Entourage Of Caspar Netscher (1635/39-1684), Allegory

Circle of CASPAR NETSCHER (1635/39-1684), ALLEGORYoil on canvas.Small old restoration.Dimensions: 94.5 x 77.5 cm.Good conditionOf German origin, he was born in Heidelberg in 1639 according to Arnold Houbraken, although other sources indicate Prague as his birthplace.1 Son of the sculptor Johann Netscher, orphaned in 1642, he was adopted by Arnold Tulleken, a doctor from Arnhem, and there he began his painting studies in the studio of Hendrick Coster, a little-known portrait painter. Around 1654, he went to Deventer to continue his studies with Gerard ter Borch, then to Bordeaux, where he arrived by boat, apparently with the intention of going to Rome. In 1659, still in Bordeaux, he married Margaretha Godijn, daughter of a mathematician, and their first child was born in Bordeaux. In 1662, he moved to The Hague and initially devoted himself to genre painting. Influenced by ter Borch and the "Fijnschilders," the valuable painters of the Leiden School, Netscher gradually became interested in the textures of fabrics and other elegant details that also characterized the subjects of his portraits, generally small in format. In 1670, he abandoned genre painting altogether and devoted himself exclusively to portraits, with which he enjoyed notable success in the aristocratic circles of The Hague, even painting William III, Prince of Orange, future King of England (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum). In 1668, Cosimo III de' Medici, passing through the Netherlands, purchased four of his paintings. It is likely that Netscher knew the painters Frans van Mieris the Elder and Gerard Dou, but it is certain that he met Gerrit de Hooch, a painter from The Hague, since his wife named her newborn daughter, Margaret, after him in 1676.4 Benefiting from the patronage of William III, his income quickly allowed him to devote himself to works according to his tastes, devoting himself in particular to group portraits. It is in these works that Netscher's genius is fully manifested. The choice of these subjects and the habit of presenting female figures dressed in elegant satin fabrics, like Ter Borch, call for easy but delicate drawing, brilliant and accurate coloring, and an alternation of light and shadow; but this refinement often turns into weakness. The painter was gaining fame and wealth when he began to suffer from gout and was forced to stay in bed, where he continued to paint lying down. He died prematurely in 1684 in The Hague. His sons, Theodorus Netscher (Bordeaux, 1661-Hulst, 1732), Constantyn (The Hague, 1668-1722), and Anthonie (The Hague, 1679-Batavia, 1713), were also painters. He also had many students, among whom, in addition to his sons, was Aleida Wolfsen.