Synopses & Reviews
Jan Lievens (1607and#150;1674) was one of the most fascinating and enigmatic Dutch artists of the 17th century. Daring and innovative as a painter, printmaker, and draftsman, he created powerful character studies, genre scenes, landscapes, formal portraits, and religious and allegorical images that were widely praised and valued during his lifetime. This beautiful book, the first overview of the full range of Lievensand#8217; career, features more than 50 paintingsand#151;many of them newly discovered in private collectionsand#151;and more than 75 prints and drawings, providing a reassessment of his place in the history of art.
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Lievens began his career in his native Leiden, where he worked closely with his compatriot Rembrandt, who admired and collected Lievensand#8217; works. Lievens then moved to London, Antwerp, and Amsterdam, and his peripatetic career and multitude of working styles, say the authors of this book, may explain why his reputation today is not as high as it should be. This book offers a necessary corrective, returning to Lievens the esteem he deserves.
Review
"Jan Lievens finally gives the neglected artist his due. . . . [The] catalogue represents the most substantive publication in English on his work."and#8212;Art and Antiques
Review
"This comprehensive illustrated study . . . brings Lievens out from under the shadow of his close friend and associate Rembrandt. . . . Wheelock argues that in some ways, Lievens was the leader and Rembrandt the follower during the early phase of their careers."and#8212; Art and Antiques
Review
"Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered . . . takes a major step forward in acknowledging the artist as a self-aware, creative mind. . . . This catalogue is comprehensive in its synthesis of past and recent scholarship, thus rendering itself indispensable in the recovery of this son of Leiden."and#8212;Jacquelyn N. Coutrand#233;, Renaissance Quarterly
Synopsis
Jan Lievens (1607-1674) was one of the most fascinating and enigmatic Dutch artists of the 17th century. Daring and innovative as a painter, printmaker, and draftsman, he created powerful character studies, genre scenes, landscapes, formal portraits, and religious and allegorical images that were widely praised and valued during his lifetime. This beautiful book, the first overview of the full range of Lievens' career, features more than 50 paintings--many of them newly discovered in private collections--and more than 75 prints and drawings, providing a reassessment of his place in the history of art.
Lievens began his career in his native Leiden, where he worked closely with his compatriot Rembrandt, who admired and collected Lievens' works. Lievens then moved to London, Antwerp, and Amsterdam, and his peripatetic career and multitude of working styles, say the authors of this book, may explain why his reputation today is not as high as it should be. This book offers a necessary corrective, returning to Lievens the esteem he deserves.
About the Author
Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., is curator of Northern baroque painting at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and professor of art history at the University of Maryland.