Nicolaes Maes : Dutch master of the Golden Age

Author / Creator

Suchtelen, Ariane van, author, editor

Available as

Physical

Summary

This book offers a close look at the art of Dutch Golden Age painter Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693). One of Rembrandt's most talented students, Maes began by painting biblical scenes in the style of his...

This book offers a close look at the art of Dutch Golden Age painter Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693). One of Rembrandt's most talented students, Maes began by painting biblical scenes in the style of his famous teacher. He later produced extraordinary genre pieces, in which the closely observed actions of the main figure, often a woman, have a hushed, almost monumental character. Maes also depicted mothers with children or older women praying or sleeping; such works have placed him among the most popular painters of the Dutch Golden Age. From around 1660, Maes turned exclusively to portraiture, and his elegant style attracted wealthy and eminent clients from Dordrecht and Amsterdam. The authors - curators from the National Gallery, London, and the Mauritshuis, The Hague - bring extensive knowledge to bear for the benefit of specialists and the general public. Exhibition: Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands (17.10.2019-19.01.2020) / National Gallery, London, UK (22.02.-31.05.2020).

"Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693) was one of Rembrandt's most talented pupils. Following in his teacher's footsteps, he began his career painting biblical subjects, but soon moved on to become an innovative painter of genre scenes that show witty domestic narratives drawn from everyday life. During the last decades of his life, Maes devoted himself exclusively to portraiture. His elegant and refined likenesses delighted a wide circle of clients in Dordrecht and Amsterdam, where he lived at different times, and beyond."

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