Brush Portrait Paintings

This exquisite oil on panel portrait, depicts a young lady wearing the most elaborate and costly items of the period - the Dutch coif or coronet of sheer lawn with lace, the lavishly embroidered stomacher, and the exquisite ‘molensteenkraag’ or millstone collar, made of batiste fabric. These items were worn by the wealthy individuals in society. The collar itself often requiring over 15 metres of fabric and an incredible effort to maintain. The whiteness of her skin serves as a marker of her social background and status, highlighting how physical appearance can often play a significant role in how individuals were perceived in society. This portrait shows the precise, meticulously crafted, style for which the artist became well-known and is a fine example in its description of the sitter’s character and the careful reproduction of the face and fabrics. The well-preserved condition provides a unique opportunity for us to admire the intricacy and details of the attire that may not always be possible in portraits from a similar age. The dark pigments used to depict the expensive black silk, along with the intricate lace, have remarkably stood the test of time, allowing us to appreciate the craftsmanship and artistry that went into creating them four hundred years ago. The gold pin worn in her hair on her left side indicates that she was engaged when the portrait was painted; married women wore the ‘betrothal pin’ on their right side. Like rhetoricians, seventeenth-century artists were bound by rules and expectations for proper decorum, even in matters of dress. Costume was carefully chosen to suit the ideals of a particular culture or sitter and was used to convey a multitude of meanings. Knowledge of its associations and the history of costume can be crucial to the interpretation of portraiture. The Dutch Golden Age of painting was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. Dutch explorers charted new territory and settled abroad. Trade by the Dutch East-India Company thrived, and war heroes from the naval battles were decorated and became national heroes. During this time, The Dutch Old Masters began to prevail in the art world, creating a depth of realistic portraits of people and life in the area that has hardly been surpassed. The Golden Age painters depicted the scenes that their discerning new middle-class patrons wanted to see. This new wealth from merchant activities and exploration combined with a lack of church patronage, shifted art subjects away from biblical genres. Still lifes of items of everyday objects, landscapes, and seascapes reflecting the naval and trade power that the Republic enjoyed were popular. The large group portrait is also a standard subject often of a civic organisation. The new wealthy class were keen to have their portraits commissioned and thus many artists worked in this lucrative genre. This portrait was in the famous collection of Dr. Paul Viktorovich Delaroff (1852-1913) who was a legal advisor based in St. Petersburg and Pavlovsk. He was the son of a Russian army general, he attended the Imperial School of St. Petersburg, earned a doctorate in law, and later taught civil law at the University of Kharkiv. However, he soon left academia to serve as an advisor at the Ministry of Public Works and eventually became a privy councillor to His Majesty the Emperor of Russia. Delaroff dedicated much of his life to the study of painting and engaged in art dealing on a large scale. Known for his charm and engaging conversation, he was a man of remarkable vitality. His extensive network enabled him to make several advantageous purchases and helped reignite interest in the Dutch school among Russian art enthusiasts. He amassed a vast collection of paintings, with some of his finest pieces loaned to museums in The Hague, Leiden, Berlin, and elsewhere. His impressive gallery of old master paintings was sold at auction in Paris during two sales in 1914, the first held on April 23-24, and the second from April 27 to May 2. Contained within a good quality period frame. Cornelis van der Voort, or van der Voorde (circa 1576 – circa 1624), was a distinguished Dutch portrait painter, art collector, art appraiser, and art dealer active during the early 17th century in Amsterdam. His oeuvre includes both individual and group portraits, notably the 'schuttersstukken' which portray members of local militias, and 'regentenstukken' depicting the regents of charitable institutions—a genre he notably pioneered. Van der Voort's contributions were instrumental in the evolution of portrait painting within the early 17th-century Dutch Republic, and he is particularly acclaimed for his introduction of the life-size, full-length format to the practice of Dutch portraiture. His oeuvre was highly sought after and regarded with great reverence. He significantly impacted the early portraiture of Rembrandt, as well as the works of Nicolaes Eliasz, Pickenoy, and Thomas de Keyser...

Portrait of a Young Lady French School, early 1800's period oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 26 x 21 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition: some crazing and pronoun...

Portrait of a Lady with her Pet Dog French School, mid 19th century oil on canvas, framed framed: 36 x 28 inches canvas: 29 x 20 inches Provenance: private collection, France Conditi...

The French Gentleman by Paul Goubil (French mid 19th century) signed and dated 1855 oil on canvas, framed framed: 30.5 x 25 inches canvas: 29 x 24 inches Provenance: private collecti...

Portrait Of A Young Gentleman, 19th Century by Louis DEVEDEUX (1820-1874) sales to $40,000 Huge circa 1850 French portrait of a young gentleman, oil on canvas. Excellent quality an...

In this painting, we see a minimalist room with a huge window, beyond which stretches a sky filled with fluffy white clouds. Muted colors dominate—the blue of the sky contrasts beaut...

Red Terrier Possibly Dutch School Oil on wood panel, circa 1900-1910. Initialed lower left 7 1/2 x 7 (12 x 11 1/2 frame) inches A charming and thoughtfully rendered depiction of a t...

18th Century French School Portrait of an Actress Oil on canvas 30 x 23 inches 36 x 30 inches, framed

‘La Couronne de Marguerite’ by Édouard-Louis-Lucien Cabane (1857-1942). The painting – which depicts a young French beauty wearing a crown of daisies – is signed by the artist and ...

Amy Devlin portrays people, animals, or nature in her works. But what really matters to her is light and water, which she wants to capture in the form of a physical memory. By following her passion for paint, she tries to represent reality and thereby express her feeling in the expressive colors she uses. Her paintings show a fascination with the movement and texture of water, which is depicted in vivid colors in her works. Her hybrid painting style combines realism with impressionism in a very interesting way, providing a different view of the world and our memories of it. Devlin loves the unexpected, looks at things from a crazy angle and imagines. Since 2014 she mainly paints underwater portraits...

Charles Zacharie LANDELLE (Laval, 1821 – Chennevières/Marne, 1908) Portrait of a child with blue eyes Oil on canvas Monogrammed and dated lower l...

Painter active in Rome in the early 17th century Susanna and the Old Men Oil on canvas 76 x 62 cm. with frame 92 x 78 cm. This valuable painting illustrates the piquant episode, ta...