Sophie Ploeg

Johannes Verspronck, A Young Lady, 1637 National Trust, Tyntesfield, The Gibbs Collection, North Somersert On a recent visit to Tyntesfield House (owned by the National Trust) I came across a painting by the Dutch 17th century master Johannes Verspronck (ca. 1600-1662). If you have read my blog before you might well know I admire Verspronck’s paintings enormously. I have hope that his delicate and subtle paintings will perhaps one day come together in an exhibition and book as there is little literature on him or his work. Only as recent as 2011 did the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem acquire a number of paintings by this Haarlem master - they now own a proud 10 pieces. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam owns a further 8. Many, many other pieces are scattered all over the globe. According to the brilliant website BBC Your Paintings there are 5 paintings by his hand in the UK, including the Tyntesfield one. Not all are convincingly by Verspronck, however, although the Ashmolean Museum piec...

Detail of Johannes Verspronck, Portrait of Willemina van Braeckel, 1637. Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem My recent trip to the Netherlands included a visit to the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. This lovely museum in a seemingly quiet small 17th century street just outside the centre of town is just a delight to walk to. The town of Haarlem still shows an abundance in 17th century - Golden Age - streets and houses and so when you enter the little street where the Frans Hals Museum is you are already in proper 17th century mood. Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem

A quickie to break the series of long posts....it is a late night,  I am reading on Rembrandt and Johannes Verspronck. Here is a detail from Verspronck's ' Regentesses of the Haarlem Orphanage ', 1642. Frans Hals Museum , Haarlem, The Netherlands. She looks so calm, almost regal, yet so lifelike. Her collar is the brightest white yet her stare is what grabs you. Perhaps it is the only colour in the black and white composition that makes you focus on rosy cheeks' liveliness. She is young, but not so young as to be naive and has a steadfast maternal glance. Her collar is perfect and fine, neatly painted but finished with soft edges. Her gown sober and neat. She doesn't smile yet looks friendly. The brush strokes seem to echo this in their neat but soft approach. Johannes Verspronck, detail of "Regentesses of the Haarlem Orphanage" 1642 Frans Hals Museum Haarlem, The Netherlands