urlington Fine Arts Club EXHIBITION OF PICTURES BY DUTCH MASTERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LONDON PRINTED FOR THE BURLINGTON FINE ARTS CLUB 1900 From the Library of Frank SimpsoB Burlington Fine Arts Club EXHIBITION OF PICTURES BY DUTCH MASTERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY PRINTED FOR THE LONDON BURLINGTON 1900 FINE ARTS CLUB CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. EXHIBITION COMMITTEE SIR WALTER ARMSTRONG. R. H. BENSON, ESQ. CAPTAIN HOLFORD. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/exhibitionofpict00burl_2 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE EXHIBITION WITH THE NUMBERS OF THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS ^-^^^ *WiLLiAM Cleverly Alexander, Esq., 45. The Lord Ashburton, 19. * Alfred Beit, Esq., ii, 42, 44, 46, 49, 53. *The Earl of Carysfort, K.P., 16. *Charles T. D. Crews, Esq., 2, 9, 50. *F. Fleischmann, Esq., 33, 34. *Lewis Fry, Esq., M.P., 23. *Captain Holford, CLE., M.V.O., i, 5, 8, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 41, 43, 51. Mrs. Joseph, 6, 7, 13, 14, 18, 22, 25, 56. The Marquess of Lansdowne, K.G., 52. William McKay, Esq., 39. *Sir Samuel Montagu, Bart., M.P., 21. *The Earl of Northbrook, G.C.S.L, 17, 20, 27, 29, 38, 40, 47. *Henry J. Pfungst, Esq., 3, 10, 54, *George Salting, Esq., 15, 57, 58. Arthur Sanderson, Esq., 4. Edward Steinkopff, Esq., 12. *SiR Charles Turner, K.C.LE., 48. *SiR Edgar Vincent, K.C.M.G., M.P., 55. The Lord Wantage, V.C., 8a. *T. Humphry Ward, Esq., 32. T//e Contributors whose names are thus * marked are members of the Chib. MASTERS REPRESENTED NicoLAEs BERCHEM. (1620— 1683.) Jan van de CAPPELLE. (About 1625— after 1680.) Aelbert CUYP. (1620 — 1691.) Gerard DOU. (1613 — 1675,) WiLLEM CoRNELisz DUYSTER. (1599 — 1635.) Jan Josefsz van GOYEN. (1596 — 1656.) Frans HALS. (i58oori58i — 1666.) Meyndert HOBBEMA. (1638 ?— 1709.) Pieter de HOOGH. (1630 — after 1677.) Karel du JARDIN. (1622— 1678.) Philips KONINCK. (1619— 1688.) NicoLAEs MAES. (1632— 1693.) Gabriel METSU. (1630 — 1667.) Frans van MIERIS. (1635— 1681.) Aert van der NEER. (1603 — 1677.) Adriaen van OSTADE. (1610 — 1685.) Paulus potter. (1625— 1654.) REMBRANDT van Rijn. (1606— 16&9.) Jacob van RUISDAEL. (1628 ?— 1682.) Jan STEEN. (1626 ?— 1679.) Gerard ter BORCH. (1616 ?— 1681.) Adriaen van de VELDE. (1635 ? — 1672.) willem van de velde. (1633 — i 707.) Jan VERMEER (of Delft). (1632— 1675.) Emmanuel de WITTE. (1607 — after 1653.) Philips WOUWERMAN. (1619— 1668.) INTRODUCTION *^^^S^lf «tr^!^^ H E Dutch School of Painting of the seventeenth century, especially in those two sections which are illustrated in the present exhibition, forms one of the most remarkable apparitions in the whole history of art. Other schools have been greater. The most reckless advocate would not contend that in dignity of objective the School of Holland equalled any one of the other great schools by which the march of civilization has been glorified. The fascination does not depend, like that of Greece and Italy, upon the ease with which it floats at the highest level of the human thought of its time. The Dutch painters, always with the one supreme exception, made no attempt to endow their country with an aesthetic equivalent to its triumphs in other fields. They looked upon themselves as craftsmen, and upon their art rather as a decoration to hang on life than as a feature essential to its completeness. Their peculiar glory lies, not in the heights to which they rose, but in the unrivalled fullness and rapidity with which they realized a comparatively humble ideal. As to this rapidity. Other great schools have been the results of long periods of incubation. The art of Greece was the culmination of a steady development which began in the remote ages of the early Chaldaeans. Italian painting persevered in one path for three hundred years before it reached what we now see to have been its destination. Dutch art, in its national and characteristic form, seems to have sprung up complete, in a day, as if its professors had suddenly B lo Exhibition of TiSiures by IDutch asters hit upon a hitherto unknown road, and had combined in a body to take it. In some ways EngHsh art of the eighteenth century affords a parallel. In the suddenness of its expansion, and the promptness with which it closed upon the right formula for its ideas, it was like the Dutch. But it could not boast of the same novelty. In a country where Van Dyck had flourished, it required no courage to be a Gainsborough or a Reynolds. Down to about 1620 there was no native school in Holland of any importance. The Gothic painters of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries had really been offshoots from Bruges and Brussels ; while the portrait-painters by whom they were succeeded owe the interest now excited by their works rather to their status as the forerunners of Rembrandt, Hals, and Van der Heist, than to their own merit. The qualities of selection, subordination, and accent, in which the creative instinct asserts itself, are curiously absent from their works ; and we may fairly say that all that went on in Dutch studios before the date just mentioned was little more than the laying of a sound technical foundation for the great fabric of the following century. If we could imagine such a thing as a school of painters obeying a word of command, like a regiment, we might fancy such a word had been spoken about the end of the first quarter of the seventeenth century, and that nearly all the gifted men of the country had hurried to obey. The fifty-nine pictures forming the present collection belong, with but four exceptions, to two of the three genres in which Dutch painters distinguished themselves. Four small portraits, two by Rembrandt and a like number by Frans Hals, have been included, chiefly through reluctance to allow such illustrious names to be altogether absent from the catalogue. The main exhibition is restricted to the painters of landscape, and to the painters of the domestic life of the Dutch people. It is proposed to confine the following remarks to these two classes. Putting aside, then, Rembrandt and Hals, the men represented number twenty-four. The list includes all the incontestable leaders of those IntroduSiion II Dutchmen who devoted themselves to landscape or domestic gem^e, with one possible exception. The Committee has been unable to obtain a first- rate specimen of Jan van der Heyden, an unequal artist, who did not always, or often, rise to the supreme achievement he shows in such things, for instance, as Mr. Abraham Robarts's " View in Amsterdam." The whole of these twenty-four painters arrived at the full enjoyment of their powers during the forty years which elapsed between 1620 and 1660. The two earliest in date were Jan van Goyen, born in 1596, and Willem Cornelisz Duyster, born in 1599; the latest was Hobbema, who was probably born in 1638. With the two exceptions of Hobbema and Willem van de Velde, they were all dead before the century had reached its close. Turning first to the painters of landscape, the first Dutchman to dis- tinguish himself in this direction was Jan Josefsz van Goyen, who may, chronologically at least, be called the father of modern landscape. He had masters, Esaias van de Velde the chief among them, but they taught him little beyond the carriage of his tools. His aspect towards nature was new. He appreciated the real character of the Dutch plains with their interminable sky perspectives, their delicate atmosphere, and the sense of movement given by the passage across them of those sea-born breezes on which a Dutch summer depends for so much of its charm. Van Goyen was not only the first Dutchman to paint atmosphere, he remained until the end its most consummate master. In such pictures as those lent by Lord Northbrook and Mr. Crews to the present collection, Van de Cappelle paints cloud forms and the light playing about them with extraordinary truth ; but his sense of the space in which they hang, of the sky which rises immutable behind and above them, is not so fine as Van Goyen's. So, too, with Willem van de Velde. Now and then he renders an atmospheric effect with remarkable success, his masterpiece in that direction being, perhaps, the " Dutch Ships of War saluting" (980) in the National Gallery ; but on the whole his scenes are comparatively dry and airless. Aaert van der Neer aims occasionally at an atmosphere, but his attention is usually confined to 12 Exhibition of TiBures by "Dutch Masters the pattern beyond the intervening medium. Ruisdael and Hobbema were equally indifferent. Their aerial perspective, effective as it often is, was based, not on a nice observation of values, but on arbitrary scales of their own. Cuyp was the one great exception ; but even he must take a lower place than Van Goyen as a master of air and sky. Cuyp's real subject was sunlight in haze, just as De Hoogh's was sunlight on red petticoats, red bricks, yellow tiles, and whitewashed walls. Cuyp never suggested an invisible atmosphere by faithfully showing its effect on values. He chose the moment when vapour hung between himself and the horizon, and simplified the problem. Van Goyen's aims were so modest that his art seems over-weighted even by a short discussion like this. His importance in the history of Dutch painting, and his curious affinity to the modern artists of Holland, cannot, however, be too strongly asserted. The four pictures here exhibited all belong to his best time. Hardly anything is known about Jan van de Cappelle, or Kappelle. He is supposed to have been a pupil of Simon de Vlieger, but his methods suggest rather the influence of Van Goyen. His attention is mainly given to his skies, and his contrivances for preventing the lower parts of his pictures from interfering with what is above them recall the practice of the older master. W. van de Velde, on the other hand, had no idea of subordinating one constituent of his picture to another. With him every- thing is carried out to the same point, and it is impossible to say whether his interest was chiefly excited by the ships, or the sea, or the sky. The three pictures by which he is represented are all fine in quality, and one, the " Calm," lent by Sir Edgar Vincent, is in unusually perfect condition. As a sea-painter Ruisdael must be classed with Van de Velde. His sombre, or at least solemn, cast of mind led him to paint seas overcast with heavy clouds and lashed by winds. The exceptions are few, one of the best being the so-called " Scheveningen " in the National Gallery. As a rule^ too, Ruisdael took for his model, not the open sea, but the shallow Zuyder Zee and the great lake which used to cover what is now the Haarlemer Polder ; IntroduSlion 13 this accounts for the short wavelets and the pecuHar shore-Hne to be found in most of his marines. Lord Northbrook's " Sudden Squall " (29) is an unusually fine example. Aelbert Cuyp, the king of all amateurs, had but one rival as a painter of sunlight, although as a delicate observer of what makes distance measur- able at all times, even in the African desert, he lacks the finality of Van Goyen. The great picture from Dorchester House is a marvel in its suggestion of the morning sun playing with the mists before it eats them up ; but its planes are not fused into the indivisible gradation we see, for instance, in the Van Goyen numbered 13. One of the completest masters of aerial perspective was not a painter of pure landscape at all, but one who used it as a decor for his groups of men and animals — I mean Philips Wouwerman. In Wouwerman's finest pictures the atmospheric gradation is extraordinary. Look at the " Seashore with Fisherwomen " (880) in the National Gallery, and note how exactly the length of the sharply fore- shortened white horse is expressed by the "values" of his croup and head. Look, too, at the picture which should be catalogued under its traditional name, " La Belle Laitiere " (878), and see how smoothly the eye is carried away through the groups in the foreground, across a valley crowded with figures, to the distant horizon. And in this respect the large picture lent to the Club by Captain Holford is scarcely inferior to these two. Like the rest of W ouwerman's finest things, it shows how suddenly the best of the Dutchmen became modern. Ages seem to lie between a picture like this and the hard, airless, unobserved productions by which it was immediately preceded. It is curious that atmospheric problems should have been so entirely ignored as they were by Jacob Ruisdael. No one has paid more attention to the sky, to the form and march of the clouds, and the character of the depths against which they are relieved. But with him it is always a case of pattern. His pictures are conceived in but two dimensions. Even in those views from the dunes near Brederode, in which the great church of Haarlem 14 Exhibition of T^iSiures by TDutch 3\4 asters rears its bulk against an illimitable plain, it is the weft of accidental shadows on a warp of sunlight that his eye sees and his hand records. On misty days he seems to have stayed at home. His pictures are all clear-cut and unmysterious, and depend