Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A reevaluation of Gabriel Metsu, one of the leading genre painters of the Dutch Golden Age



Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667) employed an unusual variety of styles, techniques, and subjects, making him a particularly difficult artist to characterize. From his early days in Leiden until his death in Amsterdam at the height of his career, his unparalleled mastery of the brush allowed him to paint a remarkable range of history paintings, portraits, still lifes, but most of all, exquisite genre paintings. And whatever his subject matter, his work reveals an unrivalled talent for imbuing figures with a human and personable character.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Metsu held a place as one of the most celebrated painters of the Dutch Golden Age, and his works were acquired for noble collections throughout Europe, while his contemporary Johannes Vermeer was almost unheard of. In the 20th century their positions were reversed as Vermeer's reputation soared. This enlightening book resituates Metsu as one of the leading genre painters of his time. It offers a portrait of the age through his patrons and his wide network of contacts and colleagues in Amsterdam, as well as analysis of Metsu's technique as a draftsman and as a painter, and it documents the fashions and fabrics of the time through his work.

Published in association with the National Gallery of Ireland

Exhibition Schedule:

National Gallery, Dublin 09/04/10 - 12/05/10

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 12/16/10 - 03/21/11

National Gallery of Art, Washington 04/17/11 - 07/24/11

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Though not as well known now, Gabriel Metsu was a contemporary of Vermeer and a superstar in his day. Waiboer, curator of northern European art at the National Galley of Ireland, attempts to re-create a taste for this artist, who fell out of favor along with other Dutch masters during the 1960s. Waiboer builds a sound structure for an exploration into the Zeitgeist of Metsu as a master of the golden age of Dutch art. He revisits the reasons Metsu matters-he influenced and was influenced by other artists of his day, his work was purchased by contemporaries who were collectors, and his paintings were sought after posthumously. His paintings show trends in hygiene, beauty, clothing styles, and household objects, and street market scenes reveal daily life. Metsu is a "painter's painter" who used a variety of brush strokes and techniques. Unfortunately, brush work is hard to appreciate via reproductions in a book. VERDICT A nice, single-study monograph to supplement a broader work such as Frederik J. Duparc's Golden: Dutch and Flemish Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection. This will appeal to readers interested in Dutch art.-Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

This excellent book accompanies the exhibition of paintings by Gabriel Metsu at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Metsu produced many lively, beautifully painted views of everyday Dutch life in the 17th century, often reminiscent of Vermeer, Terborch, and other contemporaries. The first extensive examination of the artist's work since 1974 (Gabriel Metsu by F. Robinson, CH, Jun'75), and the first exhibition since 1966, this volume does full justice to this highly attractive artist. Waiboer, the National Gallery of Ireland curator whose forthcoming book on Metsu will become the standard text, has organized this project and contributed two essays to it. He has brought together outstanding experts to write about different aspects of Metsu's work: the upper-middle-class world he loved to depict, his street markets, the early owners of his paintings, the costumes (and cosmetics) of the women he paints, his actual painting technique, and the two or three surviving drawings that may be by him. An excellent bibliography, index, chronology, and, above all, 150 magnificent color reproductions (plus many details) make this work a model publication of its kind. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. F. W. Robinson Cornell University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Adriaan E. Waiboer is Curator of Northern European Art at the National Gallery of Ireland.