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Lot Essay
The son of a Flemish artist who had emigrated to Leiden, Metsu was one of the leading painters of that school, although he moved to Amsterdam in 1657. Relatively short-lived, the chronology of his oeuvre is often difficult with certainty to establish; Robinson, however dates this work to the late 1650s (loc. cit.), painted after the artist's move to Amsterdam.
During his years in Leiden, Metsu was strongly influenced by the work of Gerrit Dou, the pre-eminent painter of genre scenes in the city and founder of the fijnschilderij tradition for which its artists are so renowned. Works of Metsu's such as the Woman sewing in a niche (Moscow, Pushkin Museum), or the Hunter in a niche (1661; The Hague, Mauritshuis) clearly reflect this: small-scale figures, the varying textures and shades of the clothes, objects and surroundings exquisitely rendered. Similarly influential, after his move to Amsterdam, was the work of Gerard Ter Borch - evident in pictures such as Le corset bleu (Bearstead collection, National Trust, Upton House, Warwickshire) or the Officer paying court to a young woman sold in these Rooms from the collection of the Barons Nathaniel and Albert von Rothschild, 8 July 1999, lot 222 (£1,013,500). Such works concentrated more on figures in a carefully lit interior, the textures - particularly furs and cloths - still delicately rendered, but the scene imbued with more feeling, often focusing on the interrelation between the characters.
It was perhaps this latter aspect of his work that represents Metsu's greatest contribution to the genre: his ability to infuse his works with a psychological understanding that surpasses that in his contemporaries' works. Besides the influence of Ter Borch, he would have been familiar in Leiden with the work of Jan Steen, and the frequently charged drama of the latter's genre pieces clearly impressed him; Metsu, however, excelled in presenting a quieter, more introspective tone, of which the present picture is an excellent example. The subject of a young woman alone with some form of study was one to which Metsu returned on several occasions, including the Young lady drawing of circa 1655-60 (London, National Gallery). Both works recall Ter Borch, but the Dreesmann picture reveals also the influence of Nicolaes Maes and Pieter de Hooch's genre pieces in the plainness of the composition, subject and setting. Typical of Metsu is the simple dignity of the picture, deliberately restrained in mood.
The letter that the young woman is reading would probably have been understood by Metsu's contemporaries to have been a love letter. Certainly the expression on her face, pensive and yet quietly smiling to herself, suggests that to be the case. In such works, a picture on the wall behind the reader often reflected the contents of the letter, particularly a shipwreck or stormy seascape implying difficult news and a calm the reverse. The map (the subject of which has not yet been deciphered) on the rear wall in the present picture might therefore denote that the subject's companion was writing from a distant location, although of course it is easy and tempting to read too much into such works.
During his years in Leiden, Metsu was strongly influenced by the work of Gerrit Dou, the pre-eminent painter of genre scenes in the city and founder of the fijnschilderij tradition for which its artists are so renowned. Works of Metsu's such as the Woman sewing in a niche (Moscow, Pushkin Museum), or the Hunter in a niche (1661; The Hague, Mauritshuis) clearly reflect this: small-scale figures, the varying textures and shades of the clothes, objects and surroundings exquisitely rendered. Similarly influential, after his move to Amsterdam, was the work of Gerard Ter Borch - evident in pictures such as Le corset bleu (Bearstead collection, National Trust, Upton House, Warwickshire) or the Officer paying court to a young woman sold in these Rooms from the collection of the Barons Nathaniel and Albert von Rothschild, 8 July 1999, lot 222 (£1,013,500). Such works concentrated more on figures in a carefully lit interior, the textures - particularly furs and cloths - still delicately rendered, but the scene imbued with more feeling, often focusing on the interrelation between the characters.
It was perhaps this latter aspect of his work that represents Metsu's greatest contribution to the genre: his ability to infuse his works with a psychological understanding that surpasses that in his contemporaries' works. Besides the influence of Ter Borch, he would have been familiar in Leiden with the work of Jan Steen, and the frequently charged drama of the latter's genre pieces clearly impressed him; Metsu, however, excelled in presenting a quieter, more introspective tone, of which the present picture is an excellent example. The subject of a young woman alone with some form of study was one to which Metsu returned on several occasions, including the Young lady drawing of circa 1655-60 (London, National Gallery). Both works recall Ter Borch, but the Dreesmann picture reveals also the influence of Nicolaes Maes and Pieter de Hooch's genre pieces in the plainness of the composition, subject and setting. Typical of Metsu is the simple dignity of the picture, deliberately restrained in mood.
The letter that the young woman is reading would probably have been understood by Metsu's contemporaries to have been a love letter. Certainly the expression on her face, pensive and yet quietly smiling to herself, suggests that to be the case. In such works, a picture on the wall behind the reader often reflected the contents of the letter, particularly a shipwreck or stormy seascape implying difficult news and a calm the reverse. The map (the subject of which has not yet been deciphered) on the rear wall in the present picture might therefore denote that the subject's companion was writing from a distant location, although of course it is easy and tempting to read too much into such works.