■BaflOHHSEI THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/oldmodernmasters01vale OLD AND MODERN MASTERS IN THE COLLECTION OF M-C-D BORDEN CATALOGUED BY WILHELM R-VALENTINER & AUGUST E • JACCAC1 VOLUME ONE NEW YORK PRIVATELY PRINTED MCMXI 'H Copyright, ign, by Frederic Fairchild Sherman CONTENTS VOLUME I Paintings by Old Masters, Wilhelm R.Valentiner Early Dutch, Flemish and Italian Masters Cuyp, Aelbert De Hooch, Pieter Guardi, Francesco Hals, Frans Hobbema, Meindert Teniers, David (The Younger) Terborch, Gerard Van deVelde, Willem Van Dyck, Anton Van Ostade, Isack Van Ostade, Adriaen Van Rijn, Rembrandt Van Ruisdael, Jacob Wouwerman, Philips Wynants, Jan Man Eating Mussels .... The Music Party The Piazza of San Marco, Venice The Grand Canal near the Piazza San Marco, Venice . The Reverend Caspar Sibelius Castle Kostverloren Woman Smoking in an Inn . Lady Pouring Wine . Calm Sea Portrait of a Gentleman Peasants before an Inn Backgammon Players at an Inn Lucretia Stabbing Herself The Cascade A Waterfall Grooms Watering Horses The Sutler's Booth Hilly Landscape with Grove of Trees Paintings of the English Masters, August F. Jaccaci English Masters Chrome, John Constable, John . Gainsborough, Thomas Hoppner, John Lawrence, Sir Thomas Millais, Sir John Everett The Pet Bird Morland, George . . Rustic Scene 3 The Willow . The Sluice . Miss Ann Horde Mrs. Arbuthnot Miss Kent . . 26 37 74 79 3 1 3 2 73 55 56 68 43 38 44 49 5° 61 62 67 83 118 117 99 112 100 1 3 5 129 English Masters — Continued Nasmyth, Patrick Reynolds, Sir Joshua Romney, George Tadema, Sir Alma Turner, ]. M. W. . Edinburgh from Gogar . Miss Morris . The Willett Children . . Countess of Glencairn(?) . Lady Hamilton as Madonna . Unwelcome Confidence . The Cliffs at Dover East Cowes Castle, the Seat of J Nash, Esq. — The Regatta Bears ing to Windward .... VOLUME II Paintings of the Modern French, Dutch, German and American Masters, August F. Jaccaci Modern French Masters i 30 94 106 iii 136 123 124 Bonheur, Rosa . Breton, J. Adolphe Corot, J. B. Camille Daubigny, C. Francois Daumier, Honore Decamps, A. Gabriel Delacroix, Eugene De Neuville, Alphonse Detaille, Edouard Diaz, Narcisse Virgile Dupre, Jules . Highland Cattle and Sheep on a Mountain Pasture La Fin de la Recolte Bohemienne a la Fontaine Le Pont de Mantes Le Bateau au Clair de Lune La Cueillette au Bord du Chemin Mantes4a=Jolie The Willows The Banks of the Oise. Summer Le W r agon de Troisieme Classe Les Petits Nautonniers Combat en Algerie Prisonniers de Guerre . Prussian Cuirassiers Attacking a French Convoy .... La Diseuse de Bonne Aventure Sunset near Fontainebleau Pasturage near Llsle^Adam . 4 112 1 3 5 5 2 57 58 63 88 93 94 46 45 40 130 129 99 100 7 6 Modern French Masters — Continued Dupre, Jules Fromentin, Eugene . Gericault, Theodore Gerome, J. L. . Greuze, J. Baptiste . Henner, J. Jacques . Meissonier, J. L. Ernest Monticelli, Adolphe Millet, Jean Francois Rousseau, Theodore Troyon, Constant Vibert, J. Georges Modern Dutch Masters Mauve, Anton Neuhuys, Albert Modern German Masters Defregger, Franz. Dieffenbach, H. A. Knaus, Ludwig . Litschauer, Joseph Siegert, August . Landscape 81 Landscape 82 Landscape 87 A la Fontaine 117 The White Horse 30, Bonaparte en Egypte . . . .124 Innocence 34 Magdalen 123 A Cavalier 118 Court d Amour 105 Romantic Scene 106 Le Gardeur de Moutons . . .111 The Pool 64 Landscape 69 Sunset The Pool in the Forest . The Approaching Storm A Theological Quarrel Winter Landscape Mother and Children . The Adventure Girl and Child . A Bavarian Holiday . The Counterfeiters The Old Grandmother 7° 75 5 1 136 142 147 1 64 158 163 152 1 57 Modern American Masters Inness, George . . . Sunset 181 Sunset (Montclair) . . . .182 McEntee, Jervis . . . Autumn Landscape with Figures 176 Whittredge,W r orthington Scene in a Park 175 Wyant, Alexander . . The Approaching Storm . . .170 5 VOLUME I PAINTINGS BY OLD MASTERS PAINTINGS BY OLD MASTERS By Wilhelm R. Valentiner DUTCH SCHOOL [HE principal pictures of the old masters in Mr. Borden's collection are works by recognized mas? ters of the best period of the Dutch School, the second third of the seventeenth century. The various manners of expression of Dutch painting are excellently represented, the portrait, genre, landscape and seascape; even subjects of classical antiquity, which are but seldom and with little success cultivated in Holland, are represented by a masterpiece of Rembrandt's, the dying Lucretia. We shall begin with Frans Hals and Rembrandt, the great men who dominate the school by their strong personalities, and force into the two distinct channels they individually followed all its lesser masters. Although Frans Hals lived to see the fruits of peace begin to ripen in his later years, he represents the people who lived in a state o£ war, the long war in which Holland and the "whole of Europe were engaged in at the time. Rembrandt, who belongs to a little younger generation, is the representative of the same community in a state of peace, and his style full of feeling and thought was devel? oped under the stimulus of the hard and rough experiences of the preceding period. Yet Frans Hals' artistic activities extended almost to the death of Rembrandt; his realistic conception depending upon momentary expression, and that of Rembrandt, quiet, soulful and absorbed, are therefore contemporaneous. "We may safely say that one was evolved from the other, and also, that the manner of Rem? brandt dominated Dutch art after the fifties. These two absolutely different conceptions are very well illus* trated by two works in the possession of Mr. Borden; Hals' portrait 9 o£ the "Reverend. Caspar Sibelius," dated 1637, and the "Lucretia" of Rembrandt, painted in 1664. The Hals is one of the works in which, concentrating his broad, free art within the limits of a small canvas, the artist accomplishes all the more astonishing results. As soon as it -was completed, this painting was twice engraved by J. Suydenhoef, one of the best Dutch engravers of the time, and has become especially well known for that reason. Since several pictures by Frans Hals, and of similar size, are available in engravings of the time, it is logical to assume that the artist chose a small canvas, to which he was unac? customed, out of consideration for the engraver. The work belongs to the best period of his career, when with his peculiar vivacious* ness he combined a comparatively painstaking and finely studied technique; when instead of the rugged figures of his earlier period he pictured jovial contentment, and supplanted by a transparent gray tone, his early garish color schemes. It was, furthermore, in the latter half of the thirties, the time when this portrait was painted, that Frans Hals painted some of his best works: the "Portrait of a Painter" and the "Portrait of an Old Woman" from the Yerkes Collection, both of 1635, and both now in the Frick Collection, the portrait of Michielde Wael(i638) in the possession of Mr. Morgan, and the two companion pictures of the same year, in Frankfort. It is rare that we should know the personality of Hals' sitters, as in this case of Sibelius, who was born in Germany and enjoyed a reputation as a preacher in England, Switzerland, and finally also in Holland. If the inscription on the back of the canvas is correct, we also know the name of its first owner, a certain Professor Hoffmann, to whom it is said to have been presented by Sibelius himself. We may wonder how it came about that an artist like Frans Hals, whom we picture mentally as a manner of Falstaff, should be particularly successful in portraying ministers of the Gospel ; yet he painted many of them. It is clear that an understanding of naive piety such as was imparted by gentle preachers, was not incompat* ible with the rough belligerent natures of that time. In fact, war itself aided in furthering the influence of the priests, for a nation whose chief preoccupation is the defense of its territory is more apt to give the church its rights than a people living in peace and having 10 time for reflection and therefore for scepticism. These Dutch min= isters also seem to have fostered a simple conception of life quite in accordance with the practical problems so close at hand, and by- means of a jovial cordiality to have brought themselves close to their flock. Sibelius is not portrayed as a complex nature ; on the contrary, his friendly bearing, the clear, intelligent look in his small eyes, the encouraging, eloquent position of his hands does not reveal a man of philosophical and speculative mind with thoughts running in deep channels, but one of simple nature who understands his immediate task of heartening and comforting. The artist himself "was the same sort of man as his sitter. Frans Hals' art depicts instantaneous impressions, and it is for this reason that his figures seem so direct and lifelike to us. But one artist above all others, Rembrandt, understood the combination of reality with delicately shaded psychic expression. His picture in the Bor? den Collection is a striking example of this combination. It belongs to the artist's later period and is one of the most magnificent and effective of its works. Toward the close of his career the artist con* fined himself to painting figures, somewhat statuesque in character, whose drastic gestures are similar to those used in operatic acting ; the whole field of expression being transferred to the depicting of the inner life, and the rendering of the atmosphere in which his figs ures are placed. Such, surely, is the case with Lucretia. Her pose seems borrowed from the theatre ; she stands as though in the centre of the £tage, with both hands equally raised. This subject of Lucretia in the act of self destruction was not a new one, and it is quite pos= sible that the artist knew some of the pictures by the great Venetian artists, Titian and Palma Vecchio, where the dying Lucretia is repre* sented at half length. In the figure of the Northern master, we do not readily note anything unusual. Primarily we recognize a well* known model often used by him in his later years, and that she wears a costume and jewelry we know to have belonged to him. The picture therefore has a portrait^like character. In fact, the whole o£ Rembrandt's work is portraiture. But despite this simple, almost crude composition, there is something in the picture which makes it one of the wonderful creations of the great artist. Considering first ii the technique and color, one sees