Философия/4. Философия культуры

A. A. Dmitrieva, Candidate of Art Science, Senior lecturer

Saint-Petersburg State University

annadmi@mail.ru

DELFT SCHOOL OF PAINTING AS A PHENOMENON OF THE XVII-th CENTURY DUTCH CULTURE

In XVII-th century Delft became one of the leading centers of the Dutch art. In Delft there was a tradition of exceptional craftsmanship, of refined and often conservative styles and of sophisticated subject matter and expression. The art market was regulated by the city. In Delft, as in nearly all the other local artistic schools in the Netherlands, measures were taken to limit the import of artworks from outside the city. Being based on the archival documents we can investigate the structure of the Delft guild of Saint Luke and the socio-economic status of artists. The guild included both fine artists and artisans – painters, engravers, sculptors, faiencers, booksellers and embroiderers. The painters were the most influential group within the guild [5, p. 93-105].

Carel Fabritius, Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch and Jacobus Vrel were the most oudstanding Delft artists. They specialize in a genre painting and created the scenes of the everyday life. Motifs from the daily life had been used to reflect certain ideas; they had either symbolic or moralistic meaning. The clues to the XVII-th century’s way of thinking and the manner of expressing this meaning in art can be found in the emblem books of the time, volumes containing pictures accompanied by strongly moralistic texts explaining the picture in one or more ways. It is evident that the emblems were not immediately understandable even to the contemporaries and that a certain amount of training and skill were necessary to comprehend and enjoy their full meaning [3, p. 197-206].

Carel Fabritius (1622–1654) was the first painter, whose feeling for illusion and especially sensitive use of natural light formed part of the basis for the development of the Delft school of painting. He entered the Delft guild of the Saint Luke in 1652 and became famous as a painter of «perspectives». In his pictures «View in Delft with the seller of musical instruments» (1652, London, National Gallery) and «The Sentry» (1654, Schwerin, Staatliches Museum) we can find the decision the problem of interrelation of a genre art and a townscape [2, p.12-38].

Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was the most famous Delft artist. His creativity was devoted to the themes of music and of letter, scenes of everyday leisure in the interiors («The Glass of Wine» - c. 1660, Berlin, Staatlische Museen Preusischer Kulturbesitz) or engaged in a domestic activity («The Lacemaker» - c. 1671, Paris, Louvre). What makes Vermeer’s art special is less its subjects matter than the way he translates it into an artistic composition and his innovative treatment of widely used and traditional subjects [4, p. 7-54]. The painter derived most of his genre motifs from well-established iconographic traditions. From the very beginning of his career and in each subject, Vermeer preferred representing quiet, brooding moments that emphasize the mediative side of life. He became remarkably adept at layering his paints, not only to create textural and optical effects to simulate reality, but also to enhance a given mood. He also developed a sophisticated awareness of the importance of perspective to create the illusion of a three-dimensional space, and to affect the viewer’s perception. And finally, Vermeer had an extraordinary awareness of the psychological impact of color.

What is particularly noticeable is the curious way Vermeer’s art seems to be isolated from outside influences, something that characterizes almost all of his paintings. The painter derived most of his genre motifs from well-established iconographic traditions. From the very beginning of his career and in each subject, Vermeer preferred representing quiet, brooding moments that emphasize the mediative side of life.

Pieter de Hooch (1629–1684) became a member of the Delft guild in 1655. He lived in Delft until about 1661, then moved to Amsterdam [6, p. 14]. In the mid-1650s and certainly by 1658, Pieter de Hooch had mastered a command of both linear and aerial perspective that was unprecedented among Dutch genre painters. De Hooch was the first to fully appreciate that illusion of space is not merely a matter of orthogonals, or lines of sight, converging in a vanishing point, but also a product of light, color and atmosphere. His created a number of paintings with guardrooms and tavern scenes, but after his marriage de Hooch began to devote himself to the scenes of daily life: rooms of well-to-do burghers with the housewives busy at domestic tasks, children walking about and little groups of people talking together: «The Вedroom» (c. 1660, Washington, National Gallery of Art), «Woman and Child in a Interior» (1658, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum).

He also portrayed groups out-to-doors, in the intimacy of courtyards, with a doorway giving a glimpse of a little street or a canal in the background («A Woman and a Child in the courtyard of a Delft house» – 1658, London, National Gallery). The often strongly illusionistic character of these rooms and courtyards suggests his awareness of the interest in optical illusion and perspective. Pieter de Hooch was one of the first to celebrate domestic virtues that had the resources to make the nuclear family its primary social unit and moral forum.

Finally, the creativity of Jacobus Vrel (active 1654–1662) also is connected with Delft [1, p. 96-114]. Vrel created multifigured genre scenes in the town streets and the domestic interiors with one or two characters. His town views have the naive charm of so-called primitive paintings. The attention he pays to the linear perspective is combined with almost miniature manner in the study of figures and architecture («A Little Street» – c. 1660, Gamburg, Kunsthalle).

His interiors are united by diminishing number of acting people, participants of the compositions are mainly women. Despite all their attractive lighting effects, Vrel’s interiors have relatively simplistic spatial designs, little command of perspective and never attempt a view to an adjacent room. His tall chambers tend to dwarf the figures and the curiously stunted furnishings. His shadowed interiors create a more somber mood than Pieter de Hooch’s domestic subjects.

Thus the painting of Delft was connected with literature, philosophy, music and architecture. All the works created by C. Fabritius, J. Vermeer, P. de Hooch and J. Vrel demonstrate the important place of the Delft school of painting in the course of the development of the XVII-th century Dutch culture. They present the Delft school as one of the most significant phenomenon of the Baroque Golden Age.

Literature:

1. Briere-Misme C. Un intimiste hollandais: Jacob Vrel // Revue de l'Art Ancien et Moderne. 1935. № 68. P. 96–114.

2. Brown C. Carel Fabritius. Complete edition with a catalogue raisonné. Oxford: Phaidon, 1981.

3. De Jongh E. Real Dutch life and not-so-real Dutch life: some nationalistic vews of XVII century Nederlandish painting // Simiolus. 1990/91. Vol. 20. P. 197-206.

4. Liedtke W. Vermeer. The complete painting. Antwerp: Ludion, 2008.

5. Montias J.-M. The guild of Saint Luke in seventeenth century Delft and the economic status of artists and artisans // Simiolus. 1977. Vol. 9. P. 93–105.

6. Sutton P. Pieter de Hooch, 1629–1684. Dulwich Picture Gallery. Exhibition. Catalogue. London; Hartford: Yale University Press, 1998.