| A Game of Tric-Trac | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Judith Leyster |
| Year | 1630 |
| Type | Oil paint on panel |
| Dimensions | 41 by 31 centimetres (16 in × 12 in) |
| Location | Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts |
A Game of Tric-Trac is a painting by Judith Leyster from 1630.
| A Game of Tric-Trac | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Artist | Judith Leyster |
| Year | 1630 |
| Type | Oil paint on panel |
| Dimensions | 41 by 31 centimetres (16 in × 12 in) |
| Location | Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts |
A Game of Tric-Trac is a painting by Judith Leyster from 1630.
A Game of Tric-Trac offers an insight into seventeenth century Dutch nightlife as well as the codes surrounding prostitution and morality. Backgammon, which was commonly called tric-trac, was a popular pastime during Leyster's lifetime, depicted in paintings by many of her contemporaries. While there is often a woman present in these pieces, besides one print by Jacob Matham, none of them depict her as having an active role in the game. [1] Leyster's painting is interesting then because the woman in it appears to the opposing player. Leyster signals this to the viewer with her placement of the oil lamp, which would have been placed on one side of the board (the "inner table") between the two players. [1]
Compared to other paintings and prints of her time, such as A Game of Tric-Trac in an Inn by Remigius Hogenberg, Leyster's identification of the woman in her painting as a prostitute is not as obvious. While she holds a glass of wine (a symbol which may have codified her profession) [1] her clothing is more modest and domestic. It is, however, the lit pipe which she hands to her opposer which gives away her occupation. During Leyster's life time pijpen or "to pipe/to smoke a pipe" would have had explicit sexual connotations. [1] A similar idea is found in Jacob Cats' Spiegel van den Ouwden en Niewen in the section "Whores and their sly tricks" which depicts a prostitute handing her client a brazier of hot coals instead of a pipe. [2] However both Leyster's painting and the emblem in Cats' book can be read through its accompanying verse "Thus I am in danger where I put my fingers; your coal as does your maidenhead - it burns or it infects" condemning both the courtesan and her male client. [1] Some critics, such as Cynthia Kartnehorst-Von Bogendorf Rupprath argue that Leyster's work drives this point home as the man in the painting breaks the fourth wall looking at the viewer as if asking his or her involvement in his decision. [1]
Leyster's choice to have this exchange take place at night with candlelight both adds an air of suspense and intrigue [1] and showcases her mastery of and interest in lighting and shadows. [3] While some scholars have argued that this emphasis on lighting brings to mind Leyster's potential influence from the Utrecht Caravaggisti [3] others emphasize the painting's similarity in composition to her husband, Jan Miense Molenaer's early work Card Players by Lamplight. [1] While both paintings employ similar lighting and idleness, the most convincing similarity is the mirrored image of Leyster's cavalier to the figure in Molenaer's foreground. [1]
Judith Jans Leyster was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, portraits, and still lifes. Her work was highly regarded by her contemporaries, but largely forgotten after her death. Her entire oeuvre came to be attributed to Frans Hals or to her husband, Jan Miense Molenaer. In 1893, she was rediscovered and scholars began to attribute her works properly.
Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence.
Adriaen van Utrecht was a Flemish painter known mainly for his sumptuous banquet still lifes, game and fruit still lifes, fruit garlands, market and kitchen scenes and depictions of live poultry in farmyards. His paintings, especially the hunting and game pieces, show the influence of Frans Snyders. The two artists are considered the main inventors of the genre of the pronkstillevens, i.e. still lifes that emphasized abundance by depicting a diversity of objects, fruits, flowers and dead game, often together with living people and animals. Van Utrecht also painted a number of flower still lifes. He was a regular collaborator with leading Antwerp painters who had been pupils or assistants of Peter Paul Rubens, such as Jacob Jordaens, David Teniers the Younger, Erasmus Quellinus II, Gerard Seghers, Theodoor Rombouts, Abraham van Diepenbeeck and Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert.