for their envelope on his own sombre personality rather than upon the moods of nature. In this he was followed by his famous pupil. Hobbema, indeed, had a little convention of his own for expressing distance. He was quite unable to suggest an intervening fluid, so he modified colour in a way which makes some of his distances look like faded foregrounds. Both Ruisdael and Hobbema, in fact, are conventional painters. They first of all reduce nature to a common denominator, and their fame rests upon the masterly fashion in which they use it to solve their problems. Van Goyen and his school thought of nature first, and gradually trained themselves to suggest the beauties by which they were attracted; Ruisdael and Hobbema, with their followers, thought first of their material, and kept their ambitions within its easy reach. Ruisdael probably suffers more than most Dutchmen from the changes worked by time in his pictures. He was fond of dark grounds, while his greens and blues require to be seen in their freshness to have their full effect. A good Hobbema is more happily constituted. Such pictures as the " Avenue " and " Water Mills," in the National Gallery; the " Moulin a Eau," in the Louvre ; the " Water Mills," in Mr. R. Kann's collection ; the " Landscape with a Ruin " and " Landscape with a Water Mill," in the Wallace Gallery ; and the magnificent examples now on the walls of the Club, will represent the real ideas of Hobbema long after those of his master Ruisdael have been perverted by changes in the actual substance of his pictures. The idea I have wished to lay stress upon in speaking of the Dutch landscape-painters is the vitality breathed into their work, soon after the commencement of the seventeenth century, by their new reference to nature, and substitution of ambitions born of familiarity with natural appearances for those based on the difficulties felt by a young school over the mere grammar of art. The same causes were at work with the painters IntroduSiion 15 of domestic life. The men born too early fail to see things as a whole, and more especially fail to see them in their enveloppe. The balance is not properly kept between the objective and subjective elements. They often, no doubt, set out to imitate slavishly, and yet they end in producing a merely subjective false impression. Men like Pieter Codde and Willem Cornelisz Duyster belong to the transition. In their best work, such as the Codde in the National Gallery of Ireland, and the "Trictrac Players," by Duyster, in the National Gallery, pattern-painting is combined with an attempt — naif, no doubt, but still sincere — at the suggestion of a natural bond between the different objects introduced. With the passage of every few years we find an improvement in this respect. The larger vision was in the air, and as painter succeeded painter, the development of their sense of nature's power to unify, to resolve discords into harmonies, corresponds curiously with their birth dates. Emmanuel de Witte was born eight years after Duyster ; Adriaen van Ostade three years after de Witte ; Gerard Dou three years after Ostade ; Ter Borch three or four years after Dou ; Berchem, Du Jardin, Paul Potter, and Jan Steen seven to ten years after Ter Borch ; Metsu, Maes, De Hoogh, and Vermeer, in whom the movement culminated, five or six years later still. Of course, among a number of painters born at such short intervals, and all at work in so small a country, too much stress must not be laid upon any point of difference. As time moved on they learnt from each other, and changes in their order of merit occurred. But on the whole I think the sudden stepping up of Dutch painting to the highest level of technical achievement the art has ever reached took place as here described. The aim it had before it was an illustration of life in which the three pictorial elements of imitation, manipulation, and expression should be kept in perfect balance. The development of a school is like that of an individual artist. It begins with imitation, halting at first, but afterwards often so good as to produce illusion. Then it takes to combining illusion with aesthetic unity. Finally, this latter quality becomes the chief one, and imitation sinks back Exhibition of Ti^iSiures by TDutch asters into its proper place, as a means and not an end. The progress of Dutch art followed the usual path, except that its first and last periods were shorter, proportionally, and its middle one longer, than with other schools. Adriaen van de Venne, who may be called the father of the genre painters, was divided by less than a generation from the most consummate masters of Dutch art ; and yet his pictures are entirely imitative, and do not even foreshadow the day when unity of design, colour, and chiaroscuro was to be the main consideration. This day, when it came, was short, and, as a fact, only gave Holland one first-rate master — but then that master was Rembrandt, the finest welder into unity of various aesthetic values that the world has ever seen. Most of her great masters belonged to the middle period, and aimed at an equal union between imitation and aesthetic expres- sion. The most consummate exponent of this ideal of balance was, I think, Gabriel Metsu. In his best pictures we find a combination of qualities which exist, in a similar degree, in the pictures of no one else. Take the " Letter Writer " in the present collection. You may call the subject trivial, but beyond that it will be difficult to suggest a criticism. The design has the organic quality which makes it impertinent to think of change, the colour scheme is rich and full of due subordination, the illumination at once true and artfully focussed ; while as to the execution, anything more subtle, more profoundly expressive of the genius of selection, has yet to be seen in art. And yet Metsu died at thirty-seven. Beside such a thing as the "Letter Writer" the best works of Jan Steen, Ter Borch, Maes, and De Hoogh, seem a little broken up and scattered. On the other hand, each of these men had some quality beyond the reach of Metsu. The humour, verve, and technical vivacity of Steen, the refinement of Ter Borch, the depth and inner light of Maes, the bathing sunshine of De Hoogh, touch us, perhaps, more deeply than the balanced perfections of their rival. Still more profoundly are we affected by the extraordinary union of simplicity with force in the works of Jan Vermeer of Delft. The " Sphinx," as Burger used to call him, had a finer eye for IntroduEiion pictorial effect than any other Dutchman but Rembrandt. Of all the pictures