Self-portrait by Judith Leyster

Last updated
Self-portrait by Judith Leyster
Self-portrait by Judith Leyster.jpg
Artist Judith Leyster   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Yearc. 1630
Medium oil paint, canvas
Dimensions74.6 cm (29.4 in) × 65.1 cm (25.6 in)
Location National Gallery of Art
Identifiers RKDimages ID: 166670

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. [1] It was attributed for centuries to Frans Hals and was only properly attributed to Judith Leyster upon acquisition by the museum in 1949. [2] The style is indeed comparable to that of Hals, Haarlem's most famous portraitist. [3]

Contents

In 2016 a second self-portrait was found, dating from around 1653. [4]

Though Leyster looks very relaxed, the composition is to some extent an artificial confection. She is dressed in what must have been her best clothes, which in reality she is unlikely to have risked near wet oil paint. The figure she is painting is borrowed from a different work and was perhaps never actually painted as a single figure.

Critics have found a sense of "Baroque closeness" in this painting. [3] The artist and the viewer are very close in space. Many of the elements in the painting are foreshortened in order to feel closer and like they are coming into the viewer's space. [3]

Self-portrait around 1653 Selfportrait Judith Leyster around 1653 other version 02.jpg
Self-portrait around 1653

Background

Artist

For women during this time, being a painter was unusual. Judith Leyster, however, was a working artist at the age of eighteen. She became the first successful woman painter in the Netherlands during the height of Dutch art, known as the Dutch Golden Age. [ citation needed ] She taught students while running her own workshop and selling her works. Leyster specialized in genre scenes, along with portraits and still lives. She would sign her paintings with a star because her last name translated to "leading star". Leyster was also the first woman member of the Haarlem painters' guild which was dominated by men. After her death, her artistic reputation became nonexistent and this painting was misattributed to Frans Hals. [5] [6]

Misattribution to Frans Hals

It is unclear whether or not Leyster was a student of Frans Hals, but her style did share similar characteristics with his. This explains why some of her paintings were misattributed to him. [5] The influence of Caravaggio, playing with dramatic contrasts between light and shadow, is seen in many of her works. The illusion of illumination along with soft, broad brushstrokes were shared by both Leyster and Hals. Both of their works included light, airy brushstrokes and similar subject matter. Leyster's work had been forgotten after she had died which led to the misattribution to Frans Hals. [6]

Because she did not sign many paintings with her maiden name, art historians would misattribute those to Frans Hals or other male Dutch painters during that time. Her Self-Portrait was supposed to be executed in the 1620s by Hals and may have been among those sold as "Daughter of the artist" in early sales catalogs. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, collectors and dealers often forged Frans Hals's signature on her paintings and covered up hers.[ citation needed ] The painting was sold by the Ehrich Galleries of New York on 9 May 1929 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, of Washington, D.C for 250,000 dollars. [7] In 1928 W.R. Valentiner declared it a portrait of Leyster by Hals. In 1930 Gerrit David Gratama asserted that the painting was by Leyster herself, declaring that it was done while she was making a study of her painting, The Merry Trio. [7]

Masterpiece

Leyster entered into the Saint Luke's Guild of Haarlem as an independent master in 1633. [3] This was rare, since women were excluded from joining the guild. [3] Being a part of the guild was extremely important to be successful. It was extremely hard to sell artworks or have a studio where one can teach unless a part of this guild. Leyster even became a master in the guild. It was at the time she was applying to be a master that she created this painting as her "masterpiece." In this painting she is showing off her skills. [5] She painted herself in a huge lace collar and silk sleeves which would have been extremely expensive and probably her best clothes. It is unlikely that she ever actually painted wearing these. [5] Like most sitters for portraits, she wanted to be shown at her best. They also allowed her to show off her skill at depicting the different textiles. On the easel there is a laughing fiddler in progress, a typical example of the sort of genre painting subject she mostly painted.

