Gallant conversation
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Galante Konversation is an oil painting by the Dutch painter Gerard ter Borch . Two almost identical versions of them have survived and are now in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie and the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam . The painting was formerly known as the Father's Admonition . This revised reading came about because the Galante Konversation offers a multitude of sensual and enigmatic interpretations. The portrayal of sexuality is nuanced and expressive: the girl's openly exposed neck, the obviously sensual folds of his shimmering satin dress, the officer's extravagant feathered hat and his oversized foot, which is apparently ready to penetrate the female space. The girl is the central figure in the group of three in the painting and has her back to the viewer, her face averted, in a gesture of modesty or aloofness, perhaps shame or powerlessness, but most likely resignation.
Description and differences
To the left of the center of the painting you can see a female figure from behind, dressed in bright white satin . On the right sits a male figure in military costume and speaks to the young woman with a gesticulating hand and slightly parted lips. The female figure seated between them looks down and sips a wine glass. The setting is simple, but the furnishings indicate a level of feminine elegance that matches the two female figures.
The shimmering satin dress stands out like a strong highlight from the dark earth tones of the rest of the picture and attracts the viewer's attention. Ter Borch also provides clues that the scene is taking place in her boudoir - a mirror, powder puff, and combs on a table to her left identify it as a woman's dressing table. The proximity of these objects to the standing woman presents the space as their domain.
Gerard ter Borch has depicted his protagonist's silvery, shimmering satin dress in a deceptively real way; with the artfully pleated, shiny fabric it forms the center of the painting and, in its optical-haptic fascination, an attractive interplay with the view of the puzzling wearer from behind.
The two paintings are dated to around 1654. The dimensions of the Berlin painting are 70 cm × 60 cm. The Amsterdam version has a format of 71 cm × 73 cm, with the extra centimeters to the right of a dog and a door.
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changing of the name
The change in the name of the painting underlines the ambiguity of the painting and that of the pictorial narrative - a distinguishing feature of Ter Borch's genre works . The previous title Father's Admonition comes from the caption of an engraving by JG Wille from 1765 (today's version in Berlin). In his novel The Elective Affinities , Goethe contributes to the fame of the picture by describing a Tableau Vivant that is based on this composition. Goethe's passage also confirms Willes' reading of the picture: The seated man represents a father who admonishes his daughter, who stands with her head bowed while the mother looks down in silence. Goethe's interpretation corresponded to the wish to construct a moralizing story from the pictorial elements. Although largely rejected in current literature, Goethe's goal is now recognized again by some.
interpretation
Some scholars see this painting as a brothel scene, relying on speculation about the configuration of the figures and the possibility of the man holding up a coin in his right hand. The existence of the coin has been refuted as the technical investigations in either Amsterdam or Berlin found no evidence of abrasion or overpainting on either canvas. Art historians who advocate this theory point to the combination of two female figures and one male figure as a typically traditional representation of coupling , as in pictures with obvious references to bought sex such as in Dirck van Baburen or Gerrit van Honthorst's paintings The Coupler . The identity of the seated woman in Ter Borch's painting is completely unclear. Although historical research has shown that Dutch matchmakers were only slightly older than the prostitutes, the former are traditionally depicted as old women in visual art. Instead of haggling with the soldier, the woman lowers her eyes and sips from a glass, nothing in her pose has anything disreputable.
The correctness of the title Father's Admonition has been questioned because the male figure is too young to be the father of the young lady standing with her back to the viewer. The word admonition , however, is not inappropriate, for the young man's gesture looks like he is giving an instruction or explaining something; the gentleman's "fatherly admonition" could mask his erotic intentions. His cross-legged pose in a cheerful company could be seen as an expression of the casualness and carefree demeanor of the youthful elite. The officer's demeanor could also be viewed as a "blatant violation of decency," making it difficult to see the scene as a portrayal of courtly courtship . The bed in the background and the dressing table with the mirror gave cause for thought. The seated soldier also looks more like a visitor.
The gaze of the woman who seems to be staring into her glass in embarrassment is another element that can be interpreted in different ways. The presence of the strange man made her interpret as a matchmaker . The title The Father's Admonition , which had evidently become a habit in the 18th century, made Goethe regard her as the mother who was a little ashamed of her father's admonition.
In addition to the complexity of the likely messages of the painting, there is that of the dog depicted in the Amsterdam version: a dog turns its back on the group that has gathered around the bed to (according to the new view) a presumably dirty one Close deal. Shame seems to burden the animal.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Angela K. Ho: Creating distinctions in Dutch genre painting: repetition and invention . Amsterdam University Press, 2017, ISBN 978-90-485-3294-0 , pp. 109 f . ( google.de [accessed on July 30, 2020]).
- ^ A b Adrienne Laskier Martín: An Erotic Philology of Golden Age Spain . Vanderbilt University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8265-1578-0 , pp. XI - XII ( google.de [accessed on August 7, 2020]).
- ↑ a b National Museums in Berlin: Gerard ter Borch: The gallant conversation. Accessed July 30, 2020 .
- ^ A b Benjamin Binstock: Vermeer's Family Secrets: Genius, Discovery, and the Unknown Apprentice . Routledge , 2013, ISBN 978-1-136-08706-6 , pp. 75 ( google.de [accessed on July 31, 2020]).