One of the most fascinating aspects of Rembrandt's extraordinary artistic career is his suite of brooding half-length portraits of religious figures from the late 1650s and early 1660s. Painted during a difficult time in the artist's life—when he no longer enjoyed a ready market for his works and may have turned to his deep religious convictions for solace—these images are among the most evocative Rembrandt created. For years scholars have debated whether these paintings were intended as a series, yet until now these works have, unbelievably, never been shown together. An exhibition by the National Gallery of Art and this accompanying catalog assemble seventeen of the paintings for the first time, finally giving the powerful images their due. Many of these subtle and wondrous paintings have been identified as images of apostles and evangelists, but among them are also representations of Christ, the Virgin, and still-unidentified saints and monks. In Rembrandt's typical fashion, the men and women in these portraits peer out of the dark recesses of dimly lit interiors as though burdened by the weight of their spiritual and emotional concerns. Yet recent archival research has raised questions about their attribution, the relationships among the paintings, and, in a broader sense, Rembrandt's life and career—issues addressed by the contributors to this volume. With its lavish color images and state-of-the-field research, Rembrandt's Late Religious Portraits will make a profound contribution to the understanding of this unique and provocative body of work.

Rembrandt's Late Religious Portraits

Arts & Photography

Wheelock Jr., Arthur K.

History & Criticism

University of Chicago Press

This book examines the creative process and technical means by which the great Dutch seventeenth-century painter achieved his remarkable pictorial effects. Arthur Wheelock begins by placing Vermeer's art in historical perspective, with emphasis on the artistic environment in his home city of Delft and the importance of history painting in the mid-1600s. He then closely examines seventeen of the thirty-six extant paintings in Vermeer's oeuvre, works that span the range of the artist's career. Using the results of x-rays, pigment analysis, and infrared reflectography, some of the secrets of Vermeer's wonderfully elusive artistry are revealed. For example, Vermeer was able to simulate reality, simplify and highlight meaning, establish a sense of time and permanence, and enhance the mood he wished to create through inventive use of brushwork, color, and compositional refinements. Lavishly illustrated with color reproductions of Vermeer's paintings, the book is certain to appeal to all devotees of Dutch art.

Vermeer and the Art of Painting

Yale University Press

In this strikingly beautiful book, leading Vermeer scholars examine the life and works of this seventeenth-century Dutch master, analyzing his evolution from a painter of religious and mythological images to an artist who explored the psychological nuances of human endeavor.

Johannes Vermeer

Broos, Ben

Jan Steen (1626-1679) is one of the most admired and quintessential seventeenth-century Dutch painters. His repertoire included genre, portraits, refined images of upper-class life, and complex, witty comic narratives. He also painted religious and mythological scenes that vary from quiet and intimate to grand and melodramatic. In his brushwork he displayed an astonishing range, from extremely fine to remarkably loose, even within a single painting. Written by H. Perry Chapman, Wouter Th. Kloek, and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., with contributions by other noted art historians, this book draws on the most recent scholarship and archival research to reassess Steen within the context of seventeenth-century Netherlandish artistic, literary, and cultural movements. A translation of Arnold Houbraken's biography of Steen, written in the eighteenth century, is included, as well as a biographical essay that uses numerous contemporary sources to present the most comprehensive profile on Steen yet published. Other essays discuss Steen's relationship to the theater and to other Dutch painters of the time, his critical reception, and his varied self-portrayals. Fifty of Steen's paintings, chosen to demonstrate his consummate skill as both painter and storyteller, are catalogued in detail. This lavishly illustrated book is the catalogue for an exhibition of the works of Jan Steen, coorganized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Jan Steen: Painter and Storyteller

Kloek, Wouter Th.

