Aert de Gelder
(6 October 1645 - 27 August 1727) |
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religious narratives Art Work
| Name: |
Aert de Gelder |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Dordrecht, Netherlands |
| Nationality: |
Dutch |
| Birth: |
6 October 1645 |
| Death: |
27 August 1727 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
religious narratives |
| Medium: |
oil painting |
| Method: |
oil painting |
| Style: |
Baroque |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painter
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Biography
Best known as Rembrandt's last and most dedicated student, de Gelder carried Rembrandt's manner well into the eighteenth century, where it was out of step with the times yet daringly original. Born into a rather wealthy family, de Gelder was therefore released from the necessity of cultivating a paying clientele. To some scholars at least, this fact helps explain his unusual career.
Aert was a pupil first of Samuel van Hoogstraeten (himself a Rembrandt pupil) in Dordrecht, and thereafter joined Rembrandt's studio in Amsterdam. That move would have been necessitated at the latest by May 1662, when Hoogstraeten had gone to London, but most scholars place it within the previous year, 1661. De Gelder was cross eyed, though reportedly good humored about this affliction. He evidently never married, devoting himself to his painting and to developing what amounts to a Rembrandt cult not only in his painting but in the assemblage of his studio, which was filled with exotic wardrobes, instruments, and furnishings a la Rembrandt. He affirmed his affectionate ties with his master to the end, as can be noted in the de Gelder Self Portrait (signed and dated ca. 1710, St. Petersburg, Hermitage) in which he depicts himself holding Rembrandt's Hundred Guilder print.
Like Rembrandt, de Gelder concerned himself with the deeper emotional and human issues that underlie a particular narrative, and his paintings are imbued with a tolerant and compassionate, even humorous, understanding of humanity. He spent most of his life in Dordrecht (returning there after his studies with Rembrandt), where he was well liked and respected. Surviving documents mainly record financial transactions of one kind or another. He befriended Houbraken and helped him write his account of Rembrandt's life.
De Gelder rarely suffered ill health, although in 1722 he traveled to Leiden to consult with the famous doctor Hermann Boerhaave about a complaint, and a portrait of the doctor and his family {Portrait of Hermann Boerhaave and His Family, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) must have resulted from the visit. De Gelder's death is recounted by Houbraken: In August 1727, while planning a stroll with some friends, holding a glass of wine and sitting on a chair, he suddenly departed from this world.
Most scholars agree that Rembrandt could not have chosen a more devoted last pupil. Of all Rembrandt's students, de Gelder remained his most faithful follower, ignoring the later, more fashionable French manner in favor of Rembrandt's late style. However, de Gelder was not simply an imitator he built on Rembrandt's late style to create his own personal and human vision. Most of his works consist of histories that can be described as two basic types, those populated with half or three quarter length figures close to the foreground, or those with a number of small figures. Like Rembrandt, he concentrated on the human aspect of his narratives, infusing them with psychological drama and profound emotion. His elimination of traditional iconographic elements makes the actual identification of some subjects difficult. Dc Gelder also adopted other sources, like Lucas van Leyden and Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, especially for his smaller works. The richness of his paint, the free use of brushwork, the application of palette knife and the use of brush handles or other tools to dig back through the paint, are all derived from Rembrandt's methods but are adapted to his own personal and elemental vision.
De Gelder's earliest surviving dated painting is thought to be Esther at Her Toilet (signed and dated 1665, Kasteel, Het Nijenhuis bei Heino, Hannema de Stuers Fundatie), though earlier works may have been lost. His truly personal approach emerged in the 1680s as exemplified by the Holy Family (signed, Berlin, Dahlem Museum, Gema"ldegalerie). A subtle extension of a religious subject into the realm of genre, it typifies his tendency during this period to use nearly life-sized, half- or three-quarterlength figures, painted in earth tones set off by warm reds and oranges and enlivened by cool blues. |
Samples of Work
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