A Modello of Fourteen Studies of Children’s Busts and Heads by Simon van der Does
Scroll to zoom, click for slideshow

A Modello of Fourteen Studies of Children’s Busts and Heads 1709

Simon van der Does

Óleo sobre lienzo colocado sobre panelMaruflaje
45.60 ⨯ 54.40 cm
ConditionExcellent
Precio a consultar

TERTIUS GALLERY

  • Sobre la obra de arte
    This rare modello of heads and busts of children offers a fascinating peek into the studio
    practice of Simon van der Does, a painter of pastoral scenes set in Italianate landscapes.
    Models such as the present constituted precious studio assets and artists used them in
    preparation of finished works for the market or for particular clients. Although evidence
    suggests they were valued from early on for their intrinsic artistic merits as well, few
    have survived. Similar attractive oil studies of isolated, worked-out motifs are known by
    Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, Jan Brueghel the Elder and
    Peter Boel and by artists working in the Northern Netherlands, notably Nicolaes
    Berchem. The Amsterdam Rijksmuseum’s recent acquisition of an oil study with
    chickens by Melchior de Hondecoeter shows a renewed interest and appreciation for
    this type of art.1 Several children’s heads on our canvas appear in several independent
    paintings by Simon van der Does (figs. 1-4). Van der Does’ oil study stands out for its
    crisp handling and captivating charm.
    Simon van der Does was a son of the artist Jacob van der Does the Elder (1623-1673)
    and the brother of Jacob van der Does the Younger (1654-1699), also an artist. Simon
    no doubt trained with his father and like him specialized in Italianate landscapes
    enlivened with figures but he also painted portraits. He spent some time in Friesland and
    tried his luck in London before returning to his native The Hague. Here, in 1683, he
    became a member of the painters’ confraternity Pictura and in 1689 married Clara
    Bellechière who, according to his biographer Arnold Houbraken, was ‘extremely
    wasteful’. As a result Simon’s financial situation deteriorated and he ended up living in
    the infirmary. After several years he left for Antwerp where he died sometime after
    1718.

    Inscribed on the stretcher with pencil: “Jacob van der Does”
  • Sobre el artista
    Van der Does nació en La Haya, hijo de Jacob van der Does de su segunda esposa. Su padre le enseñó a pintar y, a su vez, se convirtió en el maestro del posterior historiador del arte Johan van Gool. Pintó paisajes de estilo italiano a la manera de su padre. Según Houbraken, que obtuvo su información de primera mano de Johan van Gool, Simon van der Does pasó un tiempo en Frisia y un año en Inglaterra en su juventud, y podía pintar retratos al estilo de Caspar Netscher. Se casó, pero apenas pudo llegar a fin de mes, y después de que murieron su esposa y su padre, estaba tan deprimido que no pudo pintar y se quedó en el Gasthuis de La Haya durante tres años, y luego se mudó a Bruselas durante un año y luego se mudó a Amberes, trabajando para los asesinos (keelbeulen, o el nombre de Houbraken para los marchantes de arte). Un amigo de su padre, Karel Dujardin, se convirtió en su tutor, y tras su regreso de Italia instaló un taller en Amsterdam donde se hizo cargo de los hijos de Jacob van der Does (Houbraken solo menciona a Simon y su medio hermano Jacob II van der Lo hace). Después de la muerte de Dujardin, trabajó para Gerard de Lairesse en Amsterdam hasta que pudo mantenerse a sí mismo. Iba de camino a visitar París cuando murió en Amberes.

¿Está interesado en comprar esta obra de arte?