Nicolaes Maes


Interesting exhibition at the National Gallery looking at the career of the 17th century Dutch artist Nicolaes Maes.

Maes trained in Rembrandt’s studio and the show showed how this reflected in his early work but how he adapted his style throughout his career to reflect the fashion of the city he was working in. The first room looked at this Rembrandt influence including a large painting of Christ Blessing the Children and copies he made of picture of the Holy family by his master.

My favourite section was the central one which looked at his time in Dordrecht when he painted genre pictures, mainly of women in interiors, which showed an innovative approach to portraying space and a remarkable clarity. I loved this picture of a girl threading a needle with its close observation of this action.

In 1673 he returned to Amsterdam and started painting what to me were slightly overblown portraits often with sitters in fantasised clothes. I was fascinated though to see some of these pictures in their original frames which were surprisingly ornament for what we think of as a sombre period.

Close 31 May  2020

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