Inside with dice players
BARTHOLOMEUS MOLENAER
(Haarlem? – 1650)
Oil on panel. 37,4 cm. x 48,8 cm. 14,72 in. x 19,21 in. Signed with monogram. 1640 – 45 ca.
In our work, the contrast of lights and shadows is striking. Both the characters, as the brown and ocher tones of the entire composition, remind us of Adriaen van Ostade. Also noteworthy is the note of blue in the jacket of one of the villagers, which stands out with the monochromatic tone of the whole painting.
B.MOLENAER Koller Gallery, Zurich
Prominent Dutch artist who specialized in genre scenes. By analyzing the documents and information from that time, it is known that in 1640 he became part of the Guild of Saint Luke of Haarlem. It is also known that in 1646, the artist lived in Haarlem with his brother Jan Miense Molenaer, who was a very well-known interior painter of that period. Some of Molenaer’s works are very similar to Adrian van Ostade’s early works. Bartholomeus Molenaer’s compositions are very special; he created numerous rustic interiors with farmers in which the viewer can see crude looking men and women dancing, drinking, and enjoying themselves in the tavern. Like most Dutch artists of the 17th century, the painter tends to always use brown, ocher, and tawny colors. This color palette allows Molenaer to create very realistic scenes in which the figures are highlighted in the foreground. It is also common for the artist to repeat in his works a composition in which he features a village school, usually a barn with kids that look like little gnomes. It is very common for these types of works to be attributed to Adriaen van Ostade.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Walther Bernt, The Netherlandish Painters of the Deventeenth Century, Vol. 2 p.80, plate 776.
- E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs,dessinateurs et graveurs, 1999, Vol. 9 p.714.
- D.P. Waller, Jan Miense Molenaer (c. 1609/16710-1668). The life and art of a seventeenth-century Dutch painter, dissertatie University of Maryland, College Park 1992, p. 330-332.
- Thieme/Becker 1907-1950 , dl. 25 (1931), p. 30.
PROVENANCE
- Collection Vermunt, Berlin Wassenaar 1943 ca.
- Collection J. Schroff.
- Private collection, Turin, Italy.
- Gallery Luigi Caretto, Turin, Italy.
EXHIBITIONS
- 48ª Mostra Maestri Fiamminghi ed Olandesi del XVI-XVII Secolo, Galería Luigi Caretto, Turin. November 2 to December 1, 2004.
- Madrid, Gallery Soraya Cartategui, Feriarte, November 2016.
MUSEUMS
B. Molenaer’s works can be found in many museums around the world including: Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum), Saint Petersburg (Hermitage), Mannheim (City Museum).