the figure looming through a flood of golden tones laid in broad masses and glittering in the jewelry; and the pale face appears as seemingly blurred by a diaphanous veil of sunny mist. At every point one is made aware of the master hand schooled in hundreds of pictures which are great achievements; the broad strokes, accurately subservient to the will, clearly indicate that disdain for the vehicle which only the greatest men can show, and only in their best works, and then unconsciously. But all this ex* ternal splendor is surpassed by the intensity of psychic expression. Who can resist the appeal of this pitiful face, so despondent in its mental anguish; or the suggestion of life seemingly ebbing from the body even before the dagger has touched the breast; or again, the effect of this most touching silhouette of the slightly inclined head, and the hand outstretched in a gesture which speaks of fear and resignation? Quite unique in art is this combination of a broad dec; orative effect with this extraordinary expression of distinct feelings, seemingly too subtle for expression with the brush; the combina* tion, furthermore, of the real and convincing human appeal of the portrait with the distant fantasy of an Oriental fairy tale. It is per? haps because of the concentration of the whole action in a single figure, that just as thoughts flow most freely in a monologue, the artist has succeeded so strikingly in his presentation. Apart from Hals and Rembrandt, the remaining masters of the Dutch School can be grouped according to their respective fields. At the same time it is obvious that practically all are under the influence of the two great masters, and that many of them have developed from the manner of Frans Hals into that o{ Rembrandt. This is notably the case with the genre painters, who are represented by four pictures — one by Terborch, one by each of the Ostades, and one by Cuyp. Of all but the last of these it may be said that they came from the school of Frans Hals and were later influenced by Rem* brandt. Terborch is the best representative painter of genre subjects de* picting the life and manners of the upper classes in Holland; and his own life illustrates the rise of the professional artist to a higher social position. Terborch was born in 1617 and is ten years Rembrandt's 12 junior. Two generations of important masters had preceded Kim, his father was himself an industrious painter holding an official position in his home town, Zwolle ; therefore in the choice of a profession he had no such parental difficulties to overcome as had Rembrandt. He could afford to travel, first in Holland, then in England and prac* tically on the whole Continent, and had every opportunity for the cultivation of his art. As early as in the forties he became the painter of the highest political circles of the time; in 1648 he painted the assembled delegates to the Congress of Minister at the close of the Thirty Years' V/ar ; later he was called to Madrid by the Spanish Minister Peneranda and is there said to have painted a likeness of Philip IV. When, after traveling in Italy and England, he returned home, settling down and getting married in Deventer, he was overs whelmed with honors and received from distinguished citizens and statesmen enough commissions to keep him busy for the rest of his days. That the artist was a man of the world and of good breeding may be gathered from his portrait in Spanish costume by his own hand which is now in the Gallery at The Hague. In the development of his art we note the growing social prestige which he enjoyed. The military pieces betraying the influence of Frans Hals belong to his early years; in his middle period, the late forties, he painted the charming genre subjects, full of a sedate and well-bred bourgeois atmosphere, which depict his own domestic environment ; and in the work painted in the fifties appear satin robes and cavaliers in scenes of the life of the beau monde. The feeling for elegance, which pre* supposes a broad knowledge of the world, manifests itself in his easy fluent technique, and in the influences which swayed him. Just as he follows Frans Hals in his earlier period, so later he is influenced by the Dutch painters of the bourgeoisie, and what is more, his versa* tile art shows also the influence of the great foreign artists — Titian, Velazquez and Van Dyck. The picture in the Borden Collection is of the middle period and is quite after the manner of Metsu, who, being the younger, must have been the borrower. Furthermore, the strong vermilion in the costume of the young woman — a color rarely found in Terborch — as well as the chiaroscuro, shows that this picture originated at a time x 3 when Dutch artists worshipped at the shrine of Rembrandt. While the women in the group belong to the simple bourgeois class, the ele* gantly dressed cavalier evidences that tendency of the artist which was soon to help him get out of this environment into the aristocratic world. Aelbert Cuyp, who is represented in an unusual way by a genre picture, enjoyed like Terborch the respect of his community. He filled important and honorable positions in his native town of Dord; recht and was the owner of a small estate outside the city. Unlike Terborch, he felt no desire to travel, but remained always in the quiet milieu whence he came, and only the warm southern light which appears in his landscapes indicates an appreciation of other climes. The "Mussel Eater" also gives a faithful picture of the surroundings of the artist. We look into a smithy in which the owner sits upon the anvil. Before him is a bowl full of mussels, one of which he is eating while two children interestedly follow his motions. The somewhat stiff attitudes leave no doubt that the three are portraits, and that this picture is a group of portraits arranged as a genre scene, as is further demonstrated by the two men looking in at the window to the right who are also treated in a decidedly portrait4ike fashion. It may be that the older man is the pater familias and the other his sons. At any rate, this picture is a reproduction — either executed by the artist or done by a pupil — of a larger one in the museum at Rotterdam, from which it differs in several details. The somewhat unnatural position of the hand of the older man in Mr. Borden's example is explained by the Rotterdam picture in which he holds a glass of wine; the girl in the latter holds an apple instead of a pipe, and the child's head just visible behind the barrel, as well as the cat in the foreground, have been entirely omitted in the present canvas. Also the complete signature, A. Cuyp fecit, is replaced in our picture by the monogram A. C. In Pieter de Hooch's "Music Party" we have a typical example of the genre picture of aristocratic subjects, the third phase of Dutch genre art, when it came under French influence and began to lose its national character. Pieter de Hooch was not an artist of social standing like Terborch or Cuyp ; he lived in extremely poor circum* 14 stances, having started in life by being a servant in a noble house* hold. But together with the two masters we have just mentioned, as well as with all the artists who lived until about 1680, he was affected by foreign influences. His artistic development is of a kind with Terborctfs. Like him, he began with military pieces, then in his middle and best period he painted bourgeois genre pictures, and in his later period he depicted scenes of the life of the higher and more elegant society. But in his last period is also to be noted a decrease in artistic feeling, greater in his case, and perhaps the result of discourage* ment at his lack of success. The picture in the Borden Collection is one of the best in his last manner. While the drawing of the figure is heavy and the whole arrangement somewhat stiff, the picture never* theless has excellent qualities. Several of the faces, not de Hooch's strong point by any means, are especially attractive and the garments are painted with a fine feeling for texture and a good sense of color. The influence of French academic art manifests itself in the emphasis laid upon horizontal and vertical lines, by means of which the figures at the table are practically enclosed in a square. The garden, which is also in the French style, and arranged and pruned in rectilinear fashion, contains a structure in the classic style patterned after the Amsterdam City Hall. The best representative painters of genre subjects of the lower classes, Jan Steen alone excepted, are the two Ostades, each of whom is represented in the Borden Collection : Adriaen by an interior with gaming peasants, Isack by an inn stable. The older Ostade employed his great and long admired art in the presentation of the chiaroscuro of picturesque peasant interiors within which the gaudy costumes of stoutish inmates compose subdued harmonies; while the younger brother preferred to reproduce the chiaroscuro of outdoor scenes in the late afternoon under the shady trees and bowers sheltering peasant cottages . Isack stands in the same relation to Adriaen Ostade as does Hobbema to Ruisdael. Isack is the pupil and the more temper* amental of the two ; like Hobbema, he achieves in his best works more fascinating effects than the older master; but, on the other hand, he is less balanced, and seldom succeeds in doing his best unless when guided by youthful impulse. Like him also, he is monotonous J 5 in his composition as -well as less original, but broader in his execution and in his light and color effects. The composition of the charming picture in the Borden Collection is, like that of the majority of his pictures, reminiscent of an older style, that of older landscapists — Van Goyen and Pieter Molyn. It is planned diagonally, the perspec* tive deepening toward the right from a corner in the foreground; and conditioned by this, the light is disposed in such manner that each bright portion of the picture alternates with a dark one, so that by this means the depth of space is more definitely rendered. Also in general color tone and in technique Isack approaches preceding works more closely than his older brother, as was natural, since he was young (he died at thirty^seven). In the peasant types he imitates his brother ; but in the golden color scheme, in which a few warm greenish^blue and yellowish^red tones are prominent, he follows Rembrandt, who at the time of the painting of this picture, the for? ties, was at the height of his reputation. With