Gerard de Lairesse

Gerard de Lairesse

Gerard de Lairesse (Liège, 1640 or 1641 – Amsterdam, 1711), also Gérard de Lairesse, was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist. His treatises on painting and drawing, "Grondlegginge der teekenkonst" (1701) and "Het groot schilderboeck" (1707), were highly influential on 18th Century painters like Jacob de Wit. Students of de Lairesse included the painter Jan van Mieris.

Born in Liège in present-day Belgium, Gerard de Lairesse studied art under Bertholet Flemnale and his father Renier Lairesse. In 1664 he was forced to flee Liège after a love affair gone wrong. He moved north to Utrecht in the Dutch Republic. When his talent was discovered by art dealer Gerrit van Uylenburgh, he relocated to Amsterdam in 1667.

At first, he was highly influenced by Rembrandt, but later he focused on a more classical, allegorically-themed, French-oriented style similar to Nicolas Poussin. The French even nicknamed him the "Dutch Poussin".

In the second half of the 17th Century, the pious austerity and embarrassment of riches of the Dutch in Rembrandt's age had given way to unbridled opulence, even decadence, and de Lairesse's classical French style fitted this age perfectly. It made him one of, if not "the" most popular painter in Amsterdam. He was frequently hired to adorn the interiors of government buildings and homes of wealthy Amsterdam businessmen with lavish trompe l'oeil ceiling and wall paintings.

De Lairesse was a versatile artist who also:
* made a set of illustrations for Govert Bidloo's anatomical atlas "Anatomia Humani Corporis" (1685) .
* painted doors for the organ of the Westerkerk church in Amsterdam.
* painted sets for the Amsterdam theatre.
* painted a portrait of the Dutch stadholder and king of England, William III.

Well-known paintings by de Lairesse include his "Allegory of the Five Senses" (1668), "Diana and Endymion" (ca. 1680) and "Cleopatra Landing at Tarsus".

De Lairesse suffered from congenital syphilis, which caused him to go blind in 1690. The misformed nose which the disease gave him is clearly visible on the portrait which Rembrandt painted of him around 1665. After losing his sight, de Lairesse was forced to give up painting and focused instead on lecturing and writing on art. His books "Grondlegginge der teekenkonst" ("Foundations of Drawing"), published in 1701, and "Het groot schilderboeck" ("Great Book of Painting"), published in 1710, were to have a great influence on 18th Century painters like Jacob de Wit.

In "Het groot schilderboeck", de Lairesse was scathing of Dutch Golden Age painters like Rembrandt and Frans Hals because they often portrayed everyday scenes and ordinary people such as soldiers, farmers, maids, and even beggars. In de Lairesse's view, painting ought to show lofty biblical, mythological and historical scenes.

Works by de Lairesse are on display at many museums around the world, including the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Historical Museum in Amsterdam, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Gallery in London.

In the Binnenhof (now the seat of the Dutch parliament) in The Hague, a hall which he decorated in 1688 is named after him. A street in Amsterdam is also named after him.



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gerard de Lairesse — Gérard de Lairesse Gérard de Lairesse Gérard de Lairesse. Portrait par Rembrandt (1665). Naissance baptisé le 11 septembre 1641 Liège …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gérard De Lairesse — Gérard de Lairesse. Portrait par Rembrandt (1665). Naissance baptisé le 11 septembre 1641 Liège …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gérard de Lairesse — Gérard de Lairesse. Portrait par Rembrandt (1665). Naissance bapt …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gérard de lairesse — Gérard de Lairesse. Portrait par Rembrandt (1665). Naissance baptisé le 11 septembre 1641 Liège …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gérard de Lairesse — retratado por Rembrandt (Metropolitan Museum de Nueva York). Gérard de Lairesse (Lieja, 11 de septiembre de 1640 – La Haya, junio de 1711) fue un pintor y teórico holandés de estilo clasicista, último maestro relevante del …   Wikipedia Español

  • Gérard de Lairesse — Gerard de Lairesse, portraitiert von Rembrandt van Rijn Gerard de Lairesse (* 11. September 1640 oder 1641 in Lüttich; † vor 28. Juni 1711 in Amsterdam) war ein niederländischer Maler, Radierer und Mezzotintostecher. De Lairesse, Schüler s …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gerard de Lairesse — Gerard de Lairesse, portraitiert von Rembrandt van Rijn Gerard de Lairesse (* 11. September 1640 oder 1641 in Lüttich; † vor 28. Juni 1711 in Amsterdam) war ein niederländischer Maler, Radierer und Mezzotintostecher …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • LAIRESSE (G. de) — LAIRESSE GÉRARD DE (1640 1711) Membre le plus connu de toute une dynastie de peintres liégeois, Gérard de Lairesse, filleul de Gérard Douffet et frère de trois autres peintres, fut influencé par son père Reynier (env. 1597 1667) qui avait conquis …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Lairesse —   [lɛ rɛs], Gérard de, niederländischer Maler, * Lüttich 11. 9. 1641, ✝ begraben Amsterdam 28. 7. 1711; war ab 1665 in Amsterdam tätig, wo er unter dem Einfluss des französischen Classicisme (besonders N. Poussin) historische und mythologische… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Lairesse — (spr. Läreß), Gerard de L., geb. 1640 in Lüttich, Historienmaler, Schüler seines Vaters, dann Bertholet Flemacis, kam 1660 nach Berlin u. lebte dann meist zu Utrecht u. zu Amsterdam, wo er 1711 erblindet starb. In seinen Compositionen herrscht… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”