| Article number: | 9040086761 |
| Availability: | In stock |
| Delivery time: | 14-21 Business Days |
The Brussels-born painter Michael Sweerts pursued his extraordinarily varied career in Italy, Flanders, Holland, and the Far East. One of the most creative yet reticent artists of the Baroque period, he painted low-live figures from the streets of Rome, dandies, rich merchants, and exotic Orientals, as well as bathers and wrestlers. The monumental stillness of his genre scenes, the evocative quality of his pictures of artists studios, and the unusual scrutiny he brings to his character studies set him apart from his contemporaries both in Italy and northern Europe. His haunting evocations of adolescent beauty are often compared to Vermeer.
Virtually unknown at the beginning of the 20th century, Sweerts is now one of the most sought-after painters of his epoch. This book reveals all his various facets through a selection of the very best paintings from his oeuvre, and also contains a full account of the 21 remarkable etchings he produced in Brussels in the late 1650s. Technical studies and new archival research provide valuable insights into the life and working methods of this enigmatic artist whose powerful and finely executed images continue to intrigue both specialists and art-lovers alike.
"Michael Sweerts, a Flemish painter of portraits, genre scenes, and religious subjects, also directed an art academy in Rome, traveled in Europe and Asia, and spoke several languages. Almost completely forgotten after his death, he was rediscovered by art historians early in the twentieth century. This volume, the fruit of prodigious scholarship and the print companion to a touring exhibit originating at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, describes Sweerts' life and times, and reproduces roughly 50 of his paintings in full color, many of his prints, and work by several contemporaries. Containing much new information, it is sure to be the authoritative source on Sweerts for a long time to come. Known for his piety, Sweerts painted both rich and poor, always respected the humanity of his subjects, and never sentimentalized or idealized them, and his rendering of human anatomy comes from Greek and Roman statuary, which art students studied in those days. A welcome discovery, Sweerts' work bespeaks a gentle, generous spirit" - Victor Cassidy Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
"This first monograph in English on 17th-century Dutch painter Sweerts (1624-64) accompanied a touring exhibit of his paintings in Amsterdam, San Francisco, and Hartford, CT... Reminiscent of his contemporary Vermeer but much less well known today, Sweerts painted sensitive portraits, genre scenes, and religious paintings that invoke both the personal qualities of his subjects and the contrast of light and dark. Essays by prominent scholars discuss the artist's materials and methods, the fragmentary evidence about his life, Rome in the mid-1600s, and the acquisition of Sweerts paintings by American collections. - Kathryn Wekselman, M.L.n., Cincinnati Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. Library Journal.
