Guillermo Coll Blog & News

26Apr 2023 by Enriquecoll_1601 No Comments

Marie-Denise Villers

Painting

It seems that everything had conspired to erase the name Marie-Denise Villers (1774-1821), so that she would fall into oblivion: obviously she was a woman painter, just a few of her works have been recovered. She had two sisters who were painters too. All those circumstances have contributed to the scholars’ confusion. Furthermore, for a while, her best-known work was awarded to the painter Jacques-Louis David. ‘Young woman painting’ is an iconic picture. Some refer to it as a self-portrait while other people understand it is really a picture of Charlotte du Val. I know nothing about the path of that portrait, a road leading to the New York Metropolitan Museum. I guess a philanthropist experienced both the charm and the mystery of that young girl who is watching us,…

Gerrit Dou

Painting

To each his own style. The great Dutch master Gerrit Dou (1613-1675) was fond of the strictest order and cleanliness. He was capable of repeating an entire painting if a little dust or dirt was attached to the canvas. We know that only a few volunteers wanted to pose for such a perfectionist painter, the work sessions were endless and exhausting (the painting of a single hand could last a week). I have meet people like him. It is to Dou’s credit to have been the first pupil of an artist called Rembrandt. He also taught some outstanding painters such as Frans van Mieris and Gabriël Metsu. Within the Dutch school of painting, it seems difficult to find a painter who can compare to him, with his charm and quality.…

David Roberts

Painting

David Roberts, the Scottish watercolourist and engraver/etcher (1796-1864), was a tireless traveller who set a trend and who magnificently portrayed the ancient Egypt with its ruins just before the looting perpetrated by the crowds of archaeologists and tourists. Nowadays we are aware that he added non-exiting details or sites on purpose; he invented the shades or tampered with the scale by placing some tiny Bedouins next to the temples or close to the statues. Nevertheless, his works have undoubtedly an inestimable documentary value and are still reminiscent of the ancient times. In the 1832-33 period he also travelled through Spain and made that ‘grand tour’ that led so many romantic artists to Andalusia and Morocco.