveningen shows the dunes on the right, above which rises the steeple of a church; on the left is the calm sea under a lovely afternoon light. Two fishing-boats are seen in the distance; a boat lies on the beach; a fisherman walks by with his nets, and in the foreground are three men. The sea, the dunes, the tiny figures, and the light all combine to make a beautiful picture.

=How some Painters helped each Other.=--The great geniuses could do everything well--portraits, landscapes, marines, figure subjects, architecture, interiors, and still life. Some, however, excelled in one particular branch, and, sometimes against their will bowed to the popular demand for their works in that line, and devoted themselves entirely to it. This specialization was carried to great lengths; and it seems strange to us to find one master of landscape calling upon a famous figure-painter to people his landscapes _a la mode_, and _vice versa_, as happened in numberless instances. Sometimes even cattle were supplied; and, more particularly, live and dead game, flowers, fruits, household stuff, and all kinds of still life.

=The Effect of this on their Reputation.=--Sometimes a young artist's facility in a certain field was detrimental to high esteem. Paul Potter, for example, had to live down the reproach that he was nothing but a painter of animals,--which he very quickly did. Those who made a specialty of live animals apart from landscape are very few. With the exception of the works of Snyders, hunting scenes are rare. Wouwermans's hunts are confined to the start and the return of the cavalcades.

=Blanc's Description of Weenix's Style.=--J. B. Weenix must have loved hunting also, for it forms one of the familiar motives in his landscapes in the Italian style. However,

"as he painted above all for the pleasure of painting, his usual
custom was to group in the foreground of his composition the products
of the chase rather than to represent the hunt itself. It is only in
the distance that hounds and huntsmen are seen hunting the hare, while
the poor animal is already dead and hanging by its foot to a branch of
a tree in the foreground. A brilliant gamecock, one or two partridges,
some ribbons and flowers, and a big garden vase will accompany the
hare and form a charming picture for the mere delight of the eyes.
Truth, finesse of local color, delightful light and shade, exquisite
handling, and the whole technique of art are employed to make us
admire this still life. We cannot help noticing the masterly manner in
which the artist has rendered the fur of his dead hare, crimsoned with
blood; and how lovingly he has caressed the plumage of the neck and
crop of his partridges, and reproduced the beautiful lustrous black of
the cock, whose wings are splashed with white; how he has made us feel
the velvet of the skin at the joining of the muscles, and accentuated
the feet and claws. But the final luxury of the palette seems to have
been reserved for a superb hunting-dog with delicate ears, that
watches with an eye full of life over his master's gun and the
glorious trophies of the chase; and distends his nostrils as if to
snuff the odor of the gunpowder, the aroma of the gin, and the strong
scents of the venison."

=Painters of Still Life.=--Usually the painters of inanimate objects take the trouble to arrange their inert models, just as a historical painter would dispose his living figures. The human figures in Snyders's pictures were painted by Rubens, Jordaens, or Martin de Vos. His pupils were Jan Fyt, Nicasius Bernarts, and Pieter Boel. The Rijks Gallery has two splendid pictures by him: one, a dish garnished with fruits and dead game; and the other, a dead roebuck, a wild boar's head, and vegetables.

=Snyders's Dead Game and Vegetables.=--Beautiful in composition and color is his Dead Game and Vegetables. On a shelf are placed choice specimens of china, glass, earthenware, fruit stands, etc., and these are balanced on the left by a beautiful glass vase of roses and iris standing in a niche. A large basket of apples, peaches, melons, pears, and grapes, a hung deer, a boar's head, a lobster, a few artichokes, and a bunch of asparagus show the artist's wonderful arrangement of form and color.

=Savery's Landscapes and other Pictures.=--Roelandt Savery (1576-1639) was famous as a landscape-painter. The landscapes are somewhat artificial, and really are used as framework for the animal life he loved to introduce. His execution is sometimes rather heavy but with strong tones. The landscapes usually consist of grassy swards with brownish-green trees and shrubs in the foreground, while the background is bathed in the bluish tints so dear to Brueghel. Animals and birds of all kinds animate Savery's pictures, as well as human figures, all drawn with much talent. The Hague has a famous picture, by this artist, of Orpheus Charming the Animals; and the Rijks owns Elijah Fed by the Ravens (1634) and A Stag Hunt in a Rocky Landscape (1626).