all this is allied a sort of romantic apotheosis of peasant life on the Dutch high-roads which belongs to him alone, and renders his achievement the perfected climax of the method first followed by Molyn and Van Goyen. Adriaen is more realistically and perhaps also more pedantically inclined, but his execution is more artistic and more accomplished ; and he disposes his light and colors more evenly and harmoniously. It is in a picture like that in the Borden Collection that he shows him* self to advantage. It presents the best of his art, showing neither the somewhat brutal conception of his earlier works nor the hard col; oring of his later manner. The composition seems unintentional but is complete; the complex arrangement of the room does not have a restless effect despite the large number of objects on the walls, while the figures give a happy and comfortable impression. While the art development of the two Ostades shows quite de* cidedly the peaceful spirit of the Rembrandt tradition, we find in Wouwermans, however, a late representative of the military man* ner o£ Frans Hals. It may be said that he is the last painter of the soldier subjects favored by the latter's school, although his style is rather reminiscent of Rembrandt's. The two pictures in this collec; tion are characteristic. They show his preference for scenes of action 16 from military or country life in the restless regions affected by the war, where numerous groups of figures are arranged in a rich and wellscomposed picture. His motives, filling the canvas even to the corners, are inexhaustible; the drawing and, above all, the move* ment of figures and animals — not generally the strong point of the Dutch School — are excellent; and the technique has a fluency which hints at French eighteenth century art. The superiority of the artist, however, as compared with his predecessors, Palamedes, Esaias van de Velde, Duyster and others, lies in his understanding of the art of distribution. Among these men we still have the relief conception of Frans Hals, which usually permitted the consideration of only the foremost plane ; here, on the contrary, we find the plastic style of the baroque of Rembrandt and his contemporaries, with their greater richness and variety of forms. Whenever the figures of the foreground allow a perspective view, the eye is attracted into the middle distance by spirited figures, and new motives lead still further on, out into the background where ranges of hills and a wellborn* posed, plastically clouded sky deepen the distance. Dutch landscape painting is represented in pictures by its two most important masters, Ruisdael and Hobbema ; by a seascape from the brush of one of its best sea painters, Willem van de Velde, and a landscape of dunes by Jan Wynants. The first among these men is Jacob Ruisdael, who, despite a momentary vogue for Hobbema, still remains the great master of Dutch, and, in fact, of all earlier lands scape painting. His two pictures here present similar motives — in each case a waterfall crossed by a footbridge and bounded by rocky and wooded banks — and both date from the later period of the artist. Pictures of this kind, of which Ruisdael produced a large number in the later years of his life , occasionally suffer the not ungrounded objection that they are too consciously composed and one censures the deficient conception of the artist who presumably never saw waterfalls and mountains. This, however, is not the case in his best works, of which the great waterfall in the Borden Collection is an instance. It manifests in the highest degree the poetic feeling which raises the artist above all landscape painters of his time. That which we so often find wanting in Dutch landscape work, the feeling of *7 unity to which all detail is subordinated, is perfectly expressed in these pictures which are the outcome purely of the imagination. The longing of the Dutch people for the mountain scenery which is lacking in their native land has found expression at the hands of Ruisdael in these pictures composed of strongly drawn mountains, tumbling waterfalls and dense oak forests, under a lowering sky, broken only by a pale green sheen at the horizon. And this form of expression seems to us actual, because the artist's fancy and his ex= traordinary memory for the individual features of nature have been guided by a hand tested in decades of experience ; and because they are the creations of a serious and reflective mind, which, during his later years, deeply felt the noble and solemn beauty of melancholy regions overcast with gloomy clouds, where he was more at home than in sunshiny scenes. Compared with Ruisdael, Hobbema has a more friendly air ; he does not wander far, but exerts all his powers in the portrayal of serene and poetic forest landscapes such as he sees about him. This picture of the Castle of Kostverloren belongs to his earlier period, when he kept especially close to nature. It is a simple study which was executed in the autumn, perhaps on the spot, or after only slightly altered preliminary sketches and without much thought for compo; sition. This castle, built in the fifteenth century and now no longer standing, was several times painted by the artist. In one of his pic* tures, which was sold at Amsterdam in 1907, the tower is seen from the side where stands the chimney, and in the wall of the main build* ing the remains of a gable may be distinguished. Jan Wynants also presents a typical Dutch landscape in a picture of dunes with blasted oaks by the roadside, a landscape of the type which one finds in Guelders, a region which because of its dunes and woods often lured the Haarlem painters — of whom ^Vynants was one — into study trips. But we must not believe that this landscape is an accurate transcript from nature. From other works of the artist we know that certain features, such as the blasted trees, the sandy road leading around the hillock and from which an old palesfence straggles down, and even the deep blue sky with isolated lumpy clouds, are typical composition motives of the artist that have been 18 used by him often. Though handicapped by the somewhat hard and lifeless style, which is particularly characteristic of his later pictures, his compositions make a pleasant impression because of their well* balanced proportions and especially when they are enlivened as in this case, by figures painted in by that great little master, Adriaen vande Velde. In Dutch art, paintings of the open sea are seldom met with, no doubt because the artistic centres of the country being mainly inland the artist did not then experience the desire — which has been awak= ened by modern city life — to settle somewhere on the seashore far away from the -world. The picture by Willem van de Velde, dated 1661, and belonging to his Amsterdam period, represents not the open sea but the Zuyder Zee, which was nearer the painter's home. He achieved his best work -when depicting a quiet, sunny afternoon, with the water clearly mirroring yellow and brown sails, and ships outlined in the distance against a warm hazy sky. FLEMISH SCHOOL THE ensemble o£ Flemish painting in the seventeenth century is not as many-sided as that of the Dutch School ; above all, the specialists, commanding a small field to perfection, are lacking, as though they had been unable to develop beside the dominating Rubens. It is therefore quite proportionate to the representation of the Dutch School, in this collection, that Flemish art should appear in but few examples — a portrait by Anton van Dyck and a genre picture by David Teniers. The portrait by Van Dyck is a masterpiece of the artist's Antwerp period, the period when he acquired the mastery of simple noble forms, and showed as much mental composure as was compatible with his restive and nervous temperament. The wild passion of precocious youth, the noisy elegance of the Genoese period had been conquered, and the artist painted in his home city, Antwerp, a series of portraits distinguished by an intensive characterization of the heads, simple firm outlines, and a reserved gray tone. In the cares less, indolent position of the hand in our portrait we already detect the approaching note of his English period, but the quiet and im* *9 pressive head shows still the stamp of individuality. A late copy o£ this picture, which is still catalogued as the original, is now in the museum at Douai, and the sitter is designated as Hubert Duhot. It is a moot question to what extent this designation is justifiable, and whether or not it is based upon tradition. Having first considered Dutch painting, Flemish pictures seem less varied in their types, less individual in their characteristics. Teniers is a marked example in point, he repeatedly uses the same types, even upon the same canvas. For instance, the lover in the foreground of the picture in the Borden Collection figures also as one of the men near the fireplace. That which interests us principally in Flemish, as compared with Dutch painting, is the fluent technique reminding one of French art and sharply distinguished from the heavy impasto of the Dutchmen, as well as the omission of useless details, and the bright fresh coloring which lends even to serious scenes a festive character. In this particularly well*preserved and excellent example these traits are pleasingly obvious. The room is not overburdened with detail, as is often the case in Dutch interiors; even the dog and the still4ife are painted -with a freedom and a feeling for essentials which brings to mind the work of the greatest master of still;life in France, Chardin. The couple in the foreground is not only well com- posed and excellently drawn, but also exceptionally effective in its scheme of color, notably in the garments of the woman, her blue skirt, red bodice, white shift and cap. The picture depicts that peas- ant life for the portrayal of which Teniers is famous. ITALIAN SCHOOL WE do not stray far from our field if, in conclusion, we consider two paintings of the Italian School; Venetian views by Fran? cesco Guardi — for the Venetian School is more intimately related to the Dutch than is any other of the Italian Schools, and comparisons between Dutch and Venetian art have often been made. The simi; larity lies in the influence exerted upon art by partly similar climatic conditions. Much moisture in the atmosphere creates a fine silvery haze which veils the contours of the objects and gives greater interest and significance to