in the world, that which produces the most vivid impression with the simplest means, is, probably, the view of Delft, in the Mauritshuis, at the Hague. " Le Soldat et la Fillette qui rit," in the present collection is almost as difficult to forget. By placing himself very close to the nearest figure, Vermeer was enabled to oppose a large and finely contoured mass of shadow to the broad light which covers most of his canvas ; but this is his only artifice ; the picture is otherwise conceived on the broadest lines and painted with that instinct for effective selection in which Vermeer is without a rival. Duyster has been included in the present exhibition partly because he is a new man, and it was desirable to give a further opportunity of knowing him, partly because he was one of the initiators. The picture by which he is represented is a good example, though inferior to the two in the National Gallery, by which attention was first sharply attracted to his name. Lord Northbrook's two De Wittes show that painter at his best, and are in remarkably fine condition. Adriaen van Ostade can be admired unreservedly in " Le Menage Hollandois," from Dorchester House, and the " Nativity," which seems to have been inspired by Rembrandt, from the collection of Mr. Alfred Beit. The two Gerard Dous — one from Lord Northbrook's collection, the other from Lord Carysfort's — show a less attractive side of his art than the " Poulterer's Shop," or the portrait of himself in the National Gallery, but they show that side to perfection. Walter Armstrong. CATALOGUE The measurements are in inches {the height preceding tJie width) and do not include the fraryie or mount. PAULUS POTTER. I The Rabbit Warren. A sandy hill, with some scattered trees ; in the foreground are two donkeys, one standing, the other lying down amongst thistles and other herbage ; near them are a she-goat and two kids playing ; beyond them sits a rabbit at the mouth of a burrow ; on the right lies an old he-goat, and a woman and another goat are seen on the farther side of the hill ; sunset sky. Signed and dated in the left bottom corner, " Paulus Potter f 1647." Panel, 17 by 16 inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, sub voce " P. Potter," No. 65. Lent by Captain Holford. AERT VAN DER NEER. Frost Scene. To left a village and church on the border of the frozen Haarlemer Meer ; skaters and hockey players on the ice ; windmill on the right ; banks of clouds moving across blue sky. Signed and dated " A. V. (connected) D. N. (connected) 1662." Canvas, 11 by 1 54: inches. Lent by Charles T. D. Crews, Esq. 20 Exhibition of T^iSiures WILLEM CORNELISZ DUYSTER. 3 A Guard Room. A group of six soldiers with two prisoners, a woman and a man, the latter standing on the right with hands tied behind his back, the woman seated facing with clasped hands ; the soldiers busy over their loot ; a drum in the foreground half covered with a red carpet. Signed on the drum, " W.D." Panel, I2i by 17 inches. Lent by Henry J. Pfungst, Esq. GERARD TER BORCH. 4 A Game at Piquet. Two ladies seated at a table, one with her back towards the spectator, in white satin skirt and pink bodice ; the other, facing, in blue satin skirt and gray bodice, and a gentleman in black dress, white ruffles, and large hat, selects out of her hand a card to play. Panel, l/i by 14 inches. From the Van Loon Collection. Mentioned by Descamps. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn^, sub voce " G. Terburg," No. 58. Lent by Arthur Sanderson, Esq. ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE. 5 Landscape with Figures. A large inn by the roadside, at which several travellers have halted to bait ; among them are two cavaliers, one on a gray horse, the other in the act of mounting a bay ; another group are seated at a table near the door of the inn, at which stand a man with a hurdy-gurdy, and a boy with a fiddle, whose music has attracted a group of children ; farther off is a tilted wagon, from which a woman is about to step on to a chair held for her by a boy ; numerous other figures are standing about, some on the roof of a neighbouring outhouse ; in the foreground are two pigs near a trough ; distant landscape with church spire on the left. Signed, on log in left foreground, " A V Ostade " (A and V connected). Panel, 32 by 48 inches. From the Corsham Collection. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, sub voce " Isaac van Ostade," No. 43. Lent by Captain Holford. by T)utch Jdasters 21 KAREL DU JARDIN. 6 Landscape with Cattle. To left two cows ; in centre two sheep and donkey ; on the right a boy bare- legged washing his feet in a pool ; in background to right ruined buildings ; distant hills to left ; sky, summer cumuli. Panel, ii^ by i6 inches. Lent by Mrs. Joseph. AERT VAN DER NEER. 7 River Scene ; Daylight. Late afternoon, blue sky and clouds ; in foreground a canal with a large country house to right half seen through trees ; on right a tall single tree ; on left a man on a white horse with running servant behind. Signed in a double monogram, " AV. DN." Panel, lo by 14^ inches. Lent by Mrs. Joseph. KAREL DU JARDIN. 8 Travellers Halting. In front of a house, over the porch of which trails a vine, two travellers have halted ; one of them, wearing a red cloak, has dismounted from a white horse, and, hat in hand, is bowing to a lady standing at the door ; the other, mounted on a black horse, is turning round to take a glass of wine from a boy, beside whom is a greyhound ; distant view with houses and hills on left. Signed and dated on the bottom of the door, " K. du Jardin fee 1655." Panel, 17 by 14 in. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, sub voce " K. du Jardin," No. 35. Lent by Captain Holjord. PIETER DE HOOGH. 8a The Hostess' Toast. In a brick-paved courtyard on a summer's afternoon, a gentleman, in profile, in black velvet jacket and black beaver hat, is seated to the left at a wooden table smoking a clay pipe, and a woman stands facing him, in red skirt, blue apron, white bodice and cap, and drinks from his glass ; a gray cloak on the back of his chair is drawn over his knee and a coat hangs on a rail behind ; 22 Exhibition of T^iSiures on the table is a gres de Flandres jug with a paper of tobacco and a spare pipe, and a little girl approaches from a house on the right, carrying a live coal in a square earthern pot ; the house has a red shutter to the lower window, and a red brick wall, at right angles, with a doorway in it, disclosing a glimpse of steps up into a shady garden, and the trunk of a tree whose leaves, seen above the wall, half conceal a neighbouring red-tiled house ; above a paling to the left is seen the top of a church tower. From the Redleaf Collection. Canvas, 30^ by 251 inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn6, S2ib voce " P. de Hooch," No. 30. Leni by Lord Wantage, V.C. PHILIPS KONINCK. 