| Thomas de Keyser was one of Amsterdam's most prominent portrait painters until Rembrandt's arrival in 1632. De Keyser's style, more restrained and conservative in comparison with Rembrandt and Hals, is nonetheless to be appreciated on a simpler level. He unpretentiously recorded his sitters, was faithful to appearances, and had a marvelous capacity for rendering textures and atmosphere. His specialty was the small equestrian portrait - a rarity and a subject he probably introduced to Dutch painting. Thomas was the son and pupil of the sculptor Hendrick de Keyser (1565-1621), with whom he reportedly studied between 1617 and 1618. Thomas married in 1626 and apparently lived his entire life in his native city. Though a painter, he was also a member of the Amsterdam stonemasons' guild in 1640 and was active as a stone merchant. He became a stone mason for the city in 1662; he reportedly painted little after 1640. De Keyser's early style is probably based on Cornells van der Voort (1576-1624) and Ntcolaes Eliasz (called Pickenoy) (1591/2-1654/6), as demonstrated by his earliest surviving painting, a group portrait of Amsterdam surgeons, dated 1619. Rembrandt may have learned something from de Keyser, though he soon superseded him. Still, de Keyser made his own contribution, popularizing small, full-length likenesses and the small equestrian portrait. His few religious and mythological subjects are less well known. Though his large group portraits are sometimes criticized for their lack of compositional control and their self-conscious arrangement of poses and gestures, he is nonetheless considered a significant figure in Dutch painting - his smaller works are more highly valued and include some of the most admired portraits of the period. In these the elegant compositions, luminous blacks, subtle touch, and poetic feeling that comprise the best of de Keyser's style are clearly evident. Undoubtedly his most famous portrait is that of Constantijn Huygens, now in the National Gallery, London. |
