Gerard ter Borch (National Gallery of Art, Washington) [Hardcover]

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Author), Alison McNeil Kettering (Author), Arie Wallert (Author), Marjorie E. Wieseman (Author)

Book Description

Series: National Gallery of Art, Washington | Publication Date: October 11, 2004

The Dutch painter Gerard ter Borch (1617–1681) was a slightly older contemporary of Johannes Vermeer. Ter Borch’s beautiful and evocative paintings were not only varied in subject but also unparalleled among his peers in capturing the elegance and grace of wealthy burghers, the shimmering surface of satin, the undulating rhythms of translucent lace cuffs, and the nuanced psychological interactions between figures in an interior scene. Indeed, ter Borch’s genre scenes clearly influenced works later painted by Vermeer.
This lovely book—the first major English-language publication on ter Borch’s paintings—presents a selection of some of the most outstanding works from each area of the artist’s career: the remarkable early pictures of the 1630s, the midcareer genre paintings for which he is best known, and the small portraits that brought him prosperity throughout his life. Essays by noted experts on Dutch art discuss ter Borch’s artistic development, the “modern” aspects of his paintings, and his renowned technique for painting satin.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Unlike his friend Vermeer, Gerhard ter Borch (1617-1681) may never be the hero of a movie. Yet he is renowned for paintings that reveal the inner lives of men and women while scrupulously rendering the shimmering satin fabric of their elaborate clothing. The essays by Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. and other art historians in Gerhard ter Borch present a clear and thorough overview of the Dutch master's life and work. Handsome color plates reproduce 52 major paintings from throughout his career, and additional black-and-white photographs provide key art historical context. Ter Borch's life is unusually well-documented, thanks in part to his doting father. He carefully preserved his young son's drawings and urged him (in a letter) to compose "modern" scenes and paint in a way that would produce the most "beautiful and flowing" effects. In his mature work, Ter Borch would move beyond stock genre scenes--jolly revelers, soldiers and prostitutes, and so forth--to create keenly observed figures with individual personalities. Ter Borch's subject matter also included portraits of wealthy patrons, rural scenes of his hometown and a vivid depiction of the signing of the Treaty of Muenster. But interior scenes are his special province. Their distinctiveness and the culture that shaped them are explored in ways that combine the hard data and theoretical underpinnings of scholarship with appealing, fact-based speculation. For example, in "Lady Drinking While Holding a Letter" (circa 1665), a woman in a lustrous golden dress--who resembles Ter Borch's cultured sister Gesina--stares moodily into space as she drinks a glass of wine and holds a drooping opened letter. Love letters were a popular theme in Dutch art. An old drinking song prescribed wine for melancholy. The painting may also recall an incident in the life of the real Gesina, whose serious romance ended a few years earlier. Ter Borch's technical brilliance is also discussed at length in an essay that incorporates UV fluorescent photos to analyze how dazzling optical effects can be created with flecks of paint. Gerard ter Borchis the catalogue for an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (through January 2005) that travels to the Detroit Institute of Arts. --Cathy Curtis

From Publishers Weekly

You pretty much have to start with satin when it comes to 17th-century Dutch painter Gerard ter Borch: for centuries, viewers have fixated on the artist’s ability to reproduce the texture and sheen of satin with seemingly miraculous realism. In this study, published in conjunction with an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art and Detroit Institute of Art, Wheelock and his contributors manfully tackle the satin issue head-on, while also ingeniously using it as a springboard for exploring the painter’s subtler talents. Arie Wallert’s essay, complete with x-radiographs and UV-illuminated close-ups of the artist’s canvases, uncovers the artist’s special wiping techniques, and argues that far more important to the uncanny effects was Ter Borch’s close observation of shadows and light. But it’s his observations of people that the writers show to be the artist’s more significant gift. Ter Borch may have made a living as a portraitist to the middle class, but he made a specialty of sympathetic but unsentimental depictions of people in odd moments of their day, often staring distractedly into space—a little boy being groomed by his mother, for instance, or a woman looking up from a book. Though Wheelock is given to labored, pedantic analysis (e.g., "Ter Borch’s sympathetic portrayal of the boy’s concern for his dog indicates he intended no negative commentary on the boy’s neglect of his studies, which is implicit in the pen and book that sit idly on the table beside him"), he nonetheless effectively points out the great originality of these slice-of-life canvases, many of which are virtually without precedent in their subject matter and mixture of genres. Beautifully illustrated, carefully laid out, this book allows viewers’ eyes to adjust to the dazzle of Ter Borch’s satin and awaken to the deeper, more delicate pleasures of his work.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (October 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300106394
• ISBN-13: 978-0300106398
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,591,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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