De Keyser did not support himself as an artist. An architect and stone dealer, he was appointed as the municipal architect of Amsterdam in 1662. Painting was pursued only in his leisure time, and he appears to have been quite energetic later in life. De Keyser's talents are best revealed in his modest-sized works such as "Portrait of a Man" (F.1972.15.3.1.P) and "Portrait of a Woman."
This husband and wife are dressed in the rich, yet sober, garments of the Dutch middle class. Their relation to one another is more firmly defined by the common table at which they sit. These two works exemplify the conventional marriage portraits of the day. Two identical canvases would hang as pendants, with the woman to the man's left. Both individuals faced the center, with the light usually falling from the viewer's left. The man's face would be partly in shadow; the woman's receiving the light directly.
Details
- Artist Name: Thomas de Keyser (Dutch, 1596/7-1667)
- Title: Portrait of a Woman
- Date: 1637
- Medium: Oil on panel (one of a pair)
- Dimensions: 18 x 15-1/2 in. (45.7 x 39.4 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.15.3.2.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
De Jonge, Paris, 1911/1912.
Albert Dubosc du Haire (sale, Paris, Drouot, 5 December 1947, nos. 27 [man], 28 [woman]).
[Edward Speelman, Ltd., London, by 1951, sold 1972 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1973-05-09 to 1974-11-26
Exposition des grands et petits maîtres hollandais du XVIIe siècle
- Paris, Salle du Jeu de Paume, 1911-04-28 to 1911-07-10
[on loan]
- Oberlin College, Dudley Peter Allen Art Museum, 1972-06-01 to 1973-05-08
Encountering the Dutch Likeness: Portraiture in 17th Century Holland
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1996
- Salle du Jeu de Paume, Paris, Exposition des grands et petits maîtres Hollandais du XVIIe siècle, no. 78 p. 15
- Oldenbourg, Rudolf, Thomas de Keysers Tätigkeit als Maler, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des holländischen Porträts, 1911, no. 115
- Martin, Wilhelm, Elseviers geillustreered maandschrift, 1911, p. 251
- Dayot, Armand, Grands et petits maîtres hollandais du XVII siècle, 1912, no. 81 pp. 17, 134
- Sutton, Peter C., A Guide to Dutch Art in America, 1986, p. 216
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 789B p. 339
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