The term Dutch Realism refers to the style of Dutch Baroque art that blossomed in the Netherlands towards the end of the Eighty Years’ War for Dutch independence (1568–1648). It was a form of Protestant art, thus avoided the monumental themes and idealised splendour of High Baroque painting, and focused instead on modest, everyday themes portrayed in convincing detail. It embraced all painting genres, including portraits, still life, landscapes and history paintings, and was exemplified by such artist’s as Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, and Willem Kalf. Dutch Relist art works were of such an extraordinary quality and became highly prised during the seventeenth-century. This period was subsequently referred to as the Golden Age of Dutch painting.
The then, new freedom from Spanish Catholic rule was captivated with a surge in economic and cultural prominence. Trade and commerce lead to the rise of a large middle and merchant class who turned to art to as a response to the burgeoning celebration of Dutch life and identity. Artists were quick to exploit this demand. While Vermeer and Rembrandt were among the few painters who were able to create masterpieces in different categories by producing art work on a mass scale many artists specialised and concentrated their efforts to one area. It is estimated that between five and ten million works of art had been produced during the century of the Golden Age of Dutch art. (Janson, n.d.)
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Virtually ignored in his own time, Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675) is now truly considered an Old Master of the Dutch Golden Age era. His painting style was reminiscent to that of Caravaggio and his earlier paintings revolved around religion and mythology. The artist’s use of the camera obsucra provided unique effects, such as allowing him to capture even the finest detail of his subjects, making them appear closer to the viewer, with an exaggerated perspective. Although Vermeer tackled a cross-section of seventeenth-century Dutch society, from a simple milkmaid at work, to the luxury of wealthy nobility in the splendour of their own homes, Vermeer always returned to his unique style in painting beautiful women in a private domestic interior, such as A Maid Asleep (c. 1656-7) and The Kitchen Maid (c. 1657-8) (see figure 1), although these were two of Vermeer’s earliest paintings of this recurring subject.My own perspective is that The Kitchen Maid personifies honesty and dignity, far in excess of the simple task she performs. Her physical power is emphasised through the unusually bold modelling of her figure which is augmented by the perspective of the window as the orthogonal recede to a vanishing point just above her right hand; reinforcing the significance of her gesture. Vermeer’s understanding of perceptive was used effectively to focus the viewers gaze. Woman Holding a Balance c. 1664 employs the same technique.
Vermeer was a master at using light to create mood, atmosphere and character of his images. Here, for example, to enhance the figure’s three-dimensional form he differentiated light on the rear wall. He juxtaposed the bright yellow of the milkmaid’s right shoulder to the shaded portion of the wall, while placing her shaded left shoulder against a bright background. A white contour line along this shoulder accentuates the figure’s strong silhouette.
This is replicated by effect of light on the table, where Vermeer evoked the textures of the earthenware bowl, jug, and basket, as well as the freshness of the breads, with an array of spectacular highlights. He created these with a complex layering of paints, often applied wet-in-wet.
Pieter de Hooch (1629-83), was a contemporary of Johannes Vermeer while at colleague in Delft and their paintings share similar themes and styles. Like Vermeer, he depicted people going about their daily lives, routinely inside their houses or in an urban courtyard; although his earlier paintings depicted scenes of soldiers and peasants in stables and taverns. Like Vermeer he had mastered control of light, colour, and complex perspective. In The Bedroom (c. 1658-60) his treatment of light saturates this everyday scene with an extraordinary intimacy and warmth. There are two sources of light – from the side and rear, both illuminating the child who opens the door to the inner room. The floor tiles, doorways and window are central to the composition to create a grid of harmonious vertical and horizontal lines to depict perspective. Floor tiles are regularly included in de Hooch’s paintings, both indoors and in his courtyard scenes. I sense that de Hooch is enticing the viewer to question his sense of perspective. In a similar context, viewing through open doors or alleyways harmonises the sense of perspective and reality of a three-dimensional form.
