Violin player, Hendrick ter Brugghen (The Hague 1588–1629 Utrecht) Workshop

Hendrick ter Brugghen (The Hague 1588–1629 Utrecht) Workshop

Violin player

Oil on canvas (72 x 60 cm. – Framed 87 x 78 cm.)

The analysis of the composition and style of this interesting portrait of a violin player allows us to compare its execution to the workshop of the Flemish Hendrick ter Brugghen (The Hague 1588 – Utrecht 1629), illustrating a typical subject of the figurative repertoire conceived and spread by the great master.

A highly talented Dutch painter, Hendrick ter Brugghen was a leading member – together with Dirck van Baburen and Gerrit van Honthorst – of the 'Utrecht Caravaggists', a group of artists who moved from the Dutch city to Rome in the early 17th century where they were fascinated by Caravaggio's painting. They were deeply marked by the innovation of the great master and, upon their return to their homeland, they introduced the same realism in the choice of subjects and the intense chiaroscuro into their works.

Our work is an excellent testimony to this, with a well-dressed gentleman who delights in playing a violin, caught in a grinning expression and open-mouthed laughter, while peering directly at the observer.

The theme of the musician in fact enjoyed great popularity starting from the early 1620s, and these authors were the first to import this theme, already loved by Italian art, into Northern Europe.

Upon his return to Utrecht, he moved away from purely religious subjects to concentrate on allegories and genre scenes, especially those with concerts and single musical figures, characterized as in our case for the vigorous use of the chiaroscuro technique, and also for the realism of the figures, and emotionally charged characters.

The close-up, almost life-size composition gives the work realism and immediacy, further enlivened by dramatic lighting effects that highlight the musician's ruddy complexion.

Wearing a large hat adorned with an extravagant ostrich feather, the cheerful violinist in the present painting is expertly playing his instrument. The costume is certainly not 17th century street dress, but rather the “Burgundian” theatrical style adopted by Caravaggio. However, by isolating the figure against a neutral background and removing him from the larger context that Caravaggio would have provided, Ter Brugghen transforms his violinist into an emblem of pure, uninhibited and contagious joy.

We find this type of subject in numerous of his compositions, thanks to which the artist acquired great fame and collecting fortune, considered his specialty, in which the highly realistic (at times almost caricatural) definition of the characters is accompanied by an iconography of great character.

Here we mention for example the Lute Player in the National Gallery (https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/hendrick-ter-brugghen-a-man-playing-a-lute), and again the Lute Player viola with glass from the Royal Collection Trust (https://www.rct.uk/collection/405531/a-laughing-bravo-with-a-bass-viol-and-a-glass), and also the Violin Player from the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel (Germany) (http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/100095/Ter%20Brugghen%20Hendrick%20Jansz%2C%20s…)

Below are some works that have appeared on the antiques market:
– Violin Player, Dorotheum Old Master Paintings, 03 May 2023 (https://www.dorotheum.com/en/l/8507536/)
– Lute Player, Chrietie's, 31 Oct 2017 (https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6104616)
– A young man playing the violin, Christie's, London, 4 June 2014 (https://research.rkd.nl/en/detail/https%3A%2f%2fdata.rkd.nl%2fimages%2f27158)
– The Merry Drinker, c. 1625 (https://research.rkd.nl/en/detail/https%3A%2f%2fdata.rkd.nl%2fimages%2f1065)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with a beautiful frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card.

We take care of and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.

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