#ArtSaturday Judith Jans Leyster 1609-1660
Dutch Golden Age painterSelf-Portrait, 1633 pic.twitter.com/Xy1jZtvYUB
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Leyster’s earliest known painting is a copy of a work by artist Frans Hals: Copy of Lute PlayerLeyster’s, Copy of Hals’ Lute Player, painted before 1624
Copy of Leyster’s copy of Hals’ Lute Player, by David Bailly, 1624
Frans Hals’ Lute Player pic.twitter.com/r3NLjnioRs— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Her first known signed work was done in 1629.Boy with Grapes in his Hat, 1629 pic.twitter.com/LhnlxZsXaQ
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
She signed her work with a monogram of her initials JL with a star: Leyster is a play on “Leister,” which means “lead star.”Jolly Toper, 1629 pic.twitter.com/1ILvVmtLRs
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
“Leister” was the name of her father’s brewery, and “Leister” was the common name among seamen for the North Star. She rarely signed her work with her full name.Serenade, 1629 pic.twitter.com/E1ayLRgZcF
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Leyster specialized in portrait-like genre scenes, painting genres that were very popular in The Netherlands during the Dutch Golden Age.Merry Trio, 1629-1631 pic.twitter.com/XPLyjPbU5I
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Much of Leyster’s work is similar to that of her fellow painters during that period in that region: taverns, drinking, laughing, music-playing were all typical themes in these genres.Happy Couple (also, Carousing Couple), 1630 pic.twitter.com/86ZTD2xGDF
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Art featuring musical instruments and players was very popular.Young Lady Holding a Lute with Music (in her lap), 1630 pic.twitter.com/v08rHBxmUX
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
As did her contemporaries, Leyster painted scenes that were popular — for purchase — by the growing Dutch middle class which bought art and patronized artists to display their own wealth.Girl and Boy at a Game of Kolf, 1630 pic.twitter.com/NxXg06Ebgc
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
During the Dutch Golden Age of painting, children were often portrayed as mischievous, playful, laughing.Two Children with a Cat, 1630 pic.twitter.com/NDNntbl1Vc
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Tavern scenes were extremely popular paintings with patrons.A Game of Tric Trac, 1630 pic.twitter.com/zFrZjxeWnn
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Head of a Child, 1630-1640 pic.twitter.com/kvszJEQrSx
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Leyster’s domestic genre painting The Proposition, where a man is offering money to a married housewife, as opposed to a prostitute, for sexual favors, is a dramatic departure from most proposition paintings (a popular genre).The Proposition, 1631 pic.twitter.com/pGdLUEMfgx
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Her Self-Portrait (1633) may have been the work she submitted for consideration of acceptance into the Guild. Her Self-Portrait broke portrait tradition by showing a more relaxed pose. (Note: She would probably not have painted in that huge collar.) pic.twitter.com/gMM1F5kC5R— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Although other women were admitted into the Guild in the 17th c, they were not painters: they worked in embroidery, pottery painting, or were considered to be continuing the work of their deceased painter-husbands.Unequal Love, 1631 pic.twitter.com/33GdxqBTEt
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
The Concert, 1631 pic.twitter.com/i96lCdV8z4
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Some sources cite Leyster as the first female painter admitted and registered (1633) in the Haarlem Guild (others cite van Baalbergen, 1631).A Game of Cards, 1633 pic.twitter.com/0d60vcZ7gh
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Within 2 years of joining the Guild, Leyster had 3 male apprentices.Youth with a Jug, 1633 pic.twitter.com/vNiYrplWRE
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Leyster sued painter Frans Hals for stealing one of her apprentices: Hals took the apprentice as a student without the Guild’s permission.Portrait of a Man, 1633 pic.twitter.com/QnCNPrTWjm
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
The apprentice’s mother paid Leyster punitive damages for the loss of the apprentice: ½ of what Leyster requested in the suit.Merry Drinker, 1633 pic.twitter.com/LPV5fdFNZW
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Frans Hals paid a fine for taking Leyster’s apprentice on as a student without the Guild’s permission.Violinist with Skull (one of the classic Memento Mori [remember you will die] tropes of the period), 1633 pic.twitter.com/UO6w3nAugG
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Though the apprentice was acknowledged by everyone as having been Leyster’s before he began studying with Hals, Leyster was fined for not having officially registered that apprentice with the Guild.Portrait of a Woman, 1635 pic.twitter.com/eL9AEwSDrX
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
After the lawsuit, the apprentice did not return to studying with Leyster: he remained with Hals.Young Flute Player, 1635 pic.twitter.com/Rz6DuS6EIU
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
1936: Leyster married the prolific painter Jan Molenaer, who painted similar subjects and had a great many clients. The couple moved to Amsterdam, where Molenaer was established.Boy Playing a Violin, 1635 pic.twitter.com/2VWvoh61XN
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Leyster and Molenaer had five children. Most of Leyster’s work dates from the period before she married and had children.Still Life with Apples and Grapes in a Wicker Basket, 1635 pic.twitter.com/0ERL71GRGs
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
After her death, her entire body of work was attributed either to Frans Hals or to her husband Jan Molenaer.Boy and Girl with a Cat and an Eel, 1640 pic.twitter.com/MvN9S7ObA8
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
After her death, many of her paintings were inventoried as “the work of the wife of Molenaer” rather than under her own name.Early Brabantion (or, Brabantson) Tulip (in a book about tulips), 1643 pic.twitter.com/4U1dkenNvY
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Her distinctive signature — JL* — was discovered on several paintings in the 1890s, when her work was re-attributed to her rather than to her husband Molenaer or her Frans Hals.Flowers in a Vase, 1654 pic.twitter.com/9eLaBgnHXW
— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
#ArtSaturday Judith Leyster
Leyster died in 1660, aged 50. pic.twitter.com/HIIvivZD3e— Alexandria Szeman: There Is a House in New Orleans (@Alexandria_SZ) January 26, 2019
