ART/ARTH/BUS 334: THE BUSINESS OF ART TASK SHEET # 4 FOR MODULE: WEEK 4:
EMERGING MIDDLE CLASS PATRONS: 17TH C. DUTCH REPUBLIC
DUE DATE: Monday, February 19, by 9:00 pm! Submit ON TIME in Canvas “Assignments” only! This task sheet has TWO PARTS. You MUST complete ALL tasks in BOTH PARTS. Please also review the Task Sheet Information handout posted in MODULE: WEEK 1! ONLY submit Task Sheets that are completed and based on the assigned readings and videos!
READINGS AND VIDEOS [see and access via MODULE: WEEK 4] Internet: Essential Vermeer: “A Brief Overview of the Dutch Art Market in the Seventeenth Century” [“Patronage, Competition, and Diversification” and “Paintings for Sale”]: http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#Patronage Internet: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/dutch-golden-age/ [for background info]
INTRO: EMERGING MIDDLE CLASS PATRONAGE IN THE 17TH C. DUTCH REPUBLIC • As one of our assigned texts states: “High-class patronage was considerably lacking in the
seventeenth century Dutch Republic, making way for a new form of art marketing in Europe. The Reformation and establishment of the Republic meant that the traditional patronage system under Church and crown was replaced with a more business-like arrangement. Patronage was still found to some extent in public commissions, but for the first time artists were painting for an open market.”
• As we learned in Module 3, aside from the courts and the church, wealthy secular patrons, such as the House of Medici, were already crucial patrons in the Renaissance. However, in 17th
century Europe, the burgeoning middle classes (Protestant ministers, lawyers, physicians, small merchants, industrialists and clerks) became increasingly important patrons of the arts.
• Furthermore, these new patrons’ tastes and preferences shaped the development of art itself, moving it into new directions and to new subject matter with genre painting (paintings of everyday scenes), landscape and cityscape painting, and still-life and Flower Painting.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS Patronage: The encouragement, privilege, or financial support that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, patronage refers to the support that kings, queens, popes, and other wealthy and influential people provided to visual artists, architects, musicians, writers, etc.. For many centuries artists did not create their art for art’s sake or for personal expression, but only when they received commissions in advance from a patron [see Task Sheet #3 and Book: pp. 17-21].
The Dutch Golden Age denotes the period in the history of the Netherlands roughly spanning from 1588, when the independent and reformed Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when Dutch trade, science and art, as well as colonization were among the most prominent in Europe. “During the 17th century, driven by new freedom from Spanish Catholic rule [the Reformation], the Dutch Republic experienced a surge in economic and cultural prominence. An influx of trade boosted commerce, leading to the rise of a large middle and merchant class in the market for the proliferation of art […]. Painting flowered as artists focused on everyday scenes of ordinary life, expressed through a growing cadre of genre works, all indicative of the thriving creative period.” [see: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/dutch-golden-age/]
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#Patronage
https://www.theartstory.org/movement/dutch-golden-age/
https://www.theartstory.org/movement/dutch-golden-age/
Hierarchy of Genres (or Categories) in Painting A categorization along value was made within genres (categories) of painting since the Renaissance, listed below in their hierarchical order. However, in the 17th century, esp. in northern Europe and newly Protestant countries, genres were favored that closely related to the emerging middle class patrons’ tastes and lives, such as Genre Paintings, Landscapes and Cityscapes, and Still-Life and Flower Painting, which demonstrated moral and religious values, as well as highlighted private possessions and connections to commerce, esp. the blooming trade with tulip bulbs in the Dutch Republic.
History Painting (depictions of historical events, biblical and mythological scenes) Portrait Painting (depictions of specific human subjects; historically the rich and powerful) Genre Painting (depictions of scenes of every day life and activities/domestic situations) Landscape Painting (depictions of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, forests, rivers) Still-life Painting (depictions of inanimate objects such as cut flowers, fruits, dead animals,
vessels, silver, musical instruments, coins, books, often with allegorical or symbolic meaning) Flower Painting (depictions of floral arrangements and bouquets; part of still-life painting)
PART I: WHAT’S NEW IN THE 17TH C. DUTCH ART MARKET AND PATRONAGE? See also the Introduction and Key Terms and Concepts, pp. 1&2 of this task sheet.
YOUR TASKS FOR PART I Read: Essential Vermeer: “A Brief Overview of the Dutch Art Market in the Seventeenth Century”: http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html# Summarize each sub-section about the Dutch Art Market in the 17th Century listed below in c. THREE SENTENCES EACH in your own words [don’t copy and paste, please! : )]
• Categories of Painting • The Guild of Saint Luke and Training • Patronage, Competition and Diversifications • Specialization • Paintings for Sale • Artists’ Income & Economic Background • Earnings of Painters Belonging to the Guild of Saint Luke • Decline
PART II: THE CASE OF PAINTER JOHANNES VERMEER Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675, Delft, Netherlands) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age along with Rembrandt [Wikipedia].
YOUR TASKS FOR PART II Read: Essential Vermeer: “A Brief Overview of the Dutch Art Market in the Seventeenth Century”: http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#Patronage
Please answer the following TWO questions in c. 4-6 sentences each: 1) Explain what genre Vermeer specialized in and became famous for, and what he typically included to better compete. [See section “Specialization”] 2) Explain Vermeer’s specific artist/client relationship(s) and his economic and family background, and what or who kept them financially afloat [See “Artists’ Income and Economic Background”]
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#categories
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#earnings
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#income
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#sale
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#specialization
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#Patronage
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#training
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#decline
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#Patronage
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/ecnmcs_dtchart.html#Patronage
Art/ARTH/BUS 334: THE BUSINESS OF ART
TASK SHEET #4 FOR MODULE: WEEK 4:
EMERGING MIDDLE CLASS PATRONS: 17TH C. DUTCH REPUBLIC