atmospheric appearances. Dutch, as well as Ve= 20 netian painting, is therefore remarkable in its rendering of air and light, and among the Venetians no one understood how to reproduce in his pictures the shimmering sun of Venice as Guardi. Truly, in the art o£ Guardi we are considerably removed from the Nether? lands, not only geographically, but because the sun of the south was an inspiration for a brighter and infinitely more brilliant scale of colors. Perhaps the more important difference is that of time; the great Hollanders belong to the Baroque period with its feeling for massive, heavy forms, for strong contrasts of light and shade, and for cumbersome drawing. Guardi is a representative of the Rococo, which transformed heavy forms into wellscomposed masses, straight broad lines into short and elegant curves, and which brightened chi= aroscuro and brought out scintillating light. If we compare this view of the square of St. Mark with Mr. Borden's picture by Pieter de Hooch, where the artist obviously strove for elegance and brilliant light effects, it is evident that Guardi belonged to a more advanced and a happier time, to a period of easier living. The two paintings, the view of the Canale Grande and that of the Piazza San Marco, are small but excellent examples of his versatile and charming art. 21 EARLY DUTCH, FLEMISH AND ITALIAN MASTERS Early Dutch, Flemish and Italian Masters i Aelbert Cuyp 2 Frans Hals 3 Meindert Hobbema 4 Pieter de Hooch 5 Adriaen van Ostade 6 Isack van Ostade 7 Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 8 Jacob van Ruisdael 9 Jacob van Ruisdael io Gerard Terborch 1 1 V/illem van de Velde 1 2 Philips Wouwerman i 3 Philips Wouwerman 14 JanWynants 1 5 Anton van Dyck 16 David Teniers the Younger 1 7 Francesco Guardi 18 Francesco Guardi [1] AELBERT CUYP BORN at Dordrecht in 1620. Died there 1111691. Pupil of his father, Jacob Gerrits Cuyp. Primarily influenced by Jan van Goyen and Pieter Molyn, later by Rembrandt. Painter of landscapes, portraits, animals and still life. MAN EATING MUSSELS On the right of the canvas, a blacksmith, wearing a golden? brown jacket, is seated in his smithy beside a cask eating mussels ; a small boy and a little girl who wears a red bodice and a white apron are watching him. On the right two richly - dressed men are looking through a window. The smith's assis* tant stands in the left background in the shadow, holding a hammer in his hand. A small dog lies in front of the cask. On the left a cock and two hens. Signed at the lower left: A. C. Panel: H. 20V4 inches; "W. 30V2 inches. This picture is a smaller replica of the painting in the Boys mans Museum in Rotterdam. J. Smith: A catalogue raisonne of the work of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish and French painters, London, 1829, No. 178. C. Hofstede de Groot: A catalogue raisonne of the work of the most eminent Dutch painters of the seventeenth century, London, 1909, No. 50. Exhibited at the Hudson=Fulton Celebration, NewYork, 1909, No. 14. Sale A. Febvre, Paris, 1882. Sale Baron de Beurnonville, Paris, 1883. Sale F. Zschille, Cologne, 1889. Collection Van Loon, Amsterdam. Collection of Baron v. d. Heydt, Berlin. 26 MAN EATING MUSSELS AELBERT cuyp THE REVEREND CASPAR SIBELIUS FRANS HALS • [2] FRANS HALS BORN at Antwerp in 1 584. Died at Haarlem in 1666. Pupil o£ Karel van Mander. Worked mostly in Haarlem. Painter of portraits and genre. THE REVEREND CASPAR SIBELIUS Half length. Turned slightly toward the right, addressing his congregation. The left hand is raised in eloquent gesture and he holds a small prayer-book in the right. He is dressed in black with a white outstanding ruff and a black skull-cap. Signed on the right: Aetat Svae 47, An 1637, F. Hals. At the top of the canvas, in the centre, the inscription Natus 1590 S M Functus 40. Panel: H. 10V4 inches; W. 8% inches. Print by J. Suyderhoef: (1) folio, inscribed ""1637 aet 48;" (2) small quarto inscribed: "1642 aet 53." Sibelius was born in Elberfeld in i5go, and preached firsl: in London, then in Zurich, and finally in Deventer, where he died in 1658. From "what is written on the back of the paint? ing it would seem that Sibelius presented this portrait to a certain Professor Hoffman. E. W. Moes: Iconographia Batavia, No. 7176, 1 and 2. E. W. Moes: Frans Hals, Bruxelles, 1909, No. 74. Hofstede de Groot: No. 226. Exhibited at the Palais du Corps Legislatif, Paris, 1874. Exhibited at the Hudson -- Fulton Celebration, New York, 1909, No. 29. Collection of Hendrick Gijselaar; Assendelft, Amsterdam, 1891. 3 1 [3] MEINDERT HOBBEMA BORN at Amsterdam in 1 63 8; died there in 1709. Educated under the influence of Jacob van Ruisdael. Worked at Amsterdam (seldom after 1668). Painter of wooded land* scapes. CASTLE KOSTVERLOREN In the centre a square tower of red brick, with four steps gables, rises amid crumbling walls from the castle moat ; four men are working on the -walls. Near the entrance to the draw* bridge, two large trees with autumn foliage, and a boy with a man in a red coat walking along a road. Beyond the trees a cottage and gate, and behind the castle, on the opposite side of the moat, are small woods. V/hite clouds. Signed in the lower right-hand corner: M. Hobbema. Canvas: H. 22% inches; "W. 29 Va inches. Smith, No. 116. Exhibited at the Hudson* Fulton Celebration, New York, 1909, No. 47. Collection of Fred. Perkins, London (1835). 3 2 CASTLE KOSTVERLOREN MEINDERT HOBBEMA $z j5* j WW wSR' H * i Vi ! W ' . Am THE MUSIC PARTY PIETER DE HOOCH [4] PIETER DE HOOCH BORN at Rotterdam in 1629. Died at Amsterdam after 1684. Said to be a pupil of Nicolaes Berchem. His early works show the influence of the soldier painters of the Frans Hals school and of the pupils of Rembrandt, especially Karel Fabritius. He first worked mostly at Delft, later at Amster? dam (from about 1665). Genre and portrait painter. THE MUSIC PARTY On a terrace leading at the rear into a park and sheltered by a curtain looped against a pillar, a young lady is seated singing ; she wears a white silk dress and marks time with her right hand. A cavalier seated at the opposite side of the table ac? companies her on the lute. A young lady, dressed in blue, stands resting her hand on the table, which is covered with a dark^red Asia minor rug ; another, dressed in red, carrying a small lute in her right hand, advances through a door on the right. Beyond the park a building resembling the Amsterdam Town Hall is visible. Evening sky. On the right hand the monogram PH. Canvas: H. 26 inches; "W. 3i!/s inches. About 1665=70. Smith Suppl., No. 13; Hofstede de Groot, No. 136. Exhibited at the Hudson* Fulton Celebration, New York, 1909, No. 57. Sale Nieuwenhuys (Brussels) in London, 1833. Sale Count R. de Cornelissen, Brussels, 1857. Sale Gilkinet, Paris, 1863. SaleVicomtede Buisseret, Brussels, 1891. Collection of Baron Konigswarter in Vienna. 37 [5] ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE BORN at Haarlem, 1610; died there in 1685. Pupil of Frans Hals and influenced by Brouwer and later by Rembrandt. Worked at Haarlem. Painter and etcker of genre scenes. BACKGAMMON PLAYERS AT AN INN In tke centre of a nomely room two men are seated at a table playing backgammon. Tke man on tke left, dressed in yellow; brown is drinking ; tke man on tke rigkt, in a gray costume, arranges kis pieces. In front of kim, to tke rigkt, a peasant in a dark bluejacket and dark red bonnet is seated in a little arm; ckair witk kis back to tke spectator. Tke kostess, in dark blue dress and red waist, stands fartker back to tke rigkt of kim and offers kim a glass. At tke back of tke table two otker peasants in conversation. On tke left a little dog lies on tke floor. A door leads to tke cellar at tke rigkt. Signed above tke dog : A. V. Ostade. Panel: H. 14 inckes; "W. 12V2 inckes. Mentioned by J. B. Descamps: La vie des peintres flamands, allemands et kollandais . . . Paris, 1753 =64. Mentioned by Ck. Blanc: Le tresor de la Curiosite, Paris, 1857*58,11,169. Smitk, No. 31 and 43. Hofstede de Groot, No. 828 and &2ig. Exkibited at tke Royal Academy, London, 1892, No. 97. Exkibited at tke Guildkall, London, 1894, No. 66. Sale Antkony Sydervelt, Amsterdam, 1766. Sale Gerard Braamcamp, Amsterdam, 1771. Sale P. Calkoen, Amsterdam, 1781. Sale Calonne, Paris, 1788. Sale Calonne, Paris, 1795. Collection of E. H. Lawrence, London. 38 BACKGAMMON PLAYERS AT AN INN ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE PEASANTS BEFORE AN INN ISACK VAN OSTADE B [6] ISACK VAN OSTADE ORN at Haarlem in 1621 ; died there in 1649. Pupil of his brother, Adriaen. Worked at Haarlem. PEASANTS BEFORE AN INN Two peasant houses on the left side of a road which leads to a village with a church in the right distance. The first house has an arbor near which some peasants are drinking and smoking. In the foreground to the right a table, on which leans a peasant holding up a glass of beer to a woman who is seen from behind. A child stands nearby. He wears a gray=blue coat with yeh low sleeves, and the woman has a brown costume and white head-dress. A little to the rear stands a group of two peasants and a woman with a child in conversation. Before the second house a white horse feeding ; a man and a little girl with a pail nearby. A man is leaning over the house door. In the left fores ground an overturned basket. Trees behind the houses. Signed on the stone on which the woman sits. Panel : H. 15 inches; "W. 21V2 inches. Hofstede de Groot, No. 242c. Sale J. de Kommer, Amsterdam, 1767, No. 71. 43 [7] REMBRANDT HARMENSZ VAN RIJN ORN in Leyden on July 15, 1606. Died in Amsterdam on B October 4, 1669. Studied under Jacob van Swanenburgh in Leyden and under Pieter Lawman in Amsterdam. Lived in Leyden till 1631, then in Amsterdam. In 1634 be married Saskia van Uilenburgb, who died in 1642. His second wife was Hendrickje Stoffels, who died in 1663. Painter and etcher of portraits and religious subjects; of genre pictures, mytho* logical, allegorical and historical scenes. LUCRETIA STABBING HERSELF More than half4ength. The figure, with head slightly inclined to the left, faces the spectator. With her right hand she points a dagger at her breast, while the uplifted left hand is extended toward the spectator. She wears a rich greenish^gold colored dress with wide sleeves and a laced bodice ; around her throat a necklace of pearls and a string with a pendant; a pearl in her ear. Signed on her left: Rembrandt f. 1664. Canvas: H. 46^2 inches; W. 39 inches. Smith, No. 192; E.Dutuit,Oeuvrecompletde Rembrandt, Paris, 1883, p. 58, No. 114; E. Michel, Rembrandt, Paris, 1893, pp. 489, 563; W. Bode, (assisted by C. Hofstede de Groot): The Complete Works of Rembrandt, Paris, 1897 ff, No. 595; W. R. Valentiner, Rembrandt (Klassiker der Kunst), 1910, p. 647. Exhibited at the Hudson* Fulton Celebration, New York, 1909, No. 105. Sale Prince Paul Demidoff, San Donato, 1880. Collection Lapeyriere, Paris, 1825. Anonymous Collection, London, 1826. Collection of M. Zachary, London, 1828. Collection of J. H. Munro, Novar. Anonymous Collection, London, 1889. 