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拍品專文
The 18th-century French writer, Jean-Baptiste Descamps, recommended Gabriel Metsu above all other Dutch painters as a model for the genre painters of his age, and the splendid and subtle harmony of color in the present painting supports Descamps' praise of Metsu's palette.
Metsu was one of the leading figures in the founding of the Leiden Guild of Saint Luke, of which he became a member in 1648. Between circa 1650-2, the guild records show that Metsu was absent, and he probably spent part of this time in Utrecht. By 1657 he was living permanently in Amsterdam where he died prematurely at the age of thirty-nine. The chronology of Metsu's oeuvre is difficult to establish since most of the works ascribed to him are undated. However, around 1660, his technique becomes more refined and details, especially the depiction of drapery, are rendered with great subtlety and finesse. It is from the 1660s that Robinson (op. cit., p. 85, note 103) dates the present panel, comparing it to paintings by the artist in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, and formerly in the Ellesmere collection, Bridgewater House, London (ibid., figs. 206-7). Robinson notes that in many of the paintings by Metsu from this period he depicts a thick Turkish carpet, a lively little dog and a heavy hanging curtain or elegant chimneypiece. Indeed, the theme of well-dressed young woman in a comfortable home, involved in leisurely or domestic activities, was a highly popular one among Dutch genre artists of the time.
The influence of Johannes Vermeer on Metsu's work is obvious, and can be seen most clearly in Metsu's masterpieces from the mid-1660s, such as Man writing a letter and Woman reading a letter, formerly in the Beit collection, and now in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin (ibid., figs. 145-6). The subject of the present lot, letter writing, was a widespread activity of the highly literate society of the Dutch Republic, and their postal service was often praised as the best in Europe. Indeed, letter writing manuals, such as Jean Puget de la Serre's Le Secretaire à la Mode (translated into Dutch in 1651 as Fatsoenlicke Zendbrief-Schryver) were extremely popular. In the context of Dutch 17th-century genre painting, letter writing is often associated with love, and in the present lot and the Beit picture this theme is underlined by the painting on the wall behind the woman, depicting a seascape. This both suggests the idea of an absent lover, as well as the metaphor of love being as hazardous as a journey at sea. The same metaphor of letter and seascape can be seen in Vermeer's The Letter in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The attentive spaniel, present in so many of Metsu's paintings, also alludes to love and, in this instance, faithfulness.
Metsu's art is highly eclectic, and he tends to interpret existing stylistic trends in Dutch genre painting rather than to originate such trends. The influences of Gerard Dou, Jan Steen, Gerard Terborch, Pieter de Hooch and Johannes Vermeer are all visible in his works although, his exquisite, refined technique, particularly in the representation of texture, is highly original and very much his personal trademark.
Metsu was one of the leading figures in the founding of the Leiden Guild of Saint Luke, of which he became a member in 1648. Between circa 1650-2, the guild records show that Metsu was absent, and he probably spent part of this time in Utrecht. By 1657 he was living permanently in Amsterdam where he died prematurely at the age of thirty-nine. The chronology of Metsu's oeuvre is difficult to establish since most of the works ascribed to him are undated. However, around 1660, his technique becomes more refined and details, especially the depiction of drapery, are rendered with great subtlety and finesse. It is from the 1660s that Robinson (op. cit., p. 85, note 103) dates the present panel, comparing it to paintings by the artist in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, and formerly in the Ellesmere collection, Bridgewater House, London (ibid., figs. 206-7). Robinson notes that in many of the paintings by Metsu from this period he depicts a thick Turkish carpet, a lively little dog and a heavy hanging curtain or elegant chimneypiece. Indeed, the theme of well-dressed young woman in a comfortable home, involved in leisurely or domestic activities, was a highly popular one among Dutch genre artists of the time.
The influence of Johannes Vermeer on Metsu's work is obvious, and can be seen most clearly in Metsu's masterpieces from the mid-1660s, such as Man writing a letter and Woman reading a letter, formerly in the Beit collection, and now in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin (ibid., figs. 145-6). The subject of the present lot, letter writing, was a widespread activity of the highly literate society of the Dutch Republic, and their postal service was often praised as the best in Europe. Indeed, letter writing manuals, such as Jean Puget de la Serre's Le Secretaire à la Mode (translated into Dutch in 1651 as Fatsoenlicke Zendbrief-Schryver) were extremely popular. In the context of Dutch 17th-century genre painting, letter writing is often associated with love, and in the present lot and the Beit picture this theme is underlined by the painting on the wall behind the woman, depicting a seascape. This both suggests the idea of an absent lover, as well as the metaphor of love being as hazardous as a journey at sea. The same metaphor of letter and seascape can be seen in Vermeer's The Letter in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The attentive spaniel, present in so many of Metsu's paintings, also alludes to love and, in this instance, faithfulness.
Metsu's art is highly eclectic, and he tends to interpret existing stylistic trends in Dutch genre painting rather than to originate such trends. The influences of Gerard Dou, Jan Steen, Gerard Terborch, Pieter de Hooch and Johannes Vermeer are all visible in his works although, his exquisite, refined technique, particularly in the representation of texture, is highly original and very much his personal trademark.