p. 111-115 Jan Steen
111 JAN STEEN.
... Jan Steen's doctor figures in his sturdy manner are reminiscent of Titian and Velazquez. Although only a foot high, they have a structure befitting a life-size figure.
It is true that Jan Steen is not often so strong. His drawing is always witty, but sometimes a little inflated, in the manner of Jordaens; for he is the Jordaens of the Dutch school. And it is this style that we know most of him in France, with a too reddish range of colors. But in his remarkable works he is as correct in drawing as Terburg, and even more firm; as fine in color as Metsu, but broader in touch; as vigorous as Pieter de Hooch, but more lively. Some of his paintings could pass for the best Adriaan van Ostades. In his highly varied manner of painting, he has almost all the qualities of the masters of his school. But his tone is the most expressive of all. His facial expressions are incomparable. And in this respect nobody in any school has surpassed him.
However, there are some paintings of his, – perfectly authentic, – but which are rather weak and seem poorly executed sketches. The comic intention and physiognomy are always indicated, but the execution is sloppy and impotent. How do you explain this in a man who is otherwise so well put together?
112 MUSEUM OF AMSTERDAM.
If this kind of painting belonged to his early period, one might think that he was struggling to get things right;1 but they come from different periods, and they are often even later than his good work.
On the contrary, was it precisely toward the end that his talent lost something of its dexterity and certainty? Was it a consequence of his own intemperance? For this great and cheerful philosopher, like the good priest of Meudon,2 often sought his philosophy at the bottom of the bottle.
Perhaps, sometimes, when his eyes and hands, tired from some nocturnal orgy, did not respond immediately to his inner hallucination, he would give up his incomplete phantom. Perhaps, in the midst of his merry company, he was smearing some of the pochades that he left there in the estaminet. This is the assumption made by Smith, who states that paintings by Steen were once to be found in every liquor shop in Delft. – Some Jan Steens are worth 500 francs, others 50,000.
It is curious that it is the English who have magnified the talent of this careless painter the most! They own more of his works, not only than Holland, but than all of Europe. Lord Ashburton, Lord Ellesmere, Lord Dudley, Lord Scarsdale, Lord Overstone, the Marquis of Bute, Lady Peel, Mr. W. Beckford, Mr. Munro, Mr. Walter, Mr. Hope, all the important col- ...
113 JAN STEEN.
... lections have them.3 The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace has six of them. The great Lord Wellington was particularly fond of Steens, and he assembled a large number of them in the collection that now belongs to his son at Apsley House. There were eleven at the exhibition in Manchester (1). The museums of Vienna, Dresden, Munich, and Berlin together have only six.4
Among those in the Amsterdam museum there is one in the best style, without being really important; another very good, another interesting because it is the portrait of the painter himself, two or three very mediocre, and one or two very bad. You have to take them as they are. As a rule, they all have a good provenance and come from more or less famous collections.
"No. 270: An Interior Room with figures, among whom a Woman Feeding a Parrot" [166].5 This is the most beautiful. On the right are tric-trac players, one seated, another standing; a third man watches while smoking. On the left, in front of a fireplace where a woman is cooking, a little boy is feeding a cat. In the middle, in the foreground, a young girl, standing and seen from behind, raises her arm towards a cage hanging from the ceiling; at the door of the cage, a parrot leans over to peck at the girl's hand. On an armchair, in the foreground, is the coat of one of ...
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(1) See Trésors d'art, etc., by W. Burger, p. 281 and further.6
166
Jan Steen
Interior with a woman feeding a parrot, c. 1665
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-386
167
Johannes de Mare after Jan Steen
Interior with a young woman feeding a parrot
Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, inv./cat.nr. RP-P-OB-22.767
114 MUSEUM OF AMSTERDAM.
... the trictrac players. Bottom right the beautiful signature in full, the J of the first name turned into the capital S. The girl, the main subject of the painting, has a delightful appearance. Correct drawing, very firm modeling; light throughout with wonderful gradations; powerful local tone as with the Venetians.
This painting on canvas is glued to panel, which is called marouflé. It is 1 foot 8 inches high and 1 foot 3 inches wide.7 Engraved by J. de Mare [167].8 At the famous Lormier auction in 1763, it sold for 540 guilders.
These xviiith century prices, which we give as interesting evidence of provenance and prestigious origins, mean nothing today. In general, they should be increased at least tenfold; for certain painters, whose fame has increased, guilders should be replaced by bills of 100 francs; for certain paintings even, and we will mention some that would be so fortunate, it would be necessary to go much further. For this Jan Steen in particular, the guineas replacing the guilders would not reach his value. Moreover, Steen is one of those people who for a long time were not valued as much as they deserved. But, as the English proverb says, Time brings truth to light.
Smith gives this composition the title: Backgammon Players;9 M. van Westrheene of The Hague, in his ...
115 JAN STEEN.
... more complete catalog than Smith's,10 chooses as its title: La Perruche (The Parakeet) (1).11
"No. 265. A bourgeois interior, known by the name of the Feast of St. Nicholas" [168].12 A favorite subject of Steen, who often repeated it, with variations. Here the mother, in a green shirt trimmed with ermine and a lilac skirt, is seen in profile, on the right beside a table full of cakes and candy; she extends her arms to a little girl carrying toys in a tin bucket. The other children, three or four boys and a little girl, are laughing or crying, depending on St. Nicholas' favors, and playing pranks on each other. The father stands in the background in semi-darkness. Lots of accessories. Good painting, some wear here and there. Signed, no date. 2 feet 8 inches high, 2 feet 3 inches wide. Sale Seger Tierens, The Hague, 1743, 695 guilders.
