Willem Heda (1599-1680/82) was the master of still life. In his Still Life, despite limitations of subject matter, he demonstrates an unexpected eloquence in the rendering of golden light, as well as sensitivity in establishing the precise relationships between transparent, translucent, reflecting, and mat surfaces – a silent drama of pure sense presented in the style of a Caravaggio religious scene against the typical background of nowhere, fluctuating between shadow and light.
Make sure you know how to pronounce the following words:
Hobbema; Hals; Cuyp; Ruisdael; Haarlem; genre; burlesque; fluctuate; eloquence; palate; horizon; tantalise; monochrome
Tasks
I. Read the text. Make sure you understand it. Mark the following statements true or false.
1. Jan van Goyen placed figures to a dominant position.
2. Heda's still-lifes are referred to as «breakfast pieces».
3. De Hooch represented genre scenes of the lower classes life.
4. Jacob van Ruisdael was the best Dutch landscape painter.
5. To this day a «Jan Steen household» is the Dutch expression for the harmony of the perfect bourgeois household.
6. One of the greatest Dutch landscapes is the Avenue at Middelbarnis by Meyndert Hobbema.
II. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?
1. What system produced the «little masters»? In what did they specialize? Were all the «little masters» of high quality?
2. What was Jan van Goyen famous for? What did he like to paint? What is Van Goyen's masterpiece? What is depicted in this picture?
3. What did Jacob van Ruisdael paint in 1670? What is this landscape noted for? How is the immensity of the space increased?
4. What did Albert Cuyp paint in 1650? How did he intensify the space?
5. What is represented in the Linen Cupboard? How did De Hooch render the religious order of the bourgeois life? What did the painter show by means of pictures on the wall?
6. What kind of picture is the World Upside Down? What does it demonstrate?
7. What do Dutch still lifes depict? Who was one of the chief practitioners of Dutch still lifes? What did he demonstrate in his paintings? What did he establish?
III. I. Give Russian equivalents of the following phrases:
genre scenes; a sense of composition and colour; translucent browns; still life; polished silver; the harmony of the bourgeois household; to establish the relationships between transparent and mat surfaces; vantage point; to be of extremely high quality; the realm of space and light; to appeal to the eye and the palate; to determine the mood of the scene; the celestial architecture of shifting clouds; dashing brushwork; windmills and spires; breakfast pieces; to make pictures lively; housemaid; a monochromatic vision; moralizing picture; carved and inlaid cabinet; according to the compositional principles; sketchy touches of the brush; to handle figures with conviction and power; burlesque; religious scenes; riverscapes; seascapes; travelscapes; hunting scenes.