=Adriaen van Utrecht and his Still Life.=--Adriaen van Utrecht was ten years ahead of Jan Fyt in painting those pictures of live or dead animals, game, fruits, and implements of the chase that we still admire so much. Although his lights are sometimes somewhat heavy and his brush work is not so fine as Fyt's, yet he equals the latter in certainty of touch and especially in his feeling for life and nature. His pictures are very scarce: Amsterdam possesses only one, called Still Life, signed and dated 1644. On a canvas eight by ten feet the painter has grouped pies, hams, a lobster, grapes, peaches, and lemons on a table. On the left, on the floor, are some musical instruments; on a chair some golden vases; above, a parrot; on the right a great sculptured basin and a little white spaniel, and in the centre a monkey playing with some fruit from an overturned basket.

=Ten Pictures by M. Hondecoeter.=--Melchior d' Hondecoeter can be studied to great advantage in the Rijks, which owns several pictures of the first order: The Floating Feather, The Philosophical Magpie, Animals and Plants, The Country House, The Duck Pond, The Frightened Hen, The Menagerie, Dead Game, and two of birds.

=Hondecoeter's Father and Grandfather.=--The great Hondecoeter was a pupil of his father, Gijsbert d' Hondecoeter (1604-53), the pupil of his father Gillis d' Hondecoeter (1583-1638), a painter of portraits and landscapes in the manner of R. Savery and David Vinck Boons. Gijsbert followed his father's style of landscapes; but he attained a great reputation for his birds, and particularly his ducks. Both styles may be seen in the Rijks: A Landscape with Figures, dated 1652, and Aquatic Birds, dated 1651. In the duck pond, where ducks and pigeons are sporting, is also a feather floating on the water, for the artist was fond of repeating this little touch.

The Philosophical Magpie regards from a tree-trunk a dead heron, a goose, and ducks; its pendant shows a living peacock near a large vase and a dead hare and pheasant. Dead Game, a small picture, exhibits a dead partridge and a string of four little birds, and the others represent parrots and other exotic birds, flowers, and plants, and some monkeys. The Frightened Hen is defending her chickens against the attack of a pea-hen. The most famous of all, however, is The Floating Feather.

=Burger's Criticism of The Floating Feather.=--"To make a pilgrimage
to Amsterdam without admiring The Floating Feather, would be
committing the crime of _lese-peinture_. Hondecoeter has painted this
most carefully and in his happiest vein. In a park luxuriantly
decorated with beautiful trees and springing fountains, he has grouped
strange and rare birds with domestic fowls. On the left in the
foreground may be recognized a pelican, a crane, a flamingo, and a
cassowary; on the right are ducks and geese of various breeds; a
magpie cleaves the air with rapid wings; and, lastly, a light feather
floats on the surface of a quiet pool, and this detail has given the
picture its name."

Dr. Bredius says:

"The pelican on the left is particularly remarkable; but the ducks do
no less credit to this artist, who has expressed with such penetration
the life of the feathered world, the movements of these creatures, I
should indeed say their expression; and he has rendered their
physiognomy and character with such profound truth that no other
artist can approach Hondecoeter in this respect."

The Philosophical Magpie, the Country House, and, better still, the modest frame in which the artist, putting aside for a moment his usual style, has brought together lizards, butterflies, and sparrows amid shrubs and large-leaved plants, are Hondecoeters of the most admirable quality, whether in frankness of detail, or for the mastery of execution and accent of color.

=Asselijn's Allegorical Bird Picture.=--The curious Allegory of the Vigilance of the Grand Pensionary John de Witt by Jan Asselijn is a bird picture. Here a great white swan is defending her nest against the attack of a black dog swimming rapidly toward it. Beneath the swan is the Dutch legend The Grand Pensionary; on the eggs, Holland; and under the dog, The Enemy of the State (intended for England). The feather lost by the bird is beautifully painted, and has challenged comparison with Hondecoeter's Floating Feather.

=Eckhout.=--G. van der Eckhout (1621-74) has a Huntsman with Two Greyhounds, painted about 1670. The huntsman, wearing a red vest, is seated on the grayish earth. The general tone of the picture is chocolate or chestnut.