Laurent de La Hyre
(1606 - 1656) |
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Altarpieces, Mythological Narratives, Secular Allegories Art Work
| Name: |
Laurent de La Hyre |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Paris |
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| Birth: |
1606 |
| Death: |
1656 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Altarpieces, Mythological Narratives, Secular Allegories |
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| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| A founding member of the Royal Academy in 1648, Laurent has been variously evaluated by scholars. Some laud him as one of the most celebrated representatives of Parisian classicism - a cultivated figure whose drawings, decorative works, altarpieces, and mythologies was characterized by subtle color, careful draftsmanship, and a delicate atmosphere. He has been ranked among the greatest landscape painters of the seventeenth century. Other scholars temper this view with the comment that La Hyre was neither great nor influential, but rather a minor talent whose consistently high quality of technique and systematic approach reflect the taste and intellectual sophistication of his era. Laurent was the son of tienne de La Hyre, a minor painter active in Poland, from whom he learned drawing, perspective, and architecture. He later worked with G. Lallemam and made extensive studies of Primaticcio, Dubois, and other masters at Fontaincbtcau. Although La Hyre never visited Italy, he shows an awareness of Caravaggism, Bolognese classicism, and the Venetian school, which he must have seen in various private Parisian collections, including that of the Due de Liancourt. La Hyre's first major commission, Nicholas V before the Body of St Francis (dated 1630, Paris, Louvre), was done for the Capuchin chapel of St. Francis at Marais. Here La Hyre's skill in balancing the demands of realism with those of artifice produced striking results. In this instance, his realistically presented characters and detailed architectural background are transformed by the torchlight into a frightening ghost story. A penchant for drama, tempered by realism and classical restraint, shaped the production of La Hyre's works for Notre Dame: 5/. Peter Curing the Sick with His Shadow (dated 1635, Paris, Notre Dame) and The Conversion of Paul (signed and dated 1637, Paris, Church of St. Thomas d'Aquinas). La Hyre's mature phase is generally described as the decade from 1638 to 1648. During these years he was actively producing decorative schemes (for the Hdtel Tallemant and the HOtel Montoron), tapestry cartoons (for St. tienne-du-Mont, Paris, a series on the life of St. Stephen, for which the drawings are in the Louvre), altarpieces, and cabinet pictures. Poussin* (in Paris from 1640 to 1642) was an important inspiration. Simon Vouet,* who had returned to France in 1627 and to Paris in 1630, and who had contributed to some of the dramatic treatments in La Hyre's early works, was less influential. Vouet's baroque impetuosity was rejected by La Hyre in favor of a more formal classicism. The serene elegance of his Virgin and Child (dated 1642, Paris, Louvre) exemplifies his approach. La Hyre was also one of the few practioners of landscape in midcentury Paris. Both Claude and Poussin helped shape La Hyre's approach to landscape, which always included architectural motifs rendered with great detail but suffused with a romantic and delicate atmosphere. Mercury Giving the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs (dated 1638, St. Petersburg, Hermitage) was one of his earliest landscape essays. Gradually a new feeling for lyricism and lightness developed in his paintings. One of La Hyre's most celebrated pictures, Laban Searching for His Idols in the Baggage of Jacob (signed and dated 1647, Paris, Louvre) exemplifies this development. La Hyre's compositions often contain numerous figures, each of which is carefully delineated and placed within a large, accommodating space. The Children of Bethel Mourned by Their Mothers (signed and dated, 1653, Arras, Palais Saint-Vaast) reveals the deliberate placement, slow pacing, gentle drama, and discreet lighting toward which La Hyre strove. A cool coloring and sharply articulated forms, which are evident in some of his paintings, suggest the influence of Flemish landscape painters, especially Fouquieres, who was active in Paris at this time. An additional influence, that of the Italian mannerists, can be detected in his Cyrus Announcing that Panthea Has Obtained His Pardon (Art Institute of Chicago). Mythologies and classical subjects absorbed La Hyre throughout his career, reflecting his literary, musical, and antiquarian tastes. In failing health during his last years, La Hyre concentrated mainly on cabinet-sized pictures, though large-scale religious works such as Christ Appearing to the Three Marys (Paris, Louvre) and The Descent from the Cross (dated 1655, Rouen, Mus6e des Beaux-Arts et de Cramique) were executed on occasion. Little survives of his decorative ensembles, most of which are now scattered. The Allegory of Music (signed and dated 1649, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art), which may come from the Hdtel Tallemant, belongs to the same group as the Allegory of Grammar (signed and dated 1650, London, National Gallery) and two Putti (Dijon, Musee Magnin). |
Samples of Work
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