Description

Judith Leyster Merry Trio Judith Leyster Merry Trio.jpg
Judith Leyster Merry Trio

Subject

Continuing in the tradition of sixteenth-century artists who pushed to have painting seen as a profession as opposed to a craft, Leyster chose to depict herself wearing lace cuffs, rich fabric and a huge collar, which would not have been suitable for painting, but instead draw attention to her wealth and success. [5] She also portrayed raw paint on her palette. This demonstrates her skill as an artist. In doing this, she both distinguished herself from less skilled artisans and showcased her technical abilities. [5] While it is unclear whether Leyster studied under Hals, the loose brush strokes and casual pose echo his stylistic choices. [5] Leyster shows herself working on a figure who appears in another surviving painting of hers, The Merry Trio.

Similar to other paintings of hers, Leyster's self-portrait has a momentary quality to it—she is turned partially to the viewer with her lips parted as if to speak. [2] It has been said that her lips parted as if she was speaking is in reference to poetry and how the arts had a connection to that. [5] Leyster also paints herself with her arm propped up resting on the chair that mimics the casual and free confidence she had in her skill. She also is looking towards the viewer, as if to invite them into her studio. This, along with the fistful of brushes and inclusion of the fiddler from her later painting The Merry Trio, suggest that this piece was calculated to advertise her abilities. [2] This is also another way of the artist letting the viewers know that she was capable of creating a portrait as well as creating genre scenes.

Composition

According to Hofrichter, x-ray analysis shows that the figure on the easel was initially a portrait of a young girl, and that it would be in keeping with the tradition of other masterpieces of Leyster's day to show off her artist's expertise by changing this to show that she was also capable of painting figures in theatrical poses as well as portraiture. [2] Instead of it being a self-portrait of herself creating a self-portrait, the artist chose to take another opportunity to display her skill and her success as a painter, incorporating a popular painting of hers.

On the whole, Leyster's painting is similar to self-portraits by other women artists. In depicting herself at her easel with an unfinished painting, holding both a palette and a paintbrush, she creates a self-portrait that recalls Catharina van Hemessen's 1546 self-portrait, as well as a self-portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola that dates to c.1554. What is unique about Leyster's self-portrait is where she places her own figure: both van Hemessen and Anguissola positioned themselves on the right side of the composition, the area known as the "heraldic left", considered appropriate for female figures. By contrast, Leyster places her own figure on the left side of the composition, or the "heraldic right", which was more suitable for male figures; this choice may reflect her status as a professional painter. [8]

Exhibitions

See also

Notes

  1. Judith Leyster, by Els Kloek, in 1001 Vrouwen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis
  2. 1 2 3 4 Judith Leyster: A Woman Painter in Holland's Golden Age, by Frima Fox Hofrichter, Doornspijk, 1989, Davaco Publishers, ISBN   90-70288-62-1, catalog #21
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait , retrieved 2019-05-13
  4. "Onbekend zelfportret Judith Leyster ontdekt". nrc.nl. Retrieved 2016-12-30.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Self-Portrait". Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  6. 1 2 Self-Portrait: Provenance, nga.gov. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  7. 1 2 Gratama, Gerrit David. "Het Portret van Judith Leyster door Frans Hals." Oud Holland 47 (1930): 71-75
  8. Even, Yael (2002). "Judith Leyster: An Unsuitable Place for a Woman". Konsthistorisk Tidskrift. 71 (3): 115–17. doi:10.1080/00233600260491554. S2CID   192012838.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frans Hals</span> Painter from the Northern Netherlands (c. 1582–1666)

Frans Hals the Elder was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frans Hals Museum</span> Art museum in Haarlem, Netherlands

The Frans Hals Museum is a museum located in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Sanders van Hemessen</span> Flemish Renaissance painter