9 Landscape. A flat landscape, probably in Zeeland, and a town by the sea ; in the fore- ground a canal with sailing boats, and a small farm, in front of which cows are being milked. Cloudy sky flushed with the sunset which is reflected off red roofs and the surface of the canal. Canvas, 16^ by 224; inches. Lent by Charles T. D. Creius, Esq. JAN JOSEFSZ VAN GOYEN. 10 River Scene. View looking across a wide river, with a spit of land on which are houses in the middle distance ; shipping beyond, and buildings in the far distance ; on the left is a landing-place at which two sprit-sail barges are moored ; in the right foreground is a small boat, with several figures ; heavy clouds slowly advancing from the left horizon, on a sultry summer's day. Signed and dated twice " VG (connected) 1655," and "J.V.G. 1655." Panel, 14 by 20 inches. Lent by Henry J. Pfungst, Esq. MEYNDERT HOBBEMA. 11 A Forest Scene. On the right a sandy road on the top of a dyke, leading to a country house half seen through trees ; in the centre a group of eight trees in full foliage growing on the slope down to low ground on the left. In front a pond, fringed with reeds, and a fisherman, and a group of pollard willows, beside which a path by T)utch 3V[asters 23 runs to a cottage half hidden in the middle distance. Beyond are meadows and hedges and sand hills in the far distance. The effect is of mid-day in July, with masses of fleecy clouds moving from the right, sunlight and shade alternating here and there. On the road two cows and a sheep and three figures put in by Adriaen van de Velde. Signed " Meijndert Hobbema f 1663." Canvas, 364 by 50^ inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, sub voce " Minderhout Hobbema," No. i. Lent by Alfred Beit, Esq. FRANS VAN MIERIS. 12 " Le Chevalier Amoureux." A Cavalier clad in striped jacket, cuirass, and scarlet cloak ; seated in a room looking at a girl who is filling his glass from a pewter tankard. He holds her apron. She is draped in a cream-coloured jacket, white satin skirt, with black apron, and white kerchief over her head. On the left a man sleeping, with his head on a table. On the right, through a doorway, a couple are seen embracing. Signed and dated " F.M. 1659 F." Panel, i6f by 13^ inches. From the Bredel, Albert Levy, and Dudley Collections. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne Supplement, sub voce " F. Mieris," No. 44. Lent by Edward Steinkopff, Esq. JAN JOSEFSZ VAN GOYEN. 13 On the Maas, near Dordrecht. View looking along the river, low water, beacon showing on a mud-bank ; on the left three men in a boat, one of them hauling in a net ; in the middle distance a barge clearing the corner of the mud-bank and running before the wind with her sprit-sail bellied out and her square sail adrift ; another boat with figures near it ; buildings of a town beyond ; blue sky, with clouds. Signed with monogram " V.G." Panel, 14 by 12^ inches. From the Roupell Collection. Lent by Mrs. Joseph. JAN JOSEFSZ VAN GOYEN. 14 On the Maas, near Dordrecht. Same view as the preceding, from a different point. View over a high sand-bank with a beacon ; boat with figures in the left 24 Exhibition of T^iSiures foreground ; sprit-sail barge on a wind to the right ; other vessels and buildings beyond ; blue sky, with heavy clouds advancing. Signed with monogram " V.G." Panel, 14 by 13 inches. From the Roupell Collection. Lent by Mrs. Joseph. JAN VERMEER (OF DELFT). 15 A LADY PLAYING THE ClAVICHORD. A lady seated on the right facing to left ; she wears a yellow skirt with blue overdress, the sleeves trimmed with lace, and turns her face to the spectator as she plays. Her clavichord stands upon a marbled table and is open, showing a landscape painted inside the cover ; a viol da gamba and bow are in the left hand bottom corner, and a blue and yellow curtain above ; a picture with three figures hangs on the wall behind. Signed to the right of the lady's head "JVMeer," JV and M connected. Canvas, 20 by 17^ inches. Lent by George Salting, Esq. GERARD DOU. 16 The Flute-player. A youth wearing a purple bonnet and feather, and a crimson cloak covered with fur, seated facing a table playing the flute. Some books and a globe are on the table, books, an hour-glass, etc., on shelves. Daylight falling on the scene from a window on the left. Signed on the edge of the book " Gdov." Panel, 14 by ii^ inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn^ Supplement, sub voce " G. Dow," No. 73. From the Adrian Hope Collection. Lent by the Earl of Carysfort, K.P. EMMANUEL DE WITTE. 17 Interior of a Church. A throng of people listening to a preacher, the light falling through pillars from nave to transept. Panel, 17^ by 131 inches. Lent by the Earl of Northbrook, G. C.S.I by T)utch Masters 25 JAN VERMEER (OF DELFT). 18 " Le Soldat et la fillette qui rit." Interior of a room ; a man in a red coat and large black hat, and a woman in a black and gold dress and white hood, are seated conversing at a table near an open window, whence the light floods the scene ; a map hangs on the wall behind them. Signature, almost obliterated, in the left-hand upper corner of the map. Canvas, 19 by 17 inches. From the Double and Demidoff Collections. Lent by Mrs. Joseph, REMBRANDT. 19 Portrait of Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol. A celebrated calligraphist, b. 1 598 ; a great friend of Rembrandt, who painted him three times and etched him twice. Three-quarters figure in black, with black skull cap, seated to left, looking at the spectator, holding a pen and a sheet of paper ; dark background. Painted about 1660. Panel, 14 by 11 inches. Lent by Lord AsJiburton. EMMANUEL DE WITTE. 20 Interior of a Church (Pendant to No. 17). After service. In foreground, a man in black cloak and black hat, and a woman and child ; light falling through pillars. Signed " E. de Witte A" 1669" on the pillar to the right. Panel, 17^ by \ inches. Lent by the Earl of Northbrook, G.C.SJ. MEYNDERT HOBBEMA. 21 Wooded Landscape. Scene in Guelderland (?) with groups of scattered trees, a pool with ducks, a dog drinking ; in the middle distance another pool with a fisherman and glade on which the sun strikes ; threatening sky. Signed and dated " M. Hobbema fe, 1667." Panel, 24 by 33^ inches. From the Barclay Field Collection. Lent by Sir Samuel Montagu, Bart., M.P. D 26 Exhibition of T^iSiures JAN STEEN. 