Verspronck’s Style Development in his Portraiture
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| Johannes Verspronck, A Young Lady, 1637 National Trust, Tyntesfield, The Gibbs Collection, North Somersert |
To many viewers, his paintings might look alike. Portraits of men and women, often with a dark brown background, wearing black clothing and a fabulous snow-white ruff. There are a few exceptions of course, but the majority of Verspronck’s pieces are indeed like this. But they are so much more. The delicacy of his brush strokes is truly beautiful and contrasts so starkly with his better known contemporary, colleague, competitor and fellow townsman Frans Hals. But we should not dismiss Verspronck for his lack of expressionistic brushwork. He offers the Haarlem burghers a different product; a more quiet, still and refined portrait.
The portrait in Tyntesfield House in Somerset is an early work. Dating from 1637 it shows an unknown lady. Her face is painted very fine, delicate and smooth.
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| Johannes Verspronck, A Young Lady (detail), 1637 National Trust, Tyntesfield, The Gibbs Collection, North Somerset |
Throughout Verspronck’s quiet but prolific career his painting style would develop and mature. The smoothness of his brushwork gives way to more confident marks that have lost nothing of its delicacy. Here is a detail of an early portrait of a boy from 1634:
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| Johannes Verspronck, Portrait of a Young Boy (detail) , 1634 Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille |
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| Johannes Verspronck, Portrait of Willemina van Braeckel, 1637 (detail) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
This detail of a portrait from 1641 shows a growing confidence in leaving brush marks visible
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| Johannes Verspronck, Portrait of a Man (detail), 1641 Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Johannes Verspronck, Portrait of Maria van Strijp (detail), 1652 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam |
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| Johannes Verspronck, Portrait of Man (detail), 1653 Private Collection. Image: Eldred’s Auctioneers |
Verspronck’s Style Development
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The Lace Maker
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I can’t say that I’m familiar with Verspronck’s works, but looking closely at the pics in your post, it’s clear that all of his portraits are exquisite and delicate, even his latter works. The paintings span across 16 years.
ReplyDeleteDo you think, if I can ask, that later in life Verspronck knew he was established and realized he could “get away” with less work, visible brush strokes, and that it wasn’t necessarily that his confidence grew or his style evolved? Of course his style and confidence developed with time, but I say this because blending takes longer to finish a painting, any painting.
Hi Joseph, thanks for thinking along! I am not sure, to tell you the truth. Not much is known about Verspronck so all we can do is guess. Eloquent brush work is very difficult to pull off, done right. So it might have been development and confidence, but it could also be a sign of fashion - other painters worked more painterly and he might have followed suit, although earlier in his career he obviously chose not do that. I can’t imagine it was his ‘fame’ that made him sloppy - as his clients will have demanded a certain level. Also, the later paintings do not look like fast work he could ‘get away’ with. The strokes are well thought out, the colour mixed and chosen carefully. All I can think of is that he changed his style to follow reigning taste or his own taste....
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