Research Guide for Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer

Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Welcome to the Harvard Fine Arts Library’s research guide for the exhibition Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer. Included in this guide are print resources, which can be found within the library, useful journal articles available through our databases and links to outside resources.

Print Resources:

 

Atkins, Christopher D.M. The Signature Style of Frans Hals: Painting, Subjectivity, and the Market in Early Modernity.Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2012.

Atkins examines the work of Frans Hals in the context his era. He provides insight into Hals’ influence both on his contemporaries and subsequent generations of Dutch painters. 

Baer, Ronni. Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer. Boston: MFA Publications, 2015.

The essays included in the exhibition catalog examine the different classes which made-up seventeenth-century Dutch society, and the characteristics which artists used to distinguish them from one another in their works.   

Bikker, Jonathan and Gregor J.M. Weber. Rembrandt: The Late Works. London: National Gallery Company, 2014.

The essays in this exhibition catalog explore Rembrandt’s late works. Drawing on the most recent scholarship the authors examine Rembrandt’s technical and stylistic innovations during the last period of his life.

Dickey, Stephanie S. and Herman Roodenburg, ed. The Passions in the Arts of the Early Modern Netherlands. Zwolle: Waanders, 2010.

The case studies included in this volume examine both the depiction of “the passions” in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Netherlandish art as well as the response of contemporary audiences to that depiction. Other essays apply modern theories of emotional display and response to the works.

Franits, Wayne E. Vermeer. London: Phaidon Press, 2015.

In his monograph, Franits explores Vermeer’s works in the context of his times, which was one of the most intellectually and artistically creative periods in history.  

Sluijter, Eric Jan. Rembrandt's Rivals: History Painting in Amsterdam (1630-1650). 2015: John Benjamins Publishing Company, Philadelphia.

This book examines Rembrandt and a large number of his rival history painters, artists who specialized in historical, biblical, allegorical and or mythological scenes, although many of them also painted portraits. Additionally it gives an overview of the economic aspects of the art market in the Dutch Republic during the mid-seventeenth century.

 Verdi, Richard. Rembrandt's Themes: Life into Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.

In this monograph, Verdi explores many of the central themes represented in Rembrandt’s artistic works including: love, fatherhood, adultery, repentance, sin, forgiveness and intergenerational conflict. 

Waiboer, Adriaan E. Gabriel Metsu. New Haven:Yale University Press, 2010.

The essays contained in this exhibition catalog explore Metsu’s life and art. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Metsu, was among the most admired painters of the Dutch Golden Age. However, in the twentieth century, his reputation declined. The authors of this text attempt to reestablish him as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age.   

Wieseman, Marjorie E. Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.

The essays included in this exhibition catalog, written by world-renowned experts in the field, describe the reasons that women engaged in domestic tasks or pastimes were among the most popular subjects of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings.

Journal Articles and Databases:

 

Cloutier-Blazzard, Kimberlee A. "The Elephant inthe Living Room: Jan Steen's Fantasy Interior as Parodic Portrait of the Schouten Family." Aurora: The Journal of the History of Art 2010: 91-119.

In this article, Cloutier-Blazzard argues that Jan Steen’s portrait of Schouten family is essentially a parody of the lifestyle of the nouveaux riche which acts as a social commentary on the way that the upper-middle class desired to be viewed during the Dutch Golden Age.   

Liedtke, Walter. "Frans Hals: Style and Substance." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin Summer 2011.

In his article, Liedtke gives an overview of Hals’ career, influences and the subjects of his portraits.

Oxford Art Online
This database provides access to authoritative articles, artist biographies and subject guides. It could be an extremely useful tool for researching lesser known artists in the exhibition. 

 

Web Resources:

 

Artists - Explore the Collection - Rijksmuseum.

The Rijksmuseum has arguably the greatest collection of Dutch Golden Age paintings. The site gives mini-biographies of the artists and allows you to view digitized images of their works, sometimes giving context for or commentary on the images.  

Essential Vermeer.

This website is devoted to all things Vermeer. Numerous articles discuss Vermeer’s life, works and technique and give historical context for his paintings. Digital images of all of Vermeer’s paintings are available at this site.  

Rembrandt van Rijn: Life and Work.

Articles on this website discuss Rembrandt’s life, works and technique and give historical context for his paintings, drawings and etchings. Digital images of all of his paintings and etchings as well as selected drawings are available at this site.   

The Rembrandt Database.

A website which is devoted to research on Rembrandt’s paintings. Images of the paintings are available at this site. The site also includes x-rays of the paintings and images of them under different wave lengths of light.   

Wheelock, Arthur K. Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. NGA Online Editions.

An online exhibition catalog of the National Gallery’s paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. It includes biographical information on the artists and information on the content and context of the paintings. Digital images of the collection are available.