Willem Kalf (1619-93) was one of the Old Masters of Dutch Realism. Kalf specialised vanitas paintings using props like skulls and rotting fruit to depict the fleeting fragility of life, as well as in luxurious banquet sets known as pronkstilleven,”a still-life painting distinguished by its large and complex compositions and elaborate colouring. (Oxfordreference.com, 2019) His luminous manner of painting highlights has often been compared to that of Vermeer (Dutch, and it is entirely possible that Kalf’s work influenced the Delft master (Wheelock Jr., 2014). Like many other artists during this era, Kalf preferred to paint art for the sake of art, albeit in keeping with the new aesthetics of Protestant Reformation art. As the still life genre was traditional considered the poor relation of genres like portraiture or history painting, by the 19th century Kalf’s pictures were largely forgotten. Only when they were restored during the twentieth-century was his skill recognised and compared favourably to Vermeer and Rembrandt.
By the turn of the nineteen-century ordinary scenes had become more interesting sources of inspiration and notable genre painters emerged. At the forefront was Gustave Courbet (1819 – 1877). In his pursuit to erase social indifference, particularly the working conditions of the poor peasants and the rural bourgeoisie, he depicted ordinary people in their every-day lives. Observing the subject directly from life, and his use of aggressive brush strokes and roughness of painted surfaces not only challenged the academic ideas of painting but his unrelenting honesty shocked his audiences and was harshly reviewed by art critics.
Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was an American realist painter. His artwork reflects the influence of Impressionists such as Monet, Cezanne, and Van Gogh, their compositional devices and depictions of modern urban life.
Like old masters such as Vermmer and Impressionists alike, Hopper had mastered the importance of light. His paintings of commonplace urban life, anonymous figures, and compositions that evoke a sense of silence, solitude, desire and (erotic) frustration was intentional and questions the viewer. His figures appear entirely self-absorbed and unconscious of being observed. We are drawn to believe that the subject see’s something that the viewer cannot. This is especially evident in paintings such as, Morning In a City (1944), A Woman in the Sun (1961) and Morning Sun (1952) (see figure 2). Despite Hoppers depiction of unknowing interesting characters posed in simple compositions, I find that they present so many unanswered questions.
During the first half of the twentieth-century there was an emphasis on the social aspect of realism (not to be confused with Socialist Realism). This Courbet-derived type of realism deployed genre painting as a technique for painters to portray characters of a non-representative nature, such as prostitutes, drunks and middle-class men. By the end of the twentieth-century, art movements attempted to establish different kinds of expression in art. Arguably Pop Art exemplified a certain fascination with the ordinary and the common with a new kind of appreciation for the mundane object. However, I feel the work of David Hockney (b. 1937) during the 60s and 70s resonated with the initial principle behind genre painting, even if somewhat idolised with social status.
Lucian Michael Freud, (1922-2011) was a British painter and draftsman. Specialising in figurative he is known as one of the foremost twentieth-century portraitist. His realism was of a very different kind from that of other artists. Working only from living models, he scrutinised every nuance and inflection of his sitter’s appearance close up. His portraits of naked men and women, stripped of all protective trappings, reveal his subjects’ vulnerability, and perhaps making us all uncomfortably aware of what it feels like to be human.
Like great realist painters before him, Freud’s subjects came from all walks of life; working-class girls, art students, supermodels and the even the Queen. He painted his wives, lovers, children and grandchildren. His paintings depicted unprepossessing, inanimate objects – be that the rubbish tip outside his studio window in Paddington, exposed floorboards, rough plaster walls, battered furniture and discarded paint rags in the studio – his observation and attention to detail was unequalled (in my opinion).
References:
Janson, J. (n.d.). A Brief Overview of the Dutch Art Market in the 17th century. [online] Essentialvermeer.com. Available at: http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#.XG20NOj7SCo [Accessed 20 Feb. 2019].
http://www.edwardhopper.net. (2019). Morning Sun, 1952 by Edward Hopper. [online] Available at: http://www.edwardhopper.net/morning-sun.jsp [Accessed 20 Mar. 2019].
Oxfordreference.com. (2019). Pronkstilleven – Oxford Reference. [online] Available at: http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100349439 [Accessed 8 Mar. 2019].
Tate. (2019). Lucian Freud, room guide, room 6 | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/lucian-freud/lucian-freud-room-guide/lucian-freud-room-guide-room-6 [Accessed 20 Mar. 2019].
The Biography.com website. (2014). Edward Hopper. [online] Available at: https://www.biography.com/people/edward-hopper-9343823 [Accessed 8 Mar. 2019].
Wheelock Jr., A. (2014). Willem Kalf. [online] Nga.gov. Available at: https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1430.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2019].
OCA BA(Hons) Painting Degree - Level 1 