Echoes of Dutch art in the 18th century
The history of the influence of Dutch art ends with its decline, and its causes were the same ones that also underlie stylistic developments in Denmark. With Jacques d’Agar (1640-1715) [i], who came to Denmark in 1684, and with Benoît Le Coffre (1672-1722, in Denmark in 1696) [i], courtly French art arrived and replaced the realistic Netherlandish oriented and schooled portraiture of the 17th century. The first signs of French influence began to take hold during the reign of Frederick III (ruled 1648-1670). The Danish Johann Georg Ziesenis (1716-1776), was a capable portraitist of the 18th century, whose Dutch stay of 1768 in no way led to a pursuit of Dutch features along 17th-century lines [i][i].
| | Jacques d' Agar Portrait of Christian V, king of Denmark and Norway (1646-1699)
(1783
- 1790)
oil paint / canvas, 121,5
x
101 cm The National Museum of History Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød, no. A 7074
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| | Benoît Le Coffre The five senses after 1696 oil paint / canvas, 76
x
92 cm on the back
:
Gaunö / Nr. 1506 / dese A?chehór / Jomfru Anna Maria / Edingerie(?) SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMS8665
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| | Johann Georg Ziesenis Portrait of Stadholder Willem V (1748-1806). c. 1768-1769 oil paint / canvas, 141
x
101 cm Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis, The Hague, no. 462
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| | Johann Georg Ziesenis Portrait of Wilhelmina van Pruisen (1751-1820) c. 1768-1769 oil paint / canvas, 141
x
101 cm Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis, The Hague, no. 463
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According to Madsen, Peter Cramer (1726-1782) was the first Danish artist whose paintings show true Danish characteristics. It is remarkable, however, that in an attempt to overcome French taste he practiced copying Teniers and the Dutch [i][i][i]. In other words, the realism of the Dutch was once more pressed into service, this time to help a young artist find himself. The genre pictures of Cramer’s last years [i] are reminiscent of French painters working in a Dutch style, such as Drolling, Lépicié and Chardin. | | Peter Cramer Kitchen interior
(1740
- 1782)
oil paint, 33
x
27 cm Copenhagen
(Rasmussen), 1971-12-07
- 1971-12-16,
no. 71
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| | Peter Cramer Winter landscape by night 1770s oil paint / canvas, 61,5
x
78 cm SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMS6404
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| | Peter Cramer Polish soldier
(1740
- 1782)
oil paint / panel, 23,8
x
17,2 cm lower right
:
Cramer London (England)
( Manson & Woods Christie), 1987-05-08,
no. 50
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| | Peter Cramer Man smoking a pipe in an interior
(1775
- 1782)
oil paint / panel, 19,5
x
13,5 cm on the back
:
P. Cramer SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMS6154
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The work of Jens Juel (1745-1802) [i] disintegrates both stylistically and iconographically into two halves, portraits that are painted with French elegance and flower pieces in the style of Rachel Ruysch and Abraham Mignon, which often betray his Dutch schooling. Especially the early pictures (in Hamburg) show this clearly [i][i][i]. On occasion, he also painted pendants to Dutch still lifes (Copenhagen 449) [i][i]. The first landscapes also seem to incorporate reminiscences of the ‘old Dutchmen’ (Aert van der Neer) [i], which are soon lost, while the landscapes by Christian August Lorentzen (1746-1828) persistently cling to the late Dutch landscape style of Griffier-Saftleven [i][i]. | | Jens Juel Selfportrait of Jens Juel (1745-1802) 1780s black and white chalk / paper, 382
x
256 mm SMK - The Royal Collection of Graphic Art, Copenhagen, no. KKS4738
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| | Jens Juel Flower still-life 1764 oil paint / canvas, 52,5
x
39 cm lower left
:
I. Iuel pinx Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, no. 450
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| | Jens Juel Flower still-life dated 1764 oil paint / canvas, 52,5
x
39 cm lower left
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I. Iuel pinx 1764 Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, no. 451
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| | Jens Juel Flower still-life dated 1764 oil paint / canvas, 52
x
38 cm lower left
:
I. Iuel: pinxit Hamburg 1764 Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, no. 452
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| | Anonymous Still life with shells and blue anemones after c. 1660 oil paint / panel, 23,5
x
17,5 cm
SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMSsp568