Chapman, H. Perry

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

National Gallery Washington

Jan Lievens (1607–1674) was one of the most fascinating and enigmatic Dutch artists of the 17th century. Daring and innovative as a painter, printmaker, and draftsman, he created powerful character studies, genre scenes, landscapes, formal portraits, and religious and allegorical images that were widely praised and valued during his lifetime. This beautiful book, the first overview of the full range of Lievens’ career, features more than 50 paintings―many of them newly discovered in private collections―and more than 75 prints and drawings, providing a reassessment of his place in the history of art. 
Lievens began his career in his native Leiden, where he worked closely with his compatriot Rembrandt, who admired and collected Lievens’ works. Lievens then moved to London, Antwerp, and Amsterdam, and his peripatetic career and multitude of working styles, say the authors of this book, may explain why his reputation today is not as high as it should be. This book offers a necessary corrective, returning to Lievens the esteem he deserves.

Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered

Aelbert Cuyp

Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) was one of the foremost Dutch painters and draftsmen of the seventeenth century. His prolific artistic career spanned the years between 1640 and 1665, the greatest period of Dutch painting, and his idyllic views of the Dutch countryside have entranced collectors and connoisseurs ever since. Although particularly renowned for his pastoral scenes, Cuyp also painted portraits, biblical scenes, and majestic views of Dutch harbors. He had an extraordinary ability to capture atmospheric conditions from the golden glow of the late afternoon sun to the brisk wind accompanying a sudden thunderstorm. Indeed, Cuyp's unique combination of Italianate atmospheric effects and native Dutch landscape distinguishes his art from that of any of his contemporaries. At the core of this book and the exhibition it accompanies are forty-five of Cuyp's most distinguished paintings and sixty-four drawings, taken largely from the impressive collections of the organizing institutions but also from other American, British, Dutch, and German museums and private collections. The works are reproduced in brilliant color and accompanied by more than 100 additional illustrations in color and black and white. Their appeal lies not only in the subject matter but also in their distinctive style, for Cuyp infused his Arcadian subjects and river views with a sensitivity to light and a clarity of form that is firmly grounded in reality. 222 illustrations, 124 in color Led by Arthur K. Wheelock of the National Gallery of Art, an international team of curators and scholars discuss Cuyp's work in the context of his time, personal background, artistic development, patrons, use of costume, and artistic techniques.

Reference

Thames&Hudson

The first major English-language survey of the artist's life and work
A brilliant colorist and masterful storyteller, Dutch mannerist Joachim Wtewael (1566–1638) wielded a remarkably skilled brush and the technical ability to show it off in intricate compositions. He took inspiration from a wide range of biblical and mythological sources to create imaginative, often quite erotic scenes. While such pictures were prized in Wtewael's time, more recently they were hidden away―behind other paintings, in leather folders on bookshelves, and in the reserves of great museums. This richly illustrated volume brings together more than fifty of Wtewael’s finest paintings and drawings, from a small jewel-like picture on copper depicting Mars and Venus to large-scale mannerist showpieces such as The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian and Perseus and Andromeda.
A pillar of the Utrecht community, Wtewael was engaged in business, religion, and politics as well as art. He adopted the exotic mannerist style, full of artifice and inventive manipulation, and continued to be fascinated by the challenge of creating sophisticated variations well into his maturity, when other Dutch artists had turned to naturalism. This book explores Wtewael’s amazingly refined and detailed paintings and drawings, shedding light on his reputation, his life, and the conflicted times―marked by iconoclasm and strife―in which he thrived.

Pleasure and Piety: The Art of Joachim Wtewael

Clifton, James

Helmus, Liesbeth M.

Princeton University Press

Provides a comprehensive study of Vermeer's life and work, presents commentaries on his painting techniques, and examines each one of the Dutch artist's authenticated paintings

Masters of Art: Vermeer (Masters of Art Series)

Harry N. Abrams

Reproductions of the Dutch realist's paintings are accompanied by biocritical introductions and commentaries

Vermeer: The Complete Works

Vermeer, Johannes

Jan Vermeer

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