Self-portrait by Judith Leyster
 | |
| Artist | Judith Leyster |
|---|---|
| Year | c. 1630 |
| Type | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 74.6 cm × 65.1 cm (29.4 in × 25.6 in) |
| Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
Self-portrait by Judith Leyster is an oil painting in the collection of the National Gallery of Art that was offered in 1633 as a masterpiece to the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke.[1] It was attributed for centuries to Frans Hals and was only properly attributed upon acquisition by the museum in 1949.[2]
Provenance
The painting, supposed to be executed in the 1620s by Hals, may have been among those sold as "Daughter of the artist" in early sales catalogs. The painting was sold by the Ehrich Galleries of New York on 9 May 1929 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, of Washington, D.C for 250,000 dollars.[3] In 1928 W.R. Valentiner declared it a portrait of Leyster by Hals, and in 1930 Gerrit David Gratama confirmed his attribution, declaring that it was a portrait taken while she was making a study of her later painting The Merry Trio.[3]
According to Hofrichter, x-ray analysis shows that the subject first underneath the figure on the easel was a portrait of a young girl, and that it would be in keeping with the tradition of other masterpieces of Leyster's day to show off her artist's expertise by changing this to show that she was also capable of painting figures in theatrical poses as well as portraiture.[2]
Exhibitions
- 1937 — Frans Hals Tentoonstelling ter gelegenheid van het 75-jarig bestaan van het gemeentelijk Museum te Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, no. 9, as by Frans Hals
- 1993 — Judith Leyster: A Dutch Master and Her World, Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem; Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, 1993, no. 7, as by Leyster
- 2009 — Judith Leyster, 1609-1660, exhibition on the occasion of Judith Leyster's 400th Anniversary, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, 2009-2010
See also
References
- ↑ Judith Leyster, by Els Kloek, in 1001 Vrouwen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis
- 1 2 Judith Leyster: A Woman Painter in Holland's Golden Age, by Frima Fox Hofrichter, Doornspijk, 1989, Davaco Publishers, ISBN 90-70288-62-1, catalog #21
- 1 2 Gratama, Gerrit David. "Het Portret van Judith Leyster door Frans Hals." Oud Holland 47 (1930): 71-75
External links
- Web pages on the painting at National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Self-Portrait, c. 1630, Judith Leyster