44 LUCRETIA STABBING HERSELF REMBRANDT HARMENSZ VAN RIJN -i*.j^i .zt:t X ;'• '.i V.l ?<• '.* V/O*- 5 > V,l ^'ft' c; c / 1 y [6U » -v-v v;i>'V>o;no,oc I t^Pc l 'iiO l oc < , , i3^r>cav^Pci THE CASCADE JACOB VAN RUISDAEL [8] JACOB VAN RUISDAEL BORN at Haarlem 1111628=29. Died there in 1682. Probably a pupil of Cornelius Vroom and his uncle Salomon Ruys* dael. V/orked at Haarlem and at Amsterdam (1657*1681). Landscape painter. THE CASCADE A little lake extends from the left of the canvas towards the right, where it forms a cascade spanned by a wooden bridge. A man wearing a red jacket, carrying a sack on his back and followed by a dog, is walking over the bridge. Three men are fishing from the left shore of the lake ; on its further shore three houses s1:and on hilly ground. To the right an oak wood, and beyond a chain of distant hills. Dark gray clouds in a pale blue sky. Signed on the lower left : J v Ruisdael (JvR combined). Canvas: H. 281/2 inches ;W. 35V2 inches. Exhibited at the HudsonsFulton Celebration, New York, 1909, No. 116. Sale Pereire, Paris, 1872. Sale Prince Paul Demidoff, San Donato, 1880. Collection of the Duke of Mecklenburg, 1854. 49 [9] JACOB VAN RUISDAEL A WATERFALL ABROAD stream, which comes out underneath a little wooden bridge in the middle distance, flows from the right and breaks down between rocks in the foreground. A high bank on the opposite side to the left is thickly covered with oak trees, some of which have autumn leaves. On the bridge, which leads to the lower bank at the right, two men in conversation ; a third man is walking to the left accompanied by a dog. Behind the bridge a single oak tree stands against the sky with reflection of light on its branches, and farther back a gray=blue hill. Another single, but thinner, tree on the right bank. The blue sky is almost covered with dark gray clouds with pink borders. Signed in the right foreground: J v Ruisdael (JvR combined). Canvas: H. 26 V2 inches; "W. 21 inches. 5o :a A WATERFALL JACOB VAN RUISDAEL *vft LADY POURING WINE GERARD TERBORCH [10] GERARD TERBORCH BORN at Zwolle in 1617. Died at Deventer in 1681. Pupil o( his father and Pieter Molyn ; influenced by Frans Hals, Rembrandt and Velazquez. Traveled in Germany, Italy, Spain, England and France. Worked mostly at Deventer. Painter of genre scenes and portraits. LADY POURING WINE Three halflength figures. On the left a young woman in a red jacket and a gray skirt pours wine from a pewter flagon for a man sitting on the right, who looks back towards her, as the old mother standing behind her daughter offers him a plate of food. He wears a dark suit and a large black hat. Panel: H. 13 inches; "W. io|4 inches. Smith Suppl., No. 22. Exhibited at the Hudson? Fulton Exhibition, New York, 1909, No. 129. Collection Van Loon, Amsterdam, 1842. 55 [II] WILLEM VAN DE VELDE BORNatLeydenini633. Died at Greenwich in 1677. Pupil of his father, Willem van de Velde the elder and o£ Simon deVlieger. Worked at Amsterdam and from 1673 at London. Marine painter. CALM SEA A boat with large creamscolored sails lies in a hay extending towards the left of the canvas. A smaller boat is anchored be; side it. In the left foreground a dyke fortified with piles, on which are seen two men. A boat with three fishermen at work in it lies nearby. A fourth man advances along the shore from the right, carrying a basket on his back. Jusr beyond, two men are bathing off a little promontory where a sailboat has been beached. Several frigates are lying at anchor at the mouth of the bay. Afternoon light. Warm yellowish clouds in a blue sky. Signed on a piece of wood in the foreground: WW. V. 1661. Canvas: H. 14V2 inches; W. 18% inches. Exhibitedat theHudson^Fulton Celebration, New York, 1909, No. 134. & CALM SEA WILLEM VAN DE VELDE GROOMS WATERING HORSES PHILIPS WOUWERMAN [12] PHILIPS WOUWERMAN BORN at Haarlem in 1619; died there in 1668. Pupil of his father, of Frans Hals and Pieter Verbeeck. He was for a time at Hamburg and was possibly in Italy. Painter and etcher of landscapes and scenes with horses. GROOMS WATERING HORSES At a broad river, crossing the picture diagonally, horses are being ridden in and out of the water. On the left a large stone bridge with two arches leads to a town in the distance. A man on the left whips a horse to make it enter the water. To the right of him a groom, with a boy behind him, rides a white horse out of the water. Farther right another rider lets his horse stand and drink; it is seen from the back. Near these are two bathers and two men undressing. Farther in the river are two restive horses near a boat. On the opposite bank are washer? women. To the left, through the front arch of the bridge, is seen a harvest wagon, which is being loaded. Signed with the full monogram. Panel: H. 13% inches; W. 18V2 inches. Engraved by Champollion. Mentioned by G. F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Bri= tain, London, 1854, II, p. 291. Smith Suppl. 7, No. 170. Hof stede de Groot, No. 112. Exhibited in London, 1853. Sales Earl of Ashburnham, London, 1850 and i860. Sale Miss Bredel, London, 1875. Sale Nieuwenhuys, London, 1881. Collection of the Earl of Ashburnham, 1842. Collection of M. de Saint Albin, Paris. Collection of Comte Arthur de Vogue, Paris. 61 [13] PHILIPS WOUWERMAN THE SUTLER'S BOOTH IN front of a sutler's booth with a flag and a garland on the left are some horsemen and two ladies. On the extreme left stands a man in profile to the right. Next to him, and farther back, are a lady on horseback and a mounted trumpeter. Next to him is a gray horse, without a rider, facing right. Next come a lady, seen from the back, and an officer who caresses her -with one hand and rests the other on the saddle o£ his horse, whose head is turned away. In the right middle dis* tance is a group of soldiers with an ensign among them. Be* yond on a broad plain is a camp. Three dogs play in front. Signed with the monogram. Canvas: H. 19% inches; "W. 25 V4 inches. Smith, No. 178. Hofftede de Groot, No. 866, and Suppl., No. 64. Engraved in Jean Moyreau: Oeuvres de Ph. Wouwermans gravees dapres ses meilleurs tableaux, Paris, 1737=62 (new edi= tion, Paris, 1843), No. 77 as "Les Quartiers desVivandiers". Le Brun Collection, Paris, 1754. Sale Montribloud, Paris, 1784. Sale Claude Tolozan, Paris, 1801. Sale Lapeyriere, Paris, 1817. Sale London, 1835. Sale Adrian Hope, London, 1894. 62 THE SUTLER'S BOOTH PHILIPS WOUWERMAN HILLY LANDSCAPE WITH GROVE OF TREES JAN WYNANTS [14] JAN WYNANTS BORN at Haarlem about 1620. Died very likely at Amster* dam in 1682. Worked in Haarlem until about 1660, tken in Amsterdam. Dated works from 1641 to 1679. landscape painter. HILLY LANDSCAPE WITH GROVE OF TREES A road leads from tke foreground around a kill to a grove of trees. At tke left, at tke side of tke road, a traveller, in pink coat and yellow trousers, talks to a woman seated on tke ground. A dog nearby. Anotker road leads down tke kill tkrougk a gate of a trellis, wkick surrounds tke kill and joins tke first road in tke foreground near a little pool. A woman witk a bundle on ker kead, accompanied by a dog, descends from tke kill. In tke rigkt foreground two gnarled oak trees and some skrubbery. Bekind tkese are wooded kills and a cornfield. Around it leads a road along wkick a korseman and a peasant are advancing. Blue sky witk rising dark gray clouds witk yellow borders. Signed in tke left foreground: J. Wynants, An. 1663. Canvas: H. 19% inckes; W\ 24 14 inckes. Tke figures are by tke kand of Adriaen van de Velde. 67 [15] ANTON VAN DYCK BORN at Antwerp in 1599. Died at London in 1641. Pupil of Hendrik van Balen and worked in the atelier of Rubens. In England for the first time in 162 1. 1622=27 traveling in Italy, especially in Venice, Rome and Genoa. 1627:31 in Antwerp, 1632 in London. Painter of religious and mythological sub; jects and especially of portraits. With Rubens, chief master of the Flemish School. PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN Three=auarters length, standing, seen in front, the head slightly turned to the right. He has a moustache and small pointed beard, the hair combed back. The left hand hangs down; the right is covered by a mantle which is thrown over his should ders. Black costume with white ruff. Dark gray background. Canvas: H. 44 inches; "W. 37!^ inches. Painted in the second Antwerp period, about 1630. A copy of the picture is in the Museum of Douai under the name of "Portrait of Hubert Duhot." Reproduced in : E. Schaffer, Van Dyck, (Klassiker der Kunst), 1909, p. 243. 68 PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN ANTON VAN DYCK WOMAN SMOKING IN AN INN DAVID TENIERS THE YOUNGER [16] DAVID TENIERS THE YOUNGER BORN at Antwerp in 1610. Died at Brussels in 1590. Pupil of his father, David Teniers the elder. Influenced by Rubens and especially by Brouwer. Worked at Antwerp (member of the guild since 1632) and at Brussels. Painter and engraver. WOMAN SMOKING IN AN INN To the left sits a woman in a graysblue petticoat, white skirt and pink waist, lighting a pipe. A peasant nearby puts his arm around her neck and offers her a glass of wine. He wears a brown coat and dark brown bonnet. To the right of the group a barrel, on which stands an earthen jug, a pot and a napkin. A little dog rests quietly in the left foreground. In the back* ground an open door and a chimney=piece with a fire, near which two men are standing and conversing and a third warms his feet. In the right foreground a still life. Plain gray background from which the figure of the woman stands out clearly. Signed in the left corner: D. Teniers. Canvas: H. 14% inches; W. 20 V2 inches. Smith, No. 377. Sale Claude Tolozan, Paris, 1801. Sale London, 1818. Sale John Webb, London, 1821. 