| The Last Drop | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Judith Leyster |
| Year | c. 1629 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 89 cm× 73.7 cm(35 in× 29.0 in) |
| Location | Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia |
The Last Drop is a c. 1629 oil painting by Judith Leyster in the John G. Johnson collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. [1] It was regarded as a work by Frans Hals until 1903, when it was noticed that it is signed 'JL*' on the tankard.
Judith Leyster was a well-known artist during the seventeenth century; however, her reputation was forgotten soon after her death. [2] There were no mentions of her name to be found in sales records and no prints made of her artwork. However, early in her career, she was recognized as the very first woman artist in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. [3] It was not until 1893 that Judith Leyster was rediscovered and was given recognition as a leading woman in Dutch Golden Age painting. [4]
Judith Leyster's The Last Drop was in the collection of Sir George Donaldson in London around 1903. [3] The canvas was then sold to the collection of Hoogendijk on April 28 or 29, 1908. Now, the painting is part of the John G. Johnson Collection in the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia. [3]
Leyster did not date The Last Drop and Merry Trio; therefore Juliane Harms dated her work within the years of 1631 to 1633. [4] These were the dates of Leyster's other candlelit paintings, for example, The Proposition . In 1642 it was recorded that an art dealer named Emanuel Burck sold art pieces signed with the name "Judith Molenaer" and "Judith Leyster". [4] Molenaer was her married name from her husband Jan Miense Molenaer. It is possible that Emanuel Burck personally knew Leyster and used her married name instead of her maiden name on purpose. Another name that she went by on legal documents was "Juffrow Molenaer". When her husband, Jan Miense Molenaer, died, the inventory of paintings in their home were not listed by the name of Judith Leyster but instead by the name of: "Juffrow Molenaer", 'His wife", "Wife of the deceased", and "Judith Molenaer". [4] In 1903 it was documented that the British dealer and auction house Sir George Donaldson, exhibited The Last Drop and Leyster's Merry Trio together. The Last Drop and the Merry Trio were then exhibited together in the 1904 Guildhall exhibition, Painters of the Dutch School, where they were listed under both Judith Leyster and Frans Hals. The Last Drop and Merry Trio may be pendants as they were then reported to have the same measurements. [4] At this time, Cornelis Hofstede de Groot recognized Leyster's signature on the Carousing Couple, which had previously been credited to Frans Hals. [4] After recognizing Leyster's signature on the Carousing Couple, Groot then identified six more of Judith Leyster's paintings. The Guildhall exhibit presented a biography for Frans Hals, but not for Judith Leyster. The organizers of the exhibit did not want to surrender Frans Hals's label. [4] It is often mistaken that Leyster was a pupil of Frans Hals, although there is no sufficient proof that this was the case. [4] There is a slight resemblance between Leyster's work and Frans Hals's artistic style, but this is not enough to prove that she was his student. In 1904, organizers of that same Guildhall exhibition also attributed the painting Young Women at Her Toilet to the name of Leyster, but wrote about Leyster's art in a negative way.
Juliane Harms documented The Last Drop in 1908. At that time, the moralizing figure of the skeleton had been painted out and a lamp stood in its place. The skeleton of The Last Drop was only known because of a studio copy. In the 1990s, the canvas was put under the examination of raking light and X-ray photography. [1] The painting has since been restored, removing the painted lamp and revealing the skeleton. The now unconcealed skeleton demonstrates that later generations were not beholden to the image of death in the middle of the painting. This moral representation was despised enough for someone to commit the act of overpainting the skeleton. [5]
In reference to the skeleton and the party scene in The Last Drop, one underlying meaning for this art piece focuses on the loss of self-respect and dissipated state of drunkenness. [1] Both men appear to be unconcerned about the actions they are committing as the skeleton is in their presence. The skeleton's facial expression and stance show that it is enjoying itself just as much as the drunken men. Skeletons were familiar figures in seventeenth-century art, representing the unavoidable nature of death. The figures of the two men appear to be similar to the figures in the scene of the Merry Trio , also painted by Judith Leyster in 1629. [1] The Merry Trio and The Last Drop accompany each other representing night and day. Merry Trio illustrates the first stage of drinking, typically in the evening as the sun is setting. The Last Drop is the later stage of the party after drinking has continued; it is now dark and then men are blinded by the effects of drink. The night scene is represented by the use of the candle between the men and the skeleton. At this point in the night, both men are very drunk and unaware of the skeleton among them. [5]
According to Hofrichter, the scene shows a common vanitas theme with an inverted tankard and a smoking pipe to show that the party is over. [3] The skeleton holds up an hourglass to emphasize that time is running out on the party, but also on the lives of those present. This is similar to Hans Holbein's Dance of Death series, which also shows a skeleton hanging around those who are intoxicated and giving an individual more to drink. This seems to be the original meaning of the painting before the table was painted over the skeleton. Judith Leyster used a candle to light up the activities that were taking place and establish the nighttime setting. In contrast, the daylight scene of The Merry Trio serves to show that true gaiety can be found in moderation. When Hofrichter offered this interpretation of The Last Drop, she only knew of the concealed skeleton from x-ray images. [1]
In the Philadelphia Museum of Art online catalog for The Last Drop, the artwork is described as a scene of vastenavond (Shrove Tuesday), [6] an annual celebration honored by Christian denominations in the seventh week before Eastern Orthodox Easter on the day before Ash Wednesday. The catalog explains The Last Drop as a representation of young men bingeing on alcohol before the fasting and restraining of the consumption of alcohol of Lent, based on the actions the individuals are performing and the items they are holding. The skeleton is a representation of the consequences of their overindulgence. The figure of death holds both a skull and an hourglass in front of the men, yet they are unaware due to their mental state. [6]
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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.
The Frans Hals Museum is a museum located in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
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.
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.
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.
Pieter Biesboer, is a Dutch art historian and prolific writer on 17th-century Dutch art. His specialty is art from Haarlem.
Shrovetide Revellers, also known as Merrymakers at Shrovetide, is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in around 1616–17. It is one of the earliest surviving works by Hals, and has been held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City since 1913. The painting shows people festivities at Shrovetide, an annual carnival of food and jollity which takes place before the Christian fasting season of Lent.
Boy with a Glass and a Lute is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1626 and now in the Guildhall Art Gallery, London.
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 an 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 Jolly Toper is a 1629 oil painting by Judith Leyster in the collection of the Rijksmuseum that is on long term loan to the Frans Hals Museum since 1959. It was acquired by the museum as a painting by Frans Hals and was attributed to Leyster by the researcher Juliane Harms in 1927.
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 by Judith Leyster in a private collection. It was considered a work by Frans Hals until 1903.
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.
Young man playing the lute is an oil painting by Judith Leyster 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.
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.
A Game of Tric-Trac is a painting by Judith Leyster from 1630.
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.
| Authority control: Art research institutes |
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