Jan Sanders van Hemessen was a leading Flemish Renaissance painter, belonging to the group of Italianizing Flemish painters called the Romanists, who were influenced by Italian Renaissance painting. Van Hemessen had visited Italy during the 1520s, and also Fontainebleau near Paris in the mid 1530s, where he was able to view the work of the colony of Italian artists known as the First School of Fontainebleau, who were working on the decorations for the Palace of Fontainebleau. Van Hemessen's works show his ability to interpret the Italian models into a new Flemish visual vocabulary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catharina van Hemessen</span> Flemish Renaissance painter

Caterina or Catharina van Hemessen was a Flemish Renaissance painter. She is the earliest female Flemish painter for whom there is verifiable extant work. She is mainly known for a series of small-scale female portraits completed between the late 1540s and early 1550s and a few religious compositions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Leyster</span> Dutch painter (1609–1660)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guild of Saint Luke</span> City guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe

The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was identified by John of Damascus as having painted the Virgin's portrait.

<i>Malle Babbe</i> Painting by Frans Hals

Malle Babbe is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted c. 1633-1635, and now in the Gemäldegalerie, in Berlin. The painting has also been titled as Hille Bobbe or the Witch of Haarlem. It was traditionally interpreted as a tronie, or genre painting in a portrait format, depicting a mythic witch-figure. The painting is now often identified as a genre-style portrait of a specific individual from Haarlem, known as Malle Babbe, who may have been an alcoholic or suffered from a mental illness.

<i>Self-Portrait</i> (van Hemessen) Painting by Catharina van Hemessen

Self-Portrait is a small painting executed in oil on oak in 1548 by the Flemish Renaissance artist Catharina van Hemessen when she was 20 years old. The painting earned her a considerable reputation and is significant not only for being an early modern female portrait but also for representing an artist in the act of painting. This was very unusual for the time; although self-portraits were common, only a few, like those of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), showed the artist's everyday life. Artists of the time rarely directly referred to, much less showed the tools of their profession. It is assumed Hemessen's portrait is one of the earliest ones to show a painter with a brush together with a palette and an easel. She inscribed it in Latin: "I Caterina van Hemessen have painted myself / 1548 / Her age 20".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria de Grebber</span> Dutch Golden Age painter (1602–1680)

Maria de Grebber, was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Grebber was talented at depicting buildings and perspective.

<i>The Proposition</i> (Leyster) 1631 painting by Judith Leyster

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter Biesboer</span>

Pieter Biesboer, is a Dutch art historian and prolific writer on 17th-century Dutch art. His specialty is art from Haarlem.

<i>The Lute Player</i> (Hals) Painting by Frans Hals

The Lute Player is an oil-on-canvas painting from 1623 or 1624 now in the Louvre by the Haarlem painter Frans Hals, showing a smiling actor wearing a jester's costume and playing a lute.

<i>Willem van Heythuysen Posing with a Sword</i> Painting by Frans Hals

Willem van Heythuysen posing with a sword is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1625-1630, and now in the Alte Pinakothek, in Munich. It shows the Haarlem cloth merchant Willem van Heythuysen in a theatrical pose with a rapier.

<i>The Fingernail Test</i> Painting by Frans Hals or Judith Leyster

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.

<i>Serenade</i> (Leyster) 1629 painting by Judith Leyster

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.

<i>Merry Trio</i> Painting by Judith Leyster

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.

<i>The Last Drop</i> (Leyster) Painting by Judith Leyster

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.

<i>Copy of Lute Player by Frans Hals</i> 17th century oil painting by Judith Leyster

Young man playing the lute is an oil painting executed in 1624 by the Dutch Golden Age artist Judith Leyster. It is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, and is a period copy of the same subject by Frans Hals. It was acquired by the museum as a painting by Frans Hals and was skipped by the researcher Juliane Harms in 1927, being finally attributed to Leyster by Seymour Slive in 1974.

<i>Family Group in a Landscape</i> Painting by Frans Hals

Family Group in a Landscape is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted c. 1645-1648, and now in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, in Madrid.

<i>Unequal Love</i>

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.

References

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Self-portrait (Judith Leyster) at Wikimedia Commons