73 [17] FRANCESCO GUARDI BORN at Venice in 1712; died there in 1793. Pupil and follower of Antonio Canale. Worked mostly in Venice. Painter of architectural and perspective views. THE PIAZZA OF SAN MARCO, VENICE View on the piazza from the side of the Church of San Marco. In the left foreground the lower part of the tower of San Marco and a part of the logietta. The galleries extend to the right and left, the left side being in shadow. In the foreground two bronze flag holders. Ladies and gentlemen, seen mostly from behind, in pink, yellow and white costumes, are saluting and walking over the piazza; the gentlemen wear long mantles, three-cornered hats and the hair in braids ; the ladies wear side dresses with long trains. Light blue sky with lighter yellow rays to the left where the sun has disappeared. Canvas: H. o^M inches; "W. 14 inches. 74 THE PIAZZA OF SAN MARCO, VENICE FRANCESCO GUARDI THE GRAND CANAL NEAR THE PIAZZA OF SAN MARCO, VENICE FRANCESCO GUARDI [18] FRANCESCO GUARDI THE GRAND CANAL NEAR THE PIAZZA OF SAN MARCO, VENICE A VIEW from Santa Maria della Salute. To the left the libreria and the column of San Marco, behind which a part of the Doge's palace is visible. The canal, with some simple houses, behind which are some towers and domes, extends to the right. A large galleon in the centre of the water and a smaller one to the right; another on the land to the left. Numerous gondolas with simple, or with richly decorated, baldachinos in the foreground, in which are seated people in light red and blue costumes. White reflections on the blue -water and the boats. Silver blue sky with light pink horizon. Panel: H. 9I/4 inches; W r . 13% inches. 79 PAINTINGS OF THE ENGLISH MASTERS PAINTINGS OF THE ENGLISH MASTERS By August F. Jaccaci |^^^^^^^^^^XN Mr. Borden's collection of English pictures, all W^^^Ami^^)^\ l ^ e l eacun §! eighteenth century portrait painters, v^^^^B^f^^^n with the exception of Raeburn, are represented. ^^^^^Bu^^^^ In a manner of their own suited to the taste and ^^^^■^^^^^ needs of the period, the painters of this school fe^^j^Jj^^^^H; carried on the gracious and urbane style of Van jjS^2il^Si^^b^3A( Dyck, as well as the traditions of the old Italian masters, especially those of theVenetians, which came partly through Van Dyck, and in the case of Sir Joshua were renewed at their source. A certain union of dignity, grace, ease, and the adaptability of the portrait to a decorative arrangement as established by the painters of the grand life of Venice, by Titian especially, is thus carried into the eighteenth century, but the subjects and the art are native. While the Italian tradition predominates only in the works of the famous first president of the Royal Academy, and the production of each artist has its originality and distinct characteristics, its marked d.if= ference of temperament and education, all endeavored to give the particular elegance, the well*bred manner which -was the cachet of English society at the time, all found their individual mode of express sion within this general desire — and, no doubt, necessity — to depict the refinements of life. Hence their l "air de famine." They all are, like their illustrious predecessor Van Dyck, painters of fashion, who only saw their sitters (whether of high or low degree) in attitudes and with expressions which were recognized as de bon ton in the fashionable world. Even when they were not men of culture, they reflected the amenities and polite graces of their cultured milieu. We may add that it was their great good fortune — and ours — that the taste of their time 83 was good, and the costumes simple, most becoming and eminently paintable. Pictorially and psychologically the portrait painters of tne eighteenth century English School have met their problem and used their material with fine results, and deservedly achieved a great success. Mr. Borden's collection comprises some typical examples. In "Miss Morris" the seriousness and intellectual weight which belong to Sir Joshua, the acknowledged head of the school, and to him alone, are clearly evident ; and they are here allied to a sense of composition quite free from conventional canons. The ingratiating personality of this straightforward, innocent and sensible young lady is rendered with authority as -well as kindly understanding. With all that innate elegance which is the distinguishing mark of the art of the period, this canvas has the poise, the dignified tenderness of the artist; and the grave sympathy, the unaffected and penetrating straightforwardness of its portraiture, are revealed in the noble simplicity of its treatment. Gainsborough's portrait of "Miss Horde" has all hisverve, finesse and his unrivaled piquancy of execution. The lightness and grace of this work in oils has the playfulness of touch, the daintiness of improvisation, of a pastel, and is admirably suited to the presentation of so vivacious, spirituelle, and entirely sophisticated a young per; son. Sitter and painter present the critical and philosophical attitude of the eighteenth century. The artful simplicity of pose and costume give extraordinary interest and importance to the "sguardo," the look in the eyes, and to the smiling mouth. This most expressive and delightful piece of characterization is carried out in a subdued and harmonious scheme of color. The dash, abandon and supreme cleverness of the great virtuoso of the school, Sir Thomas Lawrence, are fully revealed in his ' ' Miss Kent." And it is the more valuable an example that it retains the freshness and attractiveness of a happy, thoroughly artistic and satis; fying improvisation. Cleverness allied with elegance and painter; like feeling can go no further. Costume and draperies are merely brushed in, and in contrast, the head which is carried much farther, acquires the finished bloom of a perfect flower. The face in profile is representative of the English "beauty" of the time, for it is evident 84 that the "classic" type, which was then in fashion, affects the por* traiture. Romneyhas a full and varied representation. An important com* position, "the Willet Children;" an almost fuMength portrait said to be the "Countess of Glencairn," and an idealistic representation of his favorite model, Emma Lyon (Lady Hamilton) as Madonna, whose pseudo*religious character gives the manner in which the classical subjects of the Italian School were adapted to the taste of polite English society of the time. The Countess is an entirely repre* sentative picture, although the lower part of the dress has either been repainted or was finished by another hand. The natural and graceful pose, which recalls another celebrated portrait of the artist, Miss Frances Woodley, brings out the feminine charm of the no more young but still most attractive sitter. The debonnaire treat* ment has an easy assurance and a summary decorative sweep. The lady who is not absolutely identified may be the Lady Bell Cunning* hame, of whom according to Romney's ledger (under No. 33) he painted a half length and two whole*length portraits, of which only one was finished. Lady Bell was Lady Isabelle Erskine, second daughter of the Tenth Earl of Buchan. She was first married to William Leslie Hamilton, and secondly to the Rev. John Cunning* hame, who afterwards became the Fifteenth Earl of Glencairn. We have a list of the many sittings she gave to Romney during her first and her second marriage. The large and important ' k Willet Children" is beautifully handled in an assured and convincing manner of presentation, which is so thoroughly suited to the subject as to be a part of it. Its composition seems as spontaneous as its technique ; both have the look of being born together by happy chance. The background is amusing in its rapidly sketched indication of a landscape motive, but it also plays its part well in the general arrangement, and in tone and color it admirably fulfills its function of bringing out the figures. The group* ing o£ the children might seem casual, but in reality it is carefully thought out and is most effective — only there is no trace of effort, all is perfectly natural; yet poses, faces and expressions are full of character and each child has his clearly defined individuality. One 85 feels sure that here are good portraits. And when one remembers how few great portraits of children there are in the whole field of art, one realizes how precious is this rare gift, this true understand; ing of childhood which Romney shows in such a canvas. It is one of his most successful works, and, like the "Countess of Glencairn," it has that unaffected grand air which is what eighteenth century- patrons desired and what remains to us also a large part of their appeal. In the Hoppner "Miss Arbuthnut" we find the same viewpoint as in the works of the other and greater men, and, in a measurable way, it achieves the same success. It is a triumph of distinguished and rather sophisticated simplicity. Out of most ordinary material, of a face with no particular beauty or specially marked character, the eighteenth century convention (a most happy one in this instance), while expressing enough of the real facts, presents them with so fine a sense of elegance and breeding that as a result the picture is extremely attractive. The excellence of the general arrangement makes one pass over the faulty draughtsmanship in the lower part of the figure. One wonders if the artist was deprived of the one more sitting, or the few more moments he needed. But it may well be that the artist did not care, and why should we? Are not all the essentials of the portraits there, all that is significant and matters? Does not the work tell — as it should — and tell gracefully and with most capable understanding? Is not the characterization excellent, the landscape background fine and the whole result delightful? When these portrait painters make use of nature in their back; grounds, they cannot but arrange it to suit their purpose. Having to be subordinated to the figures, it has to be treated artificially — much like a piece of tapestry suspended behind the sitter. Even Gainsborough, who was both landscape and portrait painter (and seldom introduced landscape backgrounds in his portraits), and who painted some excel; lent landscapes during his early period when he took his inspiration from the Dutch masters and was concerned with real facts, soon fell into making use of nature in painting landscapes which, while deco; rative and beautiful, are essentially arbitrary arrangements. 