Dirck van Baburen
(1595 - February 21, 1624) |
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Art Work
| Name: |
Dirck van Baburen |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Utrecht |
| Nationality: |
Dutch |
| Birth: |
1595 |
| Death: |
February 21, 1624 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
Utrecht caravaggisti |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| Together with Ter Brugghen and Honthorst, Baburen forms the nucleus of the so-called Utrecht Caravaggisti. Not as brilliant in his handling of paint as Ter Brugghen, or as monumental in his conception as Honthorst, Baburen was nonetheless a talented artist whose innovations in subject matter have been widely recognized as an important influence on his longer-lived contemporaries. Though he died prematurely (at about age twenty-nine or thirty), Baburen left behind a remarkable legacy of pictures that earned him a considerable reputation in his own day. Constantijn Huygens, secretary to the Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik, listed Baburen, together with Honthorst, Ter Brugghen, and Abraham Bloemaert, as the most distinguished Utrecht history painter. Besides his history subjects, Baburen experimented with a wide variety of topics including concert scenes, card players, mythologies, and various single-figure images. Baburen's exact place and date of birth are the subject of some disagreement among scholars. Utrecht or its environs is generally accepted as his birthplace. The year 1595 is most often postulated as the date of his birth, based on a passage in Giulio Mancini's Considerazioni sullapittura that possibly refers to him. Our first Dutch reference for Baburen comes in 1611, when he is mentioned in the records of the Utrecht St. Luke's Guild as a pupil of Paulus Moreelse.* Baburen evidently left for Italy soon thereafter, perhaps as early as 1612 (at around the age of seventeen), and remained until at least 1620, if not 1622. Although Baburen is not firmly documented in Rome until 1619, his activity before that date is known. Scholars now ascribe to him the Entombment, The Way to Calvary, and Christ on the Mount of Olives, all still in the Pieta Chapel in the church of San Pietro in Montorio. That commission (shared with David de Haen, d. 1622) could have come as early as 1615 (or only a few years after Baburen's arrival in Rome) and might have continued as late as 1620. The Entombment reportedly once bore the date 1617, the year still generally accepted for its execution. Despite its affinities with Caravaggio*s* Entombment (dated 1602-4, Vatican City, Musei Vaticani), Baburen's version is a dramatic reinterpretation of the subject. It reveals the young artist's increasing mastery over a large and complex composition, diverse figure types, and the portrayal of human emotions. His sweeping movements and succinct articulation of form and summary facial expressions would remain the hallmark of many of his later paintings. The work's popularity is attested by numerous extant copies, one of which (Utrecht, Centraal Museum) is sometimes considered autograph. Not surprisingly, the Roman patrons who supported Caravaggio also turned to Baburen. Vincenzo Giustiniani (who was especially supportive of Caravaggio's Netherlandish followers) owned Baburen*s Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles (Wiesbaden, Stadtische GemSldegalerie), and the Borghese acquired his Capture of Christ (Rome, Galleria Borghese). These two paintings, as well as a half-length composition of an unidentified subject, are the best-known pictures of Baburen's Roman period. We know from archival records that Baburen shared a house with his collaborator David de Haen between 1619 and 1620. Upon de Haen's death (or shortly thereafter) Baburen returned to Utrecht, where he is recorded in 1622. With only two years left before his own death, Baburen nonetheless produced several significant pictures (particularly in 1622 and 1623) -and continued to experiment with subject matter as well as compositions - as he matured. The number of pictures orbiting around Baburen and Ter Brugghen is complicated by the fact that the two artists were evidently quite close stylistically. They also probably shared a studio and employed a workshop, which aided in turning out replicas of the two masters' works. The year 1622 yielded a whole spectrum of subjects by Baburen, including biblical themes {The Crowning of Thorns, Weert, Provincialaat der Minderbroeders) and moralizing subjects such as The Procuress (dated 1622, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts), in which he amended the standard treatment of the subject by introducing a two-woman, one-man variant to the three-figure composition which usually included two men and one woman. His activities in the following year were equally divided between biblical and moralizing themes. Another version of The Crowning of Thorns (Utrecht, Centraal Museum) dates from that year, as does a Prodigal Son (signed and dated 1623, Mainz, Gemaldegalerie), which features his characteristic modeling in flat, smooth planes of color, his effective use of cropping, and his vibrant palette. A number of major and minor firsts are associated with Baburen. Acknowledged as the "first" to introduce the Carravaggist treatment of procuress scenes into Holland, Baburen is also credited with being the first northern painter to treat such subjects as St. Sebastian Tended by St. Irene (Hamburg, Kunsthalle) - a scene that Ter Brugghen would later paint with such brilliance. Ever open to new sources for images, Baburen was evidently the first Dutch artist to visualize a theatrical subject. His Granida and Daifilo (private collection) opened the way for scores of other painters. Still fascinating is Baburen's relationship with Ter Brugghen. Despite his early death, Baburen's influence was long-lasting. |
Samples of Work
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