Caspar Netscher

Caspar Netscher: Self-Portrait, 1675, Rijksmuseum

Caspar Netscher (* 1639 in Heidelberg ; † January 15, 1684 in The Hague ) was a portrait and genre painter .

Life

The lace maker, Wallace Collection , London , 1664

Netscher was the son of the sculptor Johann Netscher. He grew up in Arnhem and did an apprenticeship with Hendrick Coster . There he was placed in the workshop of Gerard Terborch in Deventer by the Arnhem license master Willem Everwijn around 1654 . In 1658 or early 1659 at the latest, Netscher moved to The Hague. There he worked for local art dealers, to whom he initially mainly supplied copies of pictures by his teacher, but also other esteemed painters - a process that was completely common at the time.

In the summer of 1659 he gave up this badly paid job to travel to Italy and complete his artistic training. His voyage first took him to Bordeaux , where he made a stop. However, his life took a decisive turn here, as he married the Huguenot Margaretha Godijn, the daughter of a toolmaker from Liège , on November 25, 1659 .

In 1662 Netscher and his young family - in the meantime their son Theodor had been born - returned to The Hague: On October 25, 1662 Netscher's entry into the Hague painters' guild Pictura is documented. In The Hague, he first painted genre scenes that clearly reveal the influence of his teacher Terborch, because he devoted particular care to the differentiated treatment of fabrics such as oriental carpets , silk and brocade in their effect through light and shadow. One of his most famous works is The Lace Maker , which was created in 1662 (London, Wallace Collection). Soon afterwards he turned mainly to portrait painting , where he was widely recognized. King Willem III, too . let himself be portrayed by him.

His sons Theodor Netscher (* 1661 in Bordeaux ; † 1732 in Hulst ) and Konstantin Netscher (* 1668 in The Hague; † 1722 there) were painters.

Works

• Lady at the toilet , canvas, 81 × 64 cm. Art Museum Basel
• Anno MDCLV (singer and lutenist), 1655, Berlin, Archive for Art and History
• An elderly lady , 1670, canvas, 45 × 37 cm. Old Masters Picture Gallery, Kassel .
• Singing with piano accompaniment , 1666, wood, 60 × 46 cm, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister , Dresden .
• Shepherd couple , 1683, canvas, 54 × 44 cm, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum , Braunschweig .
• Inside of a barn , canvas, 67 × 77 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art , Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ).
• Jacoba de Graeff, née Bicker , 1663, wood, 51 × 36 cm, Rijksmuseum , Amsterdam .
• Lady Philippina Staunton , 1668, canvas, 87 × 69 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
• Pieter de Graeff , 1663, wood, 51 × 36 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
• Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg , 1682, canvas, 47.7 × 39.4 cm, Grunewald Hunting Lodge , Berlin .
• Lady at the Window , 1666, canvas, 46 × 37 cm National Gallery of Art , Washington, DC

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  Little beggar drinks from his hat, 1662

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  The medallion

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  The letter writer

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  Musical entertainment, 1665

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  Pieter de Graeff , 1663

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  Boy blowing a flute in the light of an oil lamp

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  Mother's love ( Dutch : Moederzorg), 1669

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  Coenraad van Beuningen , 1673

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  Mary Stuart II with cockatoo, 1683

literature

• Joseph Eduard Wessely :  Netscher, Kaspar . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1886, p. 456 f.

Web links

Commons : Caspar Netscher  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Works by Caspar Netscher at Zeno.org .
• Caspar Netscher at artcyclopedia.com (engl.)