86 The English landscape painters on the contrary went straight to nature for their facts and their inspiration. Of course they knew and admired the Dutch and Flemish masters and they loved Claude, but they took their subjects from the familiar nature around them, and to express themselves they developed a manner of their own. They mark the starting point of modern landscape. Constable was the precursor of the great Frenchmen of 1830, and we know what a revelation his work was to them and how it inspired them. Of him Mr. Borden has a small early example, "The Sluice," one of those thorough studies of facts upon -which are built the fresh, lus= cious and radiant achievements of his maturity. "The Willow" is one of the most important and best known pic? tures of John Chrome ("Old Chrome"). It figured twice, in 1876 and 1891, at Winter Exhibitions of Old Masters at Burlington House, and is considered the artist's masterpiece by Mr.J.C.Horsley, R. A., who selected the English pictures for both exhibitions. The two old trees which dominate the composition give it a nobly dramatic character. V/arm glowing color is allied to solidity of construction, the peaceful country stretching out to the distance is bathed in soft sunshine ; in the moist and luminous sky, tenuous summer clouds float across the azure. In this picture the dignity of a Dutch formal composition is united to a fresh native outlook. While this Dutch influence is marked, Chrome is too real, too profoundly sensitive to nature itself, for the work to be in any way derivative, it is English to the core. One would say that the attitude of this sturdy British artist makes him nearer to Ruysdael than to Hobbema. Like him, his very serious and elevated mind dwells upon the more significant and deeper aspects of nature. In the serenity and the ever young beauty of a summer's day, those two vigorous old trees, bearing the marks of the struggles of years with the elements, have a rugged grandeur, which imposes itself and give a lyric quality to the whole picture. Of the two Turners in the collection, the small one belonging to his early period, a seascape with strong opposition of sunlit and dark masses, shows the harbor of Dover in the middle distance. The larger one, "The Regatta Bearing to Windward," is a representative and 87 masterly example of the second and best period of the artist. It is one of the scenes of yacht racing in the Solent which he either painted at, or during his visit to, East Cowes Castle, the Isle of Wight seat of his friend Mr. Nash (the great architect of the Quadrant, Regent Street, etc.), in the autumn of 1827. Together with a companion pic; ture, "The Regatta with the Royal Yacht Squadron Parting from its Moorings, "which is now in the Sheepshank's collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum (No. 210), it was painted for Mr. Nash and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1828. That these yacht racing subjects fascinated him may be seen by the five examples, all of smaller size, which are in the Turner collection at the National Gallery (Nos. 1993, 1994, 199^ x 997^ I 99^)- This picture, which with the Sheepshank's example is the best of the series, illustrates not a romantic but a real phase of the artist's mind. Soberly conceived and soberly carried out it nevertheless ex? presses the poetry as well as the bustling spirit of the scene. The clear joyous sheen of sunlight on sea, boats and distance, the won* derfiil and exquisite atmospheric quality have never been surpassed by him and show him at his highest. No one but him could have painted such a sky, of such infinite depth, in so high a key, so suffused with tender light, and so alive and mouvemente. There is animation everywhere and tumult on the sea. The fluidity and weight of the rough water, the force of the wind filling the sails, and the rush of the boats as they drive through the big waves, are marvelously expressed. In subjects of this kind, objective, pregnant with observation and vital sympathy, Turner cannot be surpassed. It is not the picturesqueness of the scene, but its life and truth — its dramatic quality — that appealed to him and appeals to us to*day. George Morland's intimate pastoral note is an excellent example of the work of this honest and most sympathetic artist, in which pigs, a donkey, a dog and a countryman are used to express the poet; ical charm of an English rural scene bathed in soft summer sunshine. Painted in a minor key, it fitly represents this modest man, who is a genuine artist and not merely popular and pretty. To appreciate Morland's value as a painter we have only to compare him with the Victorians who followed. We can enjoy his donkeys and his pigs 88 as we enjoy those of Decamps, and he has a tenderness and a charm all his own. In its atmospheric quality Nasmyth's "Edinburgh from Gogar" shows the influence of Claude and the classical tradition is also felt in its artful and effective architectonic arrangement. From the fore* ground, all lines carry the eye towards the centre of the picture, where, far away looming up as the focus of the whole composition, the Castle dominates the city -which is lying at its feet. Tree masses very dark in the foreground, less dark in the middle distance, bring out and emphasize the shimmering beauty of the distance, the glow* ing lightness of the sky and its reflection in the water. A life-size portrait of a child holding a parrakeet on her hand, "The Pet Bird" by Sir John Millais, is a rather late work, -which for its subject is more interesting than usual. Opus CCXXXII of Sir Alma Tadema is a scene -with two maidens seated in the loggia of a Roman villa. Both are characteristic examples of the two most pop* ular artists of the modern English School at the end of the nineteenth century. (Sir Alma Tadema, although a Hollander born and bred, belongs to the English School. He has done all his -work in England, and is still painting there). 8 9 ENGLISH MASTERS English Masters *9 Sir Joshua Reynolds 20 Thomas Gainsborough 21 Sir Thomas Lawrence 22 George Romney 2 3 George Romney 24 George Romney 2 5 John Hoppner 26 John Constable 2 7 John Chrome 28 Joseph Mallord William Turner 29 Joseph Mallord William Turner 30 George Morland 3 1 Patrick Nasmyth 3 2 Sir John Everett Millais 33 Sir Laurenz Alma Tadema [19] SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P. R. A. English School, 1723*1792 MISS MORRIS (Afterwards Mrs. Lockwood) FULL BUST, life size, portrait of a young lady facing the spectator. The expression of her face is simple and girlish; the eyes are dark, the dark hair plainly combed back from the face is ornamented by an aigrette of red velvet adorned with a string of small pearls. She is dressed in a gray silk robe with a low round opening at the neck having a band of gold em? broidery edged with lace. In the center of this band is a velvet bow with pendant through which is caught a strand of large pearls coming from under an outer garment, a jacket of light blue silk richly embroidered and trimmed with ermine. A jeweled clasp holds the bodice in the center. The light falls from the left and the background is a sky treated convene tionally. Size : H. 24 V2 inches; "W. 29I4 inches. C. R. Leslies' "Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds": Vol. I, p. 156. Sir Walter Armstrong's "Sir Joshua Reynolds." Catalogue. 94 MISS MORRIS SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P. R. A. MISS ANN HORDE Thomas gainsborough, r. a. [20] THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R. A. English School, 1727*1768 MISS ANN HORDE OVAL, life size, bust portrait of a young lady turned three* quarters to the left and looking at the spectator. Her eyes are blue, her light hair, curled and powdered, is encircled with a blue silk ribbon, and at her neck is a string of amber beads. She wears a close-fitting blue silk dress, with a fichu of trans* parent lawn over the neck and shoulders, and a scarf of light silk material at the waist ; a dainty 'white underbodice shows a little at the neck and fills the V* shape opening edged with white silk ribbon, which starts at the bottom and ends at the waist under a sash of light silk material. Brown background. Size: H. 28 V2 inches; W. 24 inches. Sale Horde (of Norfolk). 99 [21] SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, P. R. A. English School, 1769*1830 MISS KENT LIFE SIZE busr portrait of a young lady seen in profile to the left against a dark background. Her dark hair -with golden brown lights brings out the brilliant color, the "milk and roses," of her face. She wears a white dress with a large V* shape opening at the neck. A golden yellow drapery is thrown over her right shoulder and arm, while the right hand rests over a light crimson drapery thrown over the back of a chair. Size: H. 20//2 inches; "W. 24 V2 inches. 100 MISS KENT SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, P. R. A. my«mwivm>? 'ifrmmr. CEoHCE~ r &£ THE WILLETT CHILDREN GEORGE ROMNEY [22] GEORGE ROMNEY English School, 1734*1802 THE WILLETT CHILDREN THE portrait of three children, a brother and his sisters, with a landscape background filled with an evening sky against which, to the right, is broadly sketched a group of trees. The two girls, dressed in white, are sitting on the ground. The boy stands at the left, his blonde, long and curly hair framing his face which is turned towards the spectator, his hands are thrust in his pockets, and his whole attitude is one of boyish self reliance. He wears a reddish brown silk costume, a white col= lar fluted on the edge, white stockings and shoes with buckles. The little girls are holding hands. The older sister in the center faces forward and looks up at her brother; the younger one to the right faces the background, but her head is turned around and she looks mischievously at the spectator; both wear sashes, the one on the right of blue, the bow of which is seen at her back, the other of yellowish brown. Size : H. 59 inches; W. 47 inches. Humphrey Ward and W. Roberts' "Romney," Vol.11, p. 171. 