"N° 264. Portrait of the Artist" [169].13 Life-size bust, turned three-quarters to the right; with both hands resting on the back of a chair.
Steen's head is well known; he painted himself quite frequently, not only in his compositions, but also in separate portraits, which are better ...
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(1) The new cat: The parrot cage. – Incidentally, it should be noted that the new cat. gives 1626 and 1679 as the birth and death dates of Jan Steen, based on Mr. Van Westrheene's excellent work. The Louvre's cat. will have to change its dates, now 1636-1689.
168
Jan Steen
The Feast of St Nicholas, c. 1665-1668
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-385
169
Jan Steen
Self-portrait, c. 1666
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-383
Notes
1 Probably the remark Thoré-Bürger makes in his annotations opp. p. 108 (1/2) refers to this discussion: there he mentions an early dated painting (1641), which he could investigate to see whether his hypothesis is correct that Steen's paintings of lower quality date from his early period.
2 This is François Rabelais.
3 Probably this information comes from Smith 1829-1842, vol. 4 (1833), vol. 9 (1842) and Waagen 1854. Lord Ashburton probably: Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton (1774 - 1848), National Gallery Trustee (1835-1848), who owned: Jan Steen, Schoolmaster Punishing a Pupil, c. 1658-1668, UK, private collection; Lord Ellesmere probably: Francis Egerton, also Lord Francis Leveson-Gower, or Francis Henry 1st Earl of Ellesmere, who owned: Jan Steen, The Village School, c. 1668-1672, Edinburgh, National Galleries of Scotland, inv. no. NG 2421; Lord Dudley probably: William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (March 27, 1817 - May 7, 1885), Lord Ward from 1835 to 1860, trustee of the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, but he did not become Lord Dudley until 1860; Lord Overstone, probably Samuel Jones Loyd, 1st Baron Overstone (1796 - 1883), National Gallery Trustee (1850-1871); the Marquess of Bute possibly: John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute (1793-1848), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1794 and 1814, who owned: Jan Steen, Ascagnes and Lucelle, c. 1668-1670, Isle of Bute, Mount Stuart Trust; Lady Peel, the widow of the collector Sir Robert Peel; W. Beckford ; Mr. Hope, descendant of Thomas Hope of Deepdene.
4 In the 1858 catalogue of the Kaiserlich-Königliche Gemäldegalerie im Belvedere, Vienna (now Kunsthistorisches Museum) two paintings by Jan Steen are mentioned: The Cuckold Bridegroom, c. 1670, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. no. 714; Beware of Luxury, 1663, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. no. 791, see: Engert 1858, p. 98, no. 9, p. 107, no. 32. In Dresden was one painting by Steen: Woman Feeding a Child, Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, inv. no. 1726; see: Hübner 1856, p. 278, no. 1390. In Munich two: A Peasant Brawl in a Village Hut, 1664, München, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen – Alte Pinakothek, inv. no. 276; The Doctor’s Visit, c. 1661-1663, München, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen – Alte Pinakothek, inv. no. 158, see: Von Dillis 1845, p. 220, no. 250, p. 223, no. 263. And in Berlin: The Pub Garden, c. 1661-1663, Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, inv. no. 795, see: Waagen 1857, p. 271, no. 795.
5 Jan Steen, Interior with a Woman Feeding a Parrot, c. 1660-1670, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-386; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 4 (1833), p. 2-3, no. 5; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 26, Steen (Jan), no. 270, Een Binnenvertrek met beelden, waarbij eene vrouw een papegaai voedert (An Interior Room with figures, with a woman feeding a parrot) (tax.: fl. 3,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 134-135, no. 300.
6 Burger 1857, p. 281, 284-286.
7 This is approximately 50.8 x 38.1 cm.
8 Johannes de Mare, Interior With a Woman Feeding a Parrot, steel engraving, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, nv.no. RP-P-OB-22.767.
9 Smith 1829-1842, vol. 4 (1833), p. 2-3, no. 5. Thoré-Bürger adds here in the margin: ‘This is the title of the Lormier sale, no. 242, 1763. It was previously in the Van Heteren collection, where it is listed in the catalogue vol. 2, p. 459 (G.Hoet) in 1752’.
10 Westrheene 1856, p. 97-144 lists 201 paintings; Smith 1829-1842 covers 208 paintings in vol. 4 and another 112 in vol. 9.
11 Van Westrheene uses the titles ‘An Interior, or The Game of Backgammon’ ('Un intérieur ou La Partie de trictrac') – Westrheene 1856, p. 99, no. 7. He describes the painting as ‘The Parakeet’ (‘La Perruche’) only in note 3 on p. 54.
12 Jan Steen, The Feast of St Nicholas, c. 1665-1668, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-385; Smith 1829-1842,vol. 4 (1833), p. 5, no. 15; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 26, no. 265, Een Burger-Binnenhuis bekend onder den naam van het St. Nikolaasfeest (A Civilian Interior, known by the name of the Feast of St. Nicholas (tax.: fl. 12,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 136-137, no. 302.
13 Jan Steen, Self-Portrait, c. 1670, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-383; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 4 (1833), p. 61, no. 182; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 26, no. 264, Steen (Jan; 1636-1689), Portret van den Schilder zelven (Portrait of the Painter himself) (tax.: fl. 500); Amsterdam 1858, p. 132, no. 295.