22 " AU BIEN EsPfiRE." Man and woman seated at a dining-table with a pasty, bread, half a lemon and a gres-de-Flandres jug of wine. She is drinking a health and he lays his hand significantly upon her. Signed to the left "J. Steen." Panel, 9 by 8 inches. From the Messchaert van VoUenhoven Collection. Lent by Mrs. Joseph. JAN VERMEER (OF DELFT). 23 The Music Lesson. On the right a girl in red bodice, blue skirt and white wimple round her head, seated in a room, with the music of a song in her hand ; beyond her a man draped in a full blue cloak, his left hand on her chair and bending over her ; he holds her music with his right hand, and appears to give his rendering of the song, while she looks away half conscious of a spectator's gaze. Two chairs, with the artist's favourite lions' heads, stand by a table covered with blue cloth, upon which are an open instrument case, a piece of music, and a glass half full of wine ; a bird-cage and viola hang on the walls. On the left a latticed window whence the light falls on the scene. Canvas, 15 by 17 inches. Lent by Leivis Fry, Esq., M.P. MEYNDERT HOBBEMA. 24 h. Forest Scene. Outskirts of a wood ; in the foreground is a road along which two figures are advancing, and which is seen winding away through the forest on the left ; on the right of the road is a pool which has flowed across it and formed a second pool ; on the right a raised pathway, the sloping bank of which is covered with trees, appears to lead to a house, a small portion of which only is visible ; on the farther side of the pathway are meadow lands intersected with hedges ; besides the two figures already mentioned, two men and a woman are conversing near the road in the foreground, a man is fishing in the farther pool and another is advancing along the raised pathway. Signed and dated in the right foreground " Meijndert Hobbema fe 1663." Supplement to Smith's Catalogue Raisonn^, sub voce " Minderhout Hobbema," pp. 724-725, No. 18. "This brilliant epitome of Nature is justly entitled to the by Uutch Masters 27 highest commendation, and is in truth an example of such rare occurrence that it may fairly be placed in juxtaposition with the celebrated chef-d'oeuvre by the same painter in the Collection of Lord Hatherton described, No. i, Vol. VI." No. 1 1 of the present Exhibition. Canvas, 36 by 50 inches. Lent by Captain Holford. NICOLAES MAES. 25 Mother and Cfiild. A woman seated in the middle of a room nursing a child ; on the floor is a cradle on which is lying a lace pillow. Panel, 21 by 18 inches. Lent by Mrs. Joseph. AERT VAN DER NEER. 26 A Frost Scene. View looking along a frozen river, with trees and houses on each side, stretch- ing away into the distance towards the setting sun ; numerous figures skating, walking, and playing games on the ice ; a man and woman, and a child in a red dress, are standing in the foreground looking at the scene ; on the right is a church ; on the left a house and trees over which lowers a dark cloud tipped with the sunset ; from beyond the horizon a bank of clouds rises suffused with red. Signed " A. V. (connected) D N " (connected). Panel, 18 by 2'j\ inches. Letit by Captam Holford. GERARD DOU. 27 The Philosopher. Interior of a room, with a round-headed window on the left, near which an old man sits in an armchair. This old man seems to be identical with a well- known model of Rembrandt's. He wears a lilac cap and robe, with collar and facing of fur, and is writing in a large book which he supports with his left arm. Before him is an easel with a panel on it. On his left, in the background, are two steps, with a table on the upper one, covered with a light blue cloth, on which are a globe, a candlestick, and a book, bearing on its edges the signature " G. Dov." A blue curtain suspended from the rafters is looped up behind a 28 Exhibition of T^iSiures bass viol hanging to a nail in the pillar. In the foreground, on the right, are a drum, a helmet, and a shield. Above hangs a six-branched brass chandelier. Panel, 12^^ by 9^- inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, sub voce " G. Dow," No. 103. Lent by the Earl of Northbrook, G. C.S.I. JACOB VAN RUISDAEL. 28 " Le Coup de Soleil." Extensive view over a flat wooded landscape ; houses in the foreground, and farther off on the left the towers of a castle rising above the trees ; in the distance Haarlem cathedral ; in the immediate foreground are small figures of a man and dog ; blue sky, with a mass of dark clouds ascending, the middle distance lit up by a gleam of sunshine. Signed in the centre foreground "J Ruifdael " (J and R connected). Panel, 16 by 15 inches. Leytt by Captain Holford. JACOB VAN RUISDAEL. 29 A Sudden Squall in Shallow Water. View on the Y off Amsterdam, with a flat coast stretching across the back- ground. The surface water is churned up and fishing craft are heeling over under the vehemence of the wind. One fishing boat, near the centre, scudding under a white mainsail with the wind abeam, has a small boat attached to her stern ; another, with a tan sail, is coming up in the wind and taking a wave over her bows ; to the left another craft is running on the starboard gybe. Here and there are breaks in the dark clouds with glimpses of blue sky. In the front, on the right, is a breakwater of piles. The town is seen in the distance on the left. Signed in the right corner. Canvas, 25 by 32 inches. Lent by the Earl of Northh'ook, G.C.S.L PHILIPS WOUWERMAN. 30 Shore Scene. View from the shore, looking across the open sea, with rising ground and cliffs on the right ; figures coming along a road under the cliffs ; boats close to the shore. Panel, by 6 inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn6, S2ib voce " Philip Wouwermans," No. 207. Lent by Captain Holford. by T^utch J\dasters 29 AELBERT CUYP. 31 Dordrecht. View on the Maas, with the town of Dort, or Dordrecht, on the left ; moored to the quay are several fishing vessels, and a sloop aground, tide running out ; on the right is a laden barge, alongside which is a timber-raft with three men on it, and, beyond, several small boats running before a very light wind ; sunrise on the right, breaking the rain-clouds and tipping them with gold. Canvas, 26 by 75 inches. Described in Smith's Catalogue Raisonne (Supplement, page 665), as two pictures (" Sunrise " and " Sunset "), and reunited under the direction of the late Mr. Holford. Lent by Captain Holford. FRANS HALS. 32 Portrait of a Dutch Gentleman. Half-length figure of a man leaning back in a chair, full face, in black hat, yellow gray cloak and lace collar. 