26Mar 2023 by Enriquecoll_1601 No Comments
Gerrit Dou

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.…
Read More
30Jun 2022 by Enriquecoll_1601 No Comments
Rachel Ruysch

Rachel Ruysch

Painting
Flowers and Fruits were depicted long time ago for the first time, but in 17th and 18th centuries the still-life subgenus gained importance. Specialized painters arose throughout Europe, especially in the Netherlands. The floral still-life was particularly endorsed and considered as an aesthetic object, a symbol, to the point that it came to be codified in a treaty written by Gerard de Lairesse which was published in 1740. The treaty focusses not only on the composition, the perspective and the colour but also on the way the flowers are set according to the meaning of each species: a tulip refers to nobility, a rose to love and ephemerality. The flowers also appear in the so-called vanitas, still-life where the objects are chosen and set according to a moralizing purpose. The…
Read More
01Oct 2020 by Enriquecoll_1601 No Comments
The Milkmaid

The Milkmaid

Painting
We need to focus on the mottled effect in the paintings made by Jan Vermeer (1632-1675), the first painter who tried to reach a ‘photographic’ quality. Vermeer had understood that the eye and its inseparable ‘camera obscura’ do not see the things in the same way so this is no more a plain technical resource, it has become a new way to look. There were a few things he preferred to paint just as they can be seen through that ‘camera obscura’. This is a real Vermeer, with its typical blue-yellow harmony (though the map of the Netherlands and the white porcelain tiny pitcher are missing). The woman is looking downwards to the dark opening of the jar, to the thin splash of dense milk which seems to be suspended…
Read More