Samuel van Hoogstraten: Mastery of Trompe-l'oeil and Perspective Boxes

 

Every once in awhile, I come across an artist who is multi-gifted. Given the limitation of a blog, I have the problem of narrowing down examples of their talent. Such an artist is Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627-1678). He was a painter, a poet, and a writer. Of those skills, there's so much about his art and his contributions to art, that I'll save the rest for another blog. 

 

His early training in art was with his father, Dirk van Hoogstraten, a noted artist,who died when Samuel was 13. After that, he moved to Amsterdam to complete his training with Rembrandt. Following his tutelage when he was about 18 years of age, he traveled to Vienna. 

 

 

 

 

While in Vienna, he met the emperor, Ferdinand III, and showed him 3 of his paintings. One of the paintings was such a well-done trompe-l'oeil that the emperor commented, "painting for the first time  had ever deceived him."

 

While other known painters were happily making portraits,van Hoogstraten was too restless and spent his time experimenting with subjects such as perspective. He created what he named, "perspective boxes." He created miniature rooms with viewing holes on the outer walls. (Much like the small knot holes in fences) Through these holes, the viewer could see a 3-D view of the interior of a Dutch home.

 

His restlessness and thirst to learn led him to Genoa, Rome and eventually to London. There, he was commissioned to paint a perspective work. It was so remarkable that it was mentioned in Samuel Pepys' famous diary.

The fame of van Hoogstraten grew to the point that he was able to share his knowledge as a teacher and author of a famous art treatise, Introduction to the Academy of Painting; or the Visible World. Upon his death at age 51, his holdings were auctioned off and today there's only a small glimpse into this talented man's works.

Scattered throughout this blog are examples of his perspectives boxes, the time and influence of studying with Rembrandt, and his trompe-l'oiel paintings. 

 

Caravaggio: The Scoundrel of Beautiful Art

 

Michelangelo Merisi, better known as "Caravaggio," was possessed of immeasurable, original talent as an artist and an immeasurably bad temper as a man.

 

There was no doubt as to his talent. In his fairly brief lifetime - he was about 39 years old when he died (1571-1610) - he received many top commissions. Art historians have referred to him as the most original and influential artist after the period of Da Vinci.

 

Caravaggio was painting in the age of Mannerism art. Yet his work was not mannerly. Instead, he used rough street people complete with dirty feet and shabby clothes for his subjects - even for lofty religious commissions. His realism would stand as a precursor to the Baroque period.

 

 

His best works used the drama of deep shadows and directed light. This technique, referred to as "chiaroscuro," probably influenced such later well-known artist as Vermeer, Rubens and Rembrandt.

In spite of all his talent and originality, his personal life was marked by many arguments, fights, and arrests. (He was brought to trial on at least 11 occasions.) His aggression culminated in the killing of a man during a fight over the score of a tennis match.

Caravaggio fled. Ultimately, he was found and arrested. Powerful patrons arranged clemency for him from the Pope. In circumstances that would make an intriguing movie script, Caravaggio died before the Papal document arrived. It is thought that he died of pneumonia and the cumulative effect of his lifestyle.

Postscript: He was a fugitive and relentlessly pursued for 4 years. Yet, historians consider the art work during this period to be his best. The question is: What muse lived in him that required the payment or homage of such stress and violence in return for his talent?

 

Rembrandt Has the Last Laugh

Henry Clay Frick was one of the more famous or infamous robber barons of the 19th century.(1849-1919) He owned or controlled most of the coke and steel output in the East.

Frick was, by all accounts, a typical CEO of those days - ruthless in business, highly competitive with his colleagues and compassionless with his workers.

He even built a mansion in New York City to rival that of his friend, Andrew Carnegie. Frick said he was building a mansion to "make Carnegie's place look like a miner's shack." Frick stocked his home with art - mainly European paintings from the old Masters. This is where Rembrandt might have had the last laugh.

Frick paid top dollar for Rembrandt's works. In the 1890s it was truly top dollar as Rembrandt was highly prized. Frick even arranged to have first rights of refusal on all Rembrandts.

Actually, some of the paintings were not Rembrandts, but "in the style of Rembrandt." One of the most controversial being "The Polish Rider," which had been the highlight of an exhibit by Frick.

Two other "Rembrandts" in Frick's collection have been since been attributed to unknown artists - probably students of the Master. They are: "Portrait of a Young Artist" and "Old Woman with a Book."

Can you imagine what Frick would have done if he had lived to know that he paid top price for art now regarded as being from the "Rembrandt School?" Poetic justice, perhaps?