Arnold Houbraken

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 15 July 1970, lot 91;
Mrs. Herta Silberstein;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 20 October 1972, lot 82.

The actual paintings are softer and less red in tone than the catalogue illustrations suggest. Both single panels have a very slight curvature, but are stable. Both paint layers are under a dull and dirty varnish layer and its removal would improve the tonality. Both paint layers are secure and well-preserved. In both paintings, a few tiny scattered discoloured retouchings can be observed, mainly in the background. Inspection under Ultra-Violet light is impeded by the dirty varnish layer. Offered in decorative carved wood and gilt plaster frames, in good condition. (MW)
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At first sight, this pair of genre scenes presented in trompe-l'oeil niches hardly seem to correspond with Houbraken's reputation as the strong advocate of Classicist art theory, as expounded in his De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (posthumously published between 1718 and 1721). In these pictures, he follows instead the tradition of the Leiden Fijnschilders, particularly Gerrit Dou and Frans van Mieris. Houbraken painstakingly mimics their great imitative skills in all kind of different textures and used their compositional scheme of the stone niche. 

Tellingly, however, Houbraken opens both the second and third volume of his Groote Schouburgh with the lives of Gerard Dou and Frans van Mieris in which he extensively comments on their "konstige Penceelkonst" (artful brushwork). For example, on Van Mieris' art he wrote: " Every figure individually tended to the inventive, the features comely, the hands at their most graceful, the diverse fabrics, Velvet, Fur, Silverwork, etc, so exquisitely soft and powerfully painted that it could compete with nature in beauty, which is why it was so pleasing to everyone [..] ".¹

Houbraken's theoretical notions on supremacy of history painting and lofty subjects did not always reconcile with his prediliction for the imitation of nature and love of a fine and detailed technique. This comes to the fore in the Life of Gerard Dou in which he regretted that this gifted painter devoted his time in the representation of daily activities: "It is to be regretted that the man's intellect was not applied to important considerations and his brush set to the depiction of more worthy and valuable subjects."² 

In the end, it seems Houbraken's respect for the Fijnschilders won over his preference for classicist subjects, as can be understood from his closing words on Dou: " [...] he is a marvel to the World, and must be praised by all practitioners of art, above all those who in his time have applied themselves to detailed painting; because he has drawn, and stroked, more with the brush than others who tried to reach their goal with softening and fading. Which is why his brushwork has great power, even from far away, where to the contrary, the brush work handled in the other way disappears in a mist."³    

After reading the passages above, one can see this pair of paintings as a visual statement of Houbaken's admiration for the Leiden Fijnschilders, or even an attempt to rival his famous predecessors. In the composition with a lady receiving a letter, the curtain, the draped carpet and relief are literal quotes from Dou and Mieris, whereas in the other painting the exposed brick and mortar, the bird's cage and flower pots are all motifs regularly found in their work.  

Both bear an inscription of an old inventory number on the reverse, the former: 438.; the latter 442.

1. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, Amsterdam 1718-1721, vol. III, p. 5. English translation cited from H. Horn, The Golden Age revisited: Arnold Houbraken's Great theatre of Netherlandish painters and paintresses, Doornspijk 2000, vol. I, p. 528.
2. Houbraken, op. cit., vol II, pp. 4-5; Horn, 2000, p. 456.
3. idem, vol II, p. 5; Horn, 2000, p. 457.