105 [23] GEORGE ROMNEY SECOND EXAMPLE COUNTESS OF GLENCAIRN(?) (Lady Isabella Erskine, wife of Rev. John Cuns ninghame, XV Earl of Glencairn, was the second daughter of the tenth Earl of Buchan. Her first husband was Wrn. Leslie Hamilton.) LIFE SIZE, full length. A young woman stands in an easy pose with right knee bent, the right arm resting upon a high pedestal, the hand raised to the head which is turned full three-quarters to the right with the eyes looking up. Her dark hair dressed with silk ribbons falls on the shoulders. Her left hand hanging gracefully down holds the soft crimson drapery which, folding over her right arm and showing along her left side, serves to bring out the white of her very simple dress opened V* shape at the neck and with dark blue sash at the waist. The stone pedestal, the large vase surmounting it and the tree trunks behind it form a solid dark background to the left, while, to the right, the background is filled with sky with foliage at the top and a bit of landscape showing at the bottom. Size: H. 6814 inches; W. 47 inches. (The identity of the lady is not absolutely established. Romney's Ledger, under No. 33, Lady Bell Cunninghame, registers two whole4engths and one halflength of the lady. (See Humphrey Ward and W. Roberts' "Romney," Vol. II, p. 69.) Collection CunninghamsGraham. 106 COUNTESS OF GLENCAIRN(?) GEORGE ROMNEY LADY HAMILTON AS MADONNA GEORGE ROMNEY [24] GEORGE ROMNEY Third example LADY HAMILTON AS MADONNA SMALL life size portrait, showing little more than the head. The body is turned away from the spectator and the face, full threesquarters to the right and with the eyes looking up* wards, is framed in a soft and transparent drapery which covers the head and shoulders. Size: H. 17V2 inches; "W. 15 inches. in [25] JOHN HOPPNER, R. A. English School, 1758*1810 MRS. ARBUTHNOT LIFE SIZE full length portrait of a young woman, partly sitting and partly kneeling, facing the spectator. Her right arm rests upon a rock at her side and rocks and trees make a dark background behind her, but to the right the sky shows above a bit of landscape with trees and a distant hill decora* tively treated. Her face is turned full three*quarters towards the left and inclined with a pensive expression ; her light hair is dressed with light silk ribbons. She wears a light lawn dress with a cambric fichu at the neck and a sash at the waist. In her right hand which rests in her lap she holds some flowers. Size: H. 49I4 inches; W. 39V2 inches. Wm. McKay and W. Roberts' "John Hoppner," p. 5. Collection Sir Henry Hawley. 112 MRS. ARBUTHNOT JOHN HOPPNER, R. A. THE SLUICE JOHN CONSTABLE [26] JOHN CONSTABLE English School, 1776*1837 THE SLUICE NEAR the center of the composition a torrent of water comes foaming down an old sluice, and rushes into a little canal to the right and outside the picture. The sluice is con? structed of brick walls reinforced by rough hewn timbers, and spanned by a rustic bridge. The point of vision is from below, and seen in sharp perspective along the sky line are: at the left, the head and back of a white horse, the heads of a man and woman, and a column of smoke. In the center are a group of trees and flowering shrubs, and at the right a man holding a staff is leaning against the extended fence^rail of the bridge. Among wild flowers and grasses, in the picturesque foreground, are the beams which brace the side of the canal. Summer sky with clouds. Size: H. 11 % inches; W. 15% inches. 117 [27] JOHN CHROME English School, 1769*1821 THE WILLOW THE composition is dominated by a group of trees — a birch to the left, and, in the center, two large willows — rising on the banks of a little brook which almost fills the foreground. At the foot of the willows is a bit of fence beyond a rustic bridge. On the right bank of the stream, a peasant on a pony is talking with a peasant woman. Beyond them the distant landscape shows. The scene is bathed in summer sunshine; the blue sky being almost covered with soft white clouds. Size: 49V2 inches; W. 39V2 inches. Exhibited at Winter Exhibitions of Old Masters at Burling* ton House in 1876 (No. 280 of the Cat.), and in 1891 (No. 33), when owned by Mr. George Holmes. Sale (about 1870) of the best known collection of pictures of the Norwich School, the Sherrington collection, (bought by Mr. George Holmes, from whom it came into Mr. Borden's collection). 11 8 THE WILLOW JOHN CHROME THE CLIFFS AT DOVER JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R. A. as [28] JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R. A. English School, 1775*1851 THE CLIFFS AT DOVER UNDER a dramatic sky, where big sunlit clouds contrasting with a very dark cloud to the left, allow only a glimpse o£ the blue to show at the zenith, a rough sea full of motion is seen in alternate patches of sunlight and shadow. In the background lying between its high chalky headlands is the harbour and town of Dover. Tossed on the waves in the foreground a boat is being rowed towards a small sailboat, heading landward, on which a couple of sailors are watching its approach. Signed on the stern of the row boat: J. M. "W. Turner. Size: H. 17V2 inches; "W. 24 inches. 123 [29] JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R. A. SECOND EXAMPLE EAST COWES CASTLE, THE SEAT OF J. NASH, ESC). -THE REGATTA BEARING TO WINDWARD THE yachts are sailing through a broken sea showing a big swell in the foreground, where to the left a buoy is floating. In the center is a group of row boats rilled with men, behind which, moored at the foot of the yellow cliff upon which East Cowes Castle stands, is the guardship and other vessels gaily decked with flags. To the right of the row boats is the foremost yacht with its sails dark against the light sky. It is luffing to prevent being blanketed by a second yacht, whose mainsail alone is visible. To the left of the row boats, the nearer yacht is close hauled; beyond in a line extending to the edge of the canvas the remaining yachts are bearing away with their sheets started. To the extreme right in the distance is seen a bit of shore with some buildings and before it a ship under sail. The sunlight flecks the sea and sails. A brisk breeze is blowing, the sails are filled and the flags stands out stiffly in the wind. Size: H. 35I/2 inches; W r . 47V2 inches. Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1828. Algernon Graves' "The Royal Academy Contributors," etc, 1828, No. 113. Sir W' alter Armstrong's "J. M. W. Turner," p. 220. Catalogue of E. W. Parker, Esq., No. 100. Collection J. Nash, East Cowes Castle, Isle of W r ight. Collection E.W\ Parker, J. P., Skirwith Abbey, Cumberland. 124 THE REGATTA BEARING TO WINDWARD JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R. A. RUSTIC SCENE GEORGE MORLAND [30] GEORGE MORLAND English School, 1763? 1804 RUSTIC SCENE OCCUPYING the center of the picture in the foreground a sow is lying down with her two young ones against a heap of manure and straw, where, towards the right, a pig is searching for food. Behind it a farm hand, a youth, his hands crossed and resting on the handle of his shovel, faces forward and smiles at a white dog who perched on the top of the pile looks at him in an expectant attitude. At his left a donkey seen in profile quietly stands ; at his right is a low thatchedsroof stable with its door opened ; behind him are bushes ; at the ex* treme right a bit of country is seen. Soft summer sky with a big filmy grey cloud. Signed at bottom towards the left: G. Morland 1792. Size: H. 19V2 inches; "W. 25V2 inches. Has been engraved in mezzotint. 129 [31] PATRICK NASMYTH English School, 1787=1831 EDINBURGH FROM GOGAR A SUMMER LANDSCAPE with a rare sense of space. In the extreme distance and almost in the center of the picture, the high castle of Edinburgh looms up as an appari* tion against a sky flooded with light, and at its feet lies the city, its jumble of buildings seen beyond groves of trees. All this lies beyond the middle distance, the lines of the composition lead up towards it, while the darker and larger masses of trees standing to right and left on the banks of the Gogar and their accompanying reflections in the water emphasize the shims mering atmospheric beauty of this background. The presence of the Gogar is first revealed by a stone bridge to the right; the river appears near it in the center and changing direction twice swiftly flows towards the foreground to the left, exs panding so as to fill the whole width of the picture. A bit of low shore in the foreground to the right shows grasses and reeds, and the beginning of a brick garden wall ; on the oppo- site bank to the left, which is in strong shadow, are some farm buildings under tall trees and figures of three women. Size: H. 11 inches; W. 15V2 inches. Collection F. Whitehead (Leamington). 130 13 HOflUaHL EDINBURGH FROM GOGAR PATRICK NASMYTH THE PET BIRD SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, P. R. A. [32] SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, P. R. A. English School, 1829*1896 THE PET BIRD FACING towards the left, a little girl, nearly life size and three-quarters length, stands with her head turned for* ward, her eyes looking straight at the spectator. A lace bonnet is placed upon her light brown hair, which is banged across the forehead and loose and wavy at the back. She holds on the forefinger of her right hand a green parakeet, and her left arm hangs at her side. Her rich silk dress is embroidered with a large allsover pattern in delicate colors — light salmon^pink, white and cool greys blending harmoniously, and has a beau* tiful lace band edging the opening at the neck, and lace cuffs. The dark background, representing a tapestry with trees and foliage, emphasizes the brilliant colouring of the figure. Signed at the lower left corner with monogram and "1883." Size: H. 36 inches; "W. 25 V4 inches. J 35 [33] SIR LAURENZ ALMA TADEMA, R. A. English School, 1836s UNWELCOME CONFIDENCE IN the loggia of a Roman villa two young women facing the spectator are seated on the fleecy fur thrown over a marble bench; their feet are resting upon a tiger skin lying on the marble floor, and, to their right, a richly chased silver vase filled with lilacs stands on a large coffer covered with a tap; estry . Behind them, partly framed with the beginning of an arch to the left, is the sunshiny background of sea and sky against which their heads sT:and out in strong relief, and where a fruit tree in blossom and a marble group of two figures set upon a large pedestal break the line of the horizon. One of the young women confides to the other some secret, probably of the heart, which evidently falls on reluctant ears. The cos* tumes, one of light greyish blue, the other purplish, contrast and harmonize ; the attitudes are graceful and expressive. The picture is full of light and the spirit of youth. Signed at bottom towards the right: L. AlmaTadema, opccxxxii Size: H. 17V2 inches; W. 11^/4 inches. 136 UNWELCOME CONFIDENCE SIR LAURENZ ALMA TADEMA, R. A. GETTY CENTER LIBRARY J^ N5220 ? 7 ..,-rtln.r. Wllhelm OttlUUtUHiBUBBBBBBHBHHaBMMiHHHBHHI nOBBHBMHM