Willem Drost
Encyclopedia
Willem Drost was a Dutch Golden Age
painter
and printmaker of history painting
s and portraits who died young.
He was presumably born at Amsterdam
, in what was then known as the United Provinces
of the Netherlands, but when and where is unknown. Around 1650, according to Houbraken
, he became a student of Rembrandt, eventually developing a close working relationship, painting history scenes, biblical compositions, symbolic studies of a solitary figure, as well as portraits. As a student, his 1654 painting titled Bathