Caspar Netscher

Portrait of Maria II Stuart, Queen of England

Caspar (or Gaspar) Netscher (1639 – January 15, 1684) was a Dutch portrait and genre painter. He was a master in depicting oriental rugs, silk and brocade and introduced an international style to the Northern Netherlands.

Life

Little is known of Netscher's early years. According to Arnold Houbraken's 17th century biographical study of Dutch painters he was born in Heidelberg or Prague.^[1] His father Johann Netscher probably was a sculptor from Stuttgart ^[2] who died in Poland ^[3] when he was two years of age. It is also suggested that Caspar may have been the son of a Rotterdam painter.^[4] His mother, fleeing from the dangers of a civil war, carried him to Arnhem.^[5] On her way two of her children died.^{[citation needed]} In Arnhem he was adopted by a physician named A. Tullekens. At first he was destined for the profession of his patron, but owing to his great aptitude for painting he was placed under a local artist named Hendrick Coster, and in 1654 became a student of Ter Borch in Deventer, who had family connections to Tullekens.^[5] He was Ter Borch's most gifted pupil, probably worked as an assistant as well and he appears several times as a model on Ter Borch's paintings.^{[citation needed]}

The Lace-Maker by Caspar Netscher (1662), oil on canvas, 33 x 27 cm. Wallace Collection, London

In 1658 he set out for Italy to complete his education there. However, he didn't get farther south than Bordeaux that autumn,^[5] where he married Margaretha Godijn in 1659.^{[citation needed]} There he toiled hard to earn a livelihood by painting small cabinet pictures which are now highly valued on account of their exquisite finish. After moving to The Hague in 1662, possibly because of the prosecutions of Protestants, he turned his attention to portrait-painting. In this branch of his art was more successful.^[5][6] In 1668 he joined the Schutterij and Cosimo III de' Medici, traveling through the Netherlands bought four paintings.^[7]

It is likely that Netscher knew the painters Frans van Mieris, Sr. (1635?-1681) and Gerard Dou, but it is certain that he knew the painter Gerrit de Hooch from The Hague as his wife gave her name to Gerrit's new born daughter Margarita in 1676, the event being witnessed by Caspar as well as his wife.^{[citation needed]} He was patronized by William III, and his earnings soon enabled him to gratify his own taste by depicting musical and conversational pieces.^[5]

It was in these that Netscher's genius was fully displayed. The choice of these subjects, and the habit of introducing female figures, dressed in glossy satins, were imitated from Ter Borch; they possess easy yet delicate pencilling, brilliant and correct colouring, and pleasing light and shade; but frequently their refinement passes into weakness. The painter was gaining both fame and wealth when be died prematurely in 1684, in The Hague. His sons Constantyn (1668–1722), and Theodorus (1661–1732), were also painters after their father's style, but inferior in merit.^[5]

Gallery

• 

  The Medaillon

• 

  Coenraad van Beuningen

• 

  Pieter de Graeff

• 

  Christiaan Huygens

Notes

1. ^ Gasper Netscher biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
2. ^ Liedtke, W. (2007) Dutch Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 517.
3. ^ http://www.humrichfineart.com/netscher.html
4. ^ Wayne E. Franits, p. 107. Dutch Seventeenth-Century Genre Painting: Its Stylistic and Thematic Evolution, Yale University Press, 2004
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Chisholm 1911, p. 421.
6. ^ http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_artists/00017422?lang=en
7. ^ Liedtke, W. (2007) Dutch Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 518.

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Netscher, Gaspar". Encyclopædia Britannica. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 421. 

External links

• Netscher Art Gallery

Persondata
Name	Netscher, Caspar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1639
Place of birth
Date of death	January 15, 1684
Place of death