Hendrik Gerritsz Pot
Encyclopedia
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
painter. He lived and painted in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, where he was an officer of the militia, or schutterij
Schutterij
Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the...
. Dutch artist Frans Hals
Frans Hals
Frans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...
painted Pot in militia sash in Hals' The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company (c. 1639). Pot is the man reading a book on the far right.
Biography
Pot was born in Amsterdam and spent his early years in Amsterdam and Haarlem. In 1632 he traveled to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he painted the Royal Family. He lived from 1633 to 1648 in Haarlem, after which he moved to Amsterdam, where he died in 1657.. He served as Dean of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke
Haarlem Guild of St. Luke
The Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke was first a Christian, and later a city Guild for a large number of trades falling under the patron saints Luke the Evangelist and Saint Eligius.-History:...
in 1626, 1630 and 1635. He served as the Guild's headman or Hoofdman in 1634 and 1648. He died in Amsterdam.
Works and style
Pot was probably a pupil of Karel van Mander, as was Hals, and they influenced each other. Pot’s paintings were sometimes allegorical in subject and he also painted group schutter portraits, such as the 1630 group portrait, Officers of the Civic Guard of Saint Adrian (shown). He was also influenced by painter and engraver Willem Buytewech.Pot was commissioned in London to paint portraits of King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
and Queen Henrietta Maria in 1632; the results now hang in the Royal Collection in London.
Pot’s style in genre scenes became known as ‘Merry Company’’ genre paintings. This included his 1635 piece, Portrait of a Young Woman, and a companion piece, now lost, as well as his 1630 piece, A Merry Company at Table. Both these paintings contain several objects considered sensual symbolism. A Merry Company at Table was set in a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
, a popular theme in Dutch Genre style.
The latter piece also contains a common theme addressed in Pot’s works; beauty, age and death. This theme culminates in his well-known piece Allegory of Vanitas, usually referred to simply as Vanity, and which also contains motifs and symbols of sensual love. Other well-known Pot works are A Startling Introduction, The Coin Collector and Flora’s Wagon of Fools (shown), in which he poked fun at the fledgling tulip
Tulip
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
trade in Haarlem, where for a short while the floral was sold by weight.
His more standard, though still stylish, portrait works include his Portrait of Sir Robert Phelips and his works of the King and Queen of England.
Selected works
- 1630 - Officers of the Civic Guard of St Adrian (Frans Halsmuseum, HaarlemHaarlemHaarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
) - 1630 - A Merry Company at Table (National Gallery, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) - 1630 - Portrait of a Man (Rijksmuseum AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
) - 1632 - A Startling Introduction (Royal Collection, London)
- 1632 - Charles I, Henrietta Maria and the Prince of Wales (The Royal Collection, London)
- 1632 - Portrait of Sir Robert Phelips (National Portrait Gallery, London)
- 1633 - Allegory of Vanitas or Vanity (Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem)
- 1635-1640 - Woman Seated at a Table (Vanitas) (Museum of Fine Arts, BostonMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
- xxxx - N. Inv 1284 (State Museum of Florence)
- 1635 - Portrait of a Young Woman (Liechtenstein Museum, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
) - 1637 - Flora's Wagon of Fools (Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem)
- 1638 - Portrait of a Woman (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam)
- 1639 - Admiral Maarten Harpertz Tromp (Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, Antwerp)
- 1640 - The Miser (Uffizi Gallery, FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
) - 1650 - The Painter in his Studio (Gemeente Musea, DelftDelftDelft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
) - 1655 - The Coin Collector (Indianapolis Museum of Art, IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
)