Genre painting, a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached either individually or collectively, thus distinguishing it from history paintings and portraits. A work would often be considered as a genre work even if it could be shown that the artist had used a known person—a member of his family, say—as a model. In this case it would depend on whether the work was likely to have been intended by the artist to be perceived as a portrait—sometimes a subjective question. The depictions can be realistic, imagined, or romanticized by the artist. Because of their familiar and frequently sentimental subject matter, genre paintings have often proven popular with the bourgeoisie, or middle class.
Events from the year 1630 in art.
Jan Miense Molenaer, was a Dutch Golden Age genre painter whose style was a precursor to Jan Steen's work during Dutch Golden Age painting. He shared a studio with his wife, Judith Leyster, also a genre painter, as well as a portraitist and painter of still-life. Both Molenaer and Leyster may have been pupils of Frans Hals.
Adam de Coster was a Flemish painter. He was a prominent member of the Antwerp Caravaggisti. These Caravaggisti were part of an international movement of European artists who interpreted the work of Caravaggio and the followers of Caravaggio in a personal manner. He is mainly known for his genre scenes with strong chiaroscuro effects. He was called a Pictor Noctium because of his preference for tenebrist scenes.
Depictions of tobacco smoking in art date back at least to the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, where smoking had religious significance. The motif occurred frequently in painting of the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age, in which people of lower social class were often shown smoking pipes. In European art of the 18th and 19th centuries, the social location of people – largely men – shown as smoking tended to vary, but the stigma attached to women who adopted the habit was reflected in some artworks. Art of the 20th century often used the cigar as a status symbol, and parodied images from tobacco advertising, especially of women. Developing health concerns around tobacco smoking also influenced its artistic representation.
Jacob Isaacszoon van Swanenburg was a Dutch painter, draftsman and art dealer. He was known for his city views, history paintings, Christian religious scenes and portraits. He spent a substantial part of his early career in Italy before returning to his native Leiden. He was the teacher of the young Rembrandt.
Maria de Grebber, was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Grebber was talented at depicting buildings and perspective.
The Proposition is a genre painting of 1631 by Judith Leyster, now in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, who title it Man offering money to a young woman. It depicts a woman, sewing by candlelight, as a man leans over her, touching her right shoulder with his left hand. He is offering her coins in his right hand, but she is apparently ignoring the offer and concentrating intently upon her sewing. As we see the female protagonist (seemingly) ignore the advances of her suitor, this painting has been considered to potentially be a feminist work.
The Fingernail Test is an oil-on-canvas Dutch Golden Age painting that has been attributed to either Frans Hals or Judith Leyster, painted in 1626 and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Self-portrait by Judith Leyster is a Dutch Golden Age painting in oils now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. It was offered in 1633 as a masterpiece to the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. It was attributed for centuries to Frans Hals and was only properly attributed to Judith Leyster upon acquisition by the museum in 1949. The style is indeed comparable to that of Hals, Haarlem's most famous portraitist.
The Serenade is a 1629 oil painting by Judith Leyster in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. It was attributed for centuries to Frans Hals until Wilhelm von Bode saw it in the Six collection in 1883. He noticed the prominent "J" in the signature, and attributed it to Jan Hals. This is one of seven paintings first properly attributed to Leyster by Hofstede de Groot ten years later in 1893.
The Merry Trio is an oil painting created in 1629 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Judith Leyster. It is now in a private collection. It was considered a work by Frans Hals until 1903.
The Last Drop is a c. 1629 oil painting by Judith Leyster in the John G. Johnson collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was regarded as a work by Frans Hals until 1903, when it was noticed that it is signed 'JL*' on the tankard.
A Youth with a Jug is a 1633 oil painting by Judith Leyster currently in a private collection.
Standing Cavalier is a painting by Judith Leyster in the Royal Collection. It is the only painting by Leyster with a provenance that reaches back to the 18th-century.
A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel is a 1635 oil painting by Judith Leyster that is now in the National Gallery, London.
Unequal Love is a painting made in about 1631 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Judith Leyster. It is in the collection of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome.