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| | Jens Juel An apple, Caville rouge, and other fruits dated 1791 oil paint / panel, 23
x
17,5 cm lower right
:
Juel 1791 SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMSsp870
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| | Jens Juel Nocturnal view on the Binnenalster in Hamburg dated 1764 oil paint / panel (oak), 29,9
x
38,5 cm lower right
:
J. Juel fecit 1764 Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, no. 453
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| | Christian August Lorentzen View of Drammen in Norway 1790s oil paint / canvas, 61
x
73,5 cm SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMS920
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| | Christian August Lorentzen View from Tøyen
(1790
- 1799)
oil paint / unknown, 39
x
55 cm Oslo Museum, Oslo
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As young man, the famous Asmus Jacob Carstens (1754-1798) stood in admiration before Ovens’ historical paintings, and he also closely studied the old Dutchmen of the Moltke collection. In the Judith by the 25-year old painter, a picture in the taste of Schalcken, we encounter the result of his pursuit of a painterly style [i][i]. However, the Classicist Carstens soon headed off in other directions. We do not have a second painting of this kind by him. | | Asmus Jacob Carstens Judith and her maidservant are led to Holofernes' tent dated 1779 oil paint / panel, 81
x
60 cm lower right
:
A. J. Carstens pinx. 1779 Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover, Hannover, no. PNM 524
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| | Godefridus Schalcken Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist
(1656
- 1706)
oil paint / canvas, 114
x
83 cm Galerie Bruno Meissner, Zurich/Zollikon
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It is therefore in landscapes and still lifes that reminiscences of Dutch models are most likely to occur, even when artists such as Nicholas Thomas Dall (active 1757-1776) lean to the English school [i]. The flower painter Claudius Ditlev Fritzsch (1765-1841), who came from Kiel to become a student at the Copenhagen academy, relied entirely on Dutch traditions [i]. As with many German painters, we observe in his case as well that the Mignon-Huijsum models become rigid and hard through simplification, so that one believes oneself faced by ‘modern’ pictures by Bosschaert or Savery. Many other flower painters of the 19th century, such as Johan Laurentz Jensen (1800-1856) [i] and Otto Didrik Ottesen (1816-1892) [i], reached back to models by Van Huijsum [i][i], the uncrowned king of flower painting of all times. | | Nicholas Thomas Dall An extensive landscape with figures and cattle dated 1768 oil paint / canvas, 66
x
113,7 cm left center
:
N. J. Dall 1768 London (England)
( Manson & Woods Christie), 1990-05-18,
no. 286
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| | Claudius Ditlev Fritzsch A basket with flowers dated 1808 oil paint / canvas, 90
x
77 cm SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMS272
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| | Johan Laurentz Jensen Flower still-life dated 1827 oil paint / canvas, 35,8
x
43,4 cm lower right
:
J.L. Jensen. 1827. London (England)
(Christie's), 2009-07-08,
no. 199
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| | Otto Didrik Ottesen Flowers in a terracotta vase in a niche dated 1869 oil paint / panel, 77
x
57 cm SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMS865
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| | Otto Didrik Ottesen
after Jan van Huijsum Flower still-life in a terracotta vase and a bird's nest on a marble ledge c. 1855-1856 oil paint / canvas, 21
x
19 cm lower left
:
skitzeret kopi efter v. Huysum. O.D. Ottesen Copenhagen
(Bruun Rasmussen), 1998-12-01
- 1998-12-02,
no. 291
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| | Jan van Huijsum Flower still-life with terracotta vase c. 1723 oil paint / panel (oak), 39
x
32 cm lower left
:
Jan Van Huysum fecit Private collection
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We close the line of non-contemporary admirers of things Dutch with [Christian] David Gebauer (1777-1831), a student of Lorentzen. Though he came from Silesia, he was almost continuously active in Copenhagen. He took his horses from Wouwermans [i] and cows from Cuyp and Potter [i], and used them to compose skillfully idyllic pictures, although ‘he studied museums more than nature’ (pictures in Copenhagen). | | Christian David Gebauer Two hunters on horseback
(1800
- 1831)
oil paint / canvas, 14
x
26 cm in verso
:
Gebauer 18 SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMS796
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| | Christian David Gebauer A cattle piece 1820s oil paint / canvas, 22,5
x
28 cm in verso
:
Gebauer f 182[.] SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, no. KMS725
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