Department of Art History  |  Sweet Briar College



















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EXHIBITION CATEGORIES




Decorated Pottery




Illustration




Prints




Drawing




Photography




Sculpture




PAINTING






















   


 
What is Art .... ?
                     .... What is an Artist ?
  






An exhibition exploring the perception of ART     

and the identity of the ARTIST     

through HISTORY     
 
and in CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY     
























PAINTING....

essays by
 
Emily Busse and Hobby Holmes













Jan Both (circle of)

Dutch

Landscape

oil on canvas

Sweet Briar College Art Collection, Bequest of Cornelia Lyons Wailes Estate


click here for a LARGE image






               Jan Both was a great Dutch painter that has been forgotten over the past few centuries.  He was born somewhere around 1618.  He had a brother named Adries that was also involved in the Dutch art world.  Many scholars to this day believe that they collaborated on most of their paintings.  


               The brothers are believed to have received their early training at the Utrecht Painter's Guild, Jan was believed to have been there between 1634-1637.  They were first recorded visiting Rome in July of 1638 and were later seen there in 1641.  Jan's brother, Andries, is reported to have died in Venice during their last journey to Italy.  It is assumed that  Jan Both studied under Carel de Hooch.  De Hooch was a member of the first school of Dutch Italianite painters.  His work was to provide a basis from which Both developed a new style.  


               Joachim von Sandraart, a well known art biographer of the time, said once that Jan "endeavored to approach nature as closely as possible".  Jan both started a new movement in Dutch Italianite Painting bringing to the style a new quality of light and nature.  His works had strong contrasts of light in a warm golden hue.  


               The Landscape  may only be a copy but it displays great similarities to his previous works.  The romantic and foreign landscape that seems wild and untamed is beautifully depicted in delicate brushwork.  The idea of travelers and their weary appearance in the painting is typical of Both and reminds us of his romantic vision.  Due to the lack of knowledge about Both it is difficult to determine the validity of his work. There is speculation over the extent of pupils that he obtained and then their is the issue of collaborative work with his brother.  Like many other Dutch masters it is likely that his students made several copies of different paintings.  We have little documentation but there are a few notes eluding that copies were made.  Regardless of the true validity of the painting the viewer can still fully appreciate the great contribution Both made to Dutch Italianite Landscape Painting. 



ADDITIONAL LINKS







  Painting












The objects and material in this exhibition were gathered together, researched and largely written about by students in the seminar "Art and Artists" conducted in the Fall semester, 1997, by Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, 24595 USA. Invaluable assistance was provided by Rebecca Massie Lane, Director of Galleries and the Arts Management Program, who in turn was assisted by Dana Lee Bordvick '98.