9 by 7^ inches. Lent by T. H. Ward, Esq. JACOB VAN RUISDAEL. 33 A Desolate Winter Scene. Snow scene. In the foreground a frozen stream with three men upon it, busy with logs ; beyond, on the top of the rise, a mill, two sheds, and a house in process of building ; thick clouds moving from the left over the sunset which flushes their edges and the sails of the mill. Signed " J. Ruifdael." Canvas, 17 by 20 inches. Lent by F. Fleischniann, Esq. JACOB VAN RUISDAEL. 34 " The Shooting Pony." In the foreground a rushing stream ; on the farther bank a blasted oak and other trees and a cottage embedded therein. By the oak tree a shooting pony held by a man, and a sportsman in the act of firing his gun ; two single elms to right; squally clouds moving from the left over a cold blue sky. Signed "J. Ruifdael." Canvas, 20 by 23 inches. Letit by F. Fleischniann, Esq. 3° Exhibition of T^iSiures ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE. 35 " Le MfiNAGE HOLLANDOIS." Interior of a cottage ; a man and woman seated at a table on which are the remains of a repast ; behind them stands a young man with a pipe in his hand ; near the woman is a child ; on the opposite side of the room are a girl playing with a dog, and a boy looking at her, leaning on the sill of a large window, whence the light falls ; a cradle, a flax-winder, and various other household objects are distributed throughout the room. Signed and dated in the right bottom corner " A V Ostade 1661 " (A and V connected). Panel, 13 by 11 inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn^, sub voce " A. v. Ostade," No. 104. Lent by Captain Holford. PHILIPS WOUWERMAN. 36 " Le Retour du March£." Landscape, with a horse and cart in the foreground ; the driver sits sideways on the horse, and in the cart is a woman with a milk-can and a poultry-coop ; resting by the roadside is a woman nursing a child ; a dog runs in front of the horse ; blue sky, with clouds. Panel, I2| by 10 inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn^, sub voce " P. Wouwermans," No. 77. Lent by Captain Holford. NICOLAES BERCHEM. 37 " Le Diamant de la CuriositE." Landscape, with a mound in the foreground, on which are cows, sheep, and a goat ; two cows and two sheep are lying down ; on the left sits a woman working, and behind her a herdsman playing a pipe ; blue sky, with clouds. Signed " N. Berchem." Panel, 9^ by 12 inches. Engraved by Daudet under the title of " Le Troupeau Hollandois." From the Collections of Randon de Boisset, M. Lambert, Due de Praslin, and William Beckford. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn^, sub voce " N. Berghem," No. 53. Lent by Captain Holford. by TDutch Masters JAN STEEN. 38 Portrait of the Painter. B. at Leyden, 1626; d. at Leyden, 1679. Small full-length figure of an old rogue, three-quarter face to right, seated on a chair, playing a large lute and singing, the drollery of his song depicted in his air ; he is dressed in a greenish doublet and hose, with reddish-brown cloak ; metal jug and books on a table beside him, curtain behind. Signed "J. Steen " (J and S connected). Panel, 22 by i6j inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, S7ib voce " Jan Steen," No. 121. Lent by the Earl of Northbrook, G. C.S.I. JAN JOSEFSZ VAN GOYEN. 39 Landscape. A village with a church half concealed by a group of trees on the brink of a canal, which reflects the tree trunks, and boats filled with parties of villagers. The canal winds away to the left ; in the distance a sailing boat and a windmill. Clouds fleecy and squally gathering over blue sky. Panel, 2\ \ by 28| inches. Lent by Wvi. McKay, Esq. JAN VAN DE CAPPELLE. 40 Shipping in a Calm. View in a shallow estuary or bay ; numerous craft of all kinds becalmed stretching away into the far distance ; in the foreground a man at work in a small boat, and another man with a basket on his back wading towards it ; a barge beyond with sails hanging loose in the still air ; buildings on a flat shore, in the right distance ; cloudy sky, the atmosphere clear as if before rain. Canvas, 23 by 25 i inches. Lent by the Earl of Northbrook, G.C.S.L KAREL DU JARDIN. 41 Landscape with Cattle. A cow and three sheep in a meadow close to a wood ; in the left distance are seen the walls of a town on a hill ; blue sky with clouds. Signed and dated, in the right bottom corner, " K du Jardin." Panel, 11 by 11 inches. LcTit by Captain Holford. 32 Exhibition of TiSiures ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE. 42 The Nativity. Composition of eight figures in the Stable, round the manger in which lies the Child upon straw under a black coverlet, a pillow beneath His head ; Mary seated by His side, Joseph behind, looking up from a book open in his hands, the ass and two figures entering at the door. Signed to the left " Av Ostade, 1667." Canvas, 18 by 16 inches. Lent by Alfred Beit, Esq. WILLEM VAN DE VELDE. 43 "A Squally Day." A breaking sea ; in the foreground is a large Dutch man-of-war with her head coming up in the wind, and just coming to anchor ; on the left another man-of-war running before the wind ; on the right two small fishing boats, with many other craft under sail in the distance ; on the extreme right is a pier with figures on it ; clouds, squalls and showers coming up from the left. Signed " " Canvas, 251 by 33^ inches. Lent by Captain Holford. JAN STEEN. 44 The Marriage Feast at Cana. The scene is a large hall with pillars and vaulted roof. At and around a high table on a raised platform approached by two flights of steps, twenty-nine figures are seated or standing, in the, midst of whom Christ stands and speaks to a lad who pours water into vessels to the apparent surprise of the four nearest guests. On the steps to the left Jan Steen himself, portly as usual, leaving the company as if the wine had run out ; a woman pushes him back and a guest detains him by his cloak. Below the high table, in front, are ten figures, of whom a group of four to the left are trying the wine, amongst them a lady in a gray satin dress with glass to her lips, while a stout Turk in yellow dress and red fez looks at her incredulously ; a negro servant behind. On the middle of the steps a jolly toper, a woman trying to make him get up, and a dwarf serving his liquor. On the right a young man delabre'm orange dress with slashed hose and sleeves, appealing in vain to a man above and pointing to the water in a fountain hard by ; his dog at his side. Musicians in the gallery above. Signed " J.S." (connected). Panel, 25 by 32- inches. From the Fabricius, Van Hoeck, De la Hante and Walter Collections. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, sub voce "Jan Steen," No. 100. Lent by Alfred Beit, Esq. by T^utch 3\dasters 33 FRANS HALS. 45 Portrait of the French schoolmaster and writing teacher at Haarlem, Jean de la Chambre. Nearly full face, black dress, white falling ruff, and pen in right hand. Signed " 1638 out 32." Panel, 8 by 6^ inches. Lent by W. C. Alexander, Esq. GABRIEL METSU. 46 " The Sailor's Letter." On the left near a window a lady in pink skirt, yellow fur-trimmed bodice and large white cap, is seated, facing us, and reading a letter. On the right a maid-servant with a pail under her left arm and a letter in her left hand bearing the signature " Metsu " ; with her right hand she is withdrawing a green curtain from a picture of a ship battling with a choppy sea ; a spaniel watching her. A cool daylight falls from the window. Panel, 20\ by 16 inches. From the Bruyn, Braamcamp and Henry Hope Collections. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn6, sub voce " G. Metsu," No. 21. Lent by Alfred Beit, Esq. GABRIEL METSU. 47 "The Intruder." Interior of a bedchamber hung with gilt leather, in which are two ladies ; a cavalier is trying to enter, and a maidservant prevents him ; one lady, in a green velvet jacket, bordered with ermine, is seated, with a comb in her hand, at a table near a window, arranging her hair ; on tl 5 table are a silver box and a looking- glass, the other lady, who is only partly dressed, stands beside a bed in a white satin skirt and red bodice ; a robe of scarlet velvet, bordered with ermine, lies on a chair in front. Signed on the bedstead " G. Metsu." Panel, 26 by 23 inches. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, sub voce " G. Metsu," No. 94. " A chef-d'oeuvre of the master." Lent by the Earl of Northbrook, G. C.S.I. REMBRANDT. 48 Study of a Girl's Head. Nearly full face, looking down to the left ; the shoulders covered with brown dress and white collar. Panel, 7^ by 6^ inches. Le>it by Sir Charles Titrncr. E 34 Exhibition of T^iSiures GABRIEL METSU. 49 "The Letter Writer." Full length figure of a young gentleman in black silk hose, black velvet cloak, full white sleeves, seated, almost in profile to left, in a red leather chair, at a table covered with a red Turkey carpet. He is engaged in writing a letter. His hat hangs on the back of the chair. Before him is an open window, from which a diffused gray daylight falls upon the scene. The background is a light gray wall, on which a picture (after Weenix, Sen.?), hangs in a gold frame. The floor is of black and white marble. Signed on the right top " G. Metsue." Panel, 2i{ by i6|^ inches. From the Bruyn, Braamcamp and Henry Hope Collections. Smith's Catalogue Raisonn^, sub voce " G. Metsu," No. 20. Leni by Alfred Beit, Esq. JAN VAN DE CAPPELLE. 50 A Ripple Before the Rain. View looking along sea-coast ; in the left foreground a boat, from which some passengers have just landed, boats and figures on the shore beyond ; a large boat with a lug-sail and other craft sailing in the distance ; sky obscured by clouds charged with rain ; a light breeze striking the sails to the right and rippling the surface of the sea. Canvas, 28 by 33^ inches. Lent by Charles T. D. Crews, Esq. PHILIPS WOUWERMAN. 51 " La Course au Hareng." An assemblage of peasants in front of an inn. A herring is suspended across the road to a cord fastened between the inn and a leafless tree. A man, with a woman up behind him, is riding at the herring, and trying to seize it with his teeth. Other couples, mounted or on foot, are waiting their turn at the sport. Signed to the right of the centre. Canvas, 25 by 31^ inches. From the Randon de Boisset, Tolozan and Duchesse de Berri Collections. Smith's Catalogue Raisonne, sub voce "P. Wouwermans," No. 130. Lerit by Captain Holford. by T)utch ^Masters 35 NICOLAES MAES. 52 The Little Nurse. A child lying in a cradle, at the foot of which is seated a girl eating some food out of a bowl ; a cat in the right corner. Signed " N.M^S." Panel, 13 by 10 inches. Lent by the Marquess of Lansdowne, K.G. JAN STEEN. 53 " La Malade." A lady seized with sudden indisposition lying fully dressed on a bed with turkey carpet thereon and a red curtain canopy ; her maid and a gentleman in purple silk dolman with slashed sleeves bend over her, and he lifts her hand ; behind, Jan Steen, engraisse, brings by way of remedy a pasty and a jug of wine ; in the background four figures, one of whom is engaged in opening oysters. Signed to the left " J. Steen." Panel, 9 by 14^ inches. Letit by Alfred Beit, Esq. JACOB VAN RUISDAEL. 54 A Gloomy Day. Two reaches of a river flowing dark from right to left over a rocky weir. On the further bank to left a ruined tower and buildings, and a wooded hill beyond. In foreground to right a dead tree, leafless and almost branchless, and two oak trees in full foliage behind. Squally sky with ragged black and white clouds, through which a half light strikes the middle distance. Signed " J.R." (connected). Panel, 18 by 24 inches. From the Kums Collection. Lent by Henry f. Pfungst, Esq. WILLEM VAN DE VELDE. 55 A Calm. Two fishing boats, with sails drying, by the shore, on which the glassy sea hardly ripples ; two men-of-war and other craft in the distance. Masses of cloud slowly crossing the blue sky. Signed on a plank on the shore " W.V.V." Canvas, 274 by 33^ inches. Lent by Sir Edgar Vincent, K.C.M.G., M.P. 36 Exhibition of Ti&ures by Dutch Masters JAN VAN DE CAPPELLE. 56 A Calm. In centre three Dutch fishing boats in the water, another without mast or sail on shore and a man dragging a net ; other craft in the distance. Rain clouds about to fall. Canvas, 144- by \g\ inches. From the Demidoff Collection. Lent by Mrs. Joseph. ADRIAEN VAN DE VELDE. 57 The Little Farm. In the centre, among sparse trees in leaf, stands a small farm ; to left a man accompanied by a woman on horseback, driving a flock of sheep to pasture ; in the left foreground a pool of water, with a cow drinking ; in the centre two herds- men, with cows, sheep, and goats lying down or feeding. Cool daylight, with light clouds spreading over blue sky. Signed in the centre " A v. Velde 1663." Canvas, I2i by 14 inches. From the Perkins Collection. Lent by George Salting, Esq. WILLEM VAN DE VELDE. 58 Seapiece. A fierce wind and a wild sea, and four ships labouring under light sail. A black squall approaching over the horizon. Signed to the left " W. V. V. 1663." Canvas, I2|: by 15 inches. Lent by George Salting, Esq. CHISWICK PRESS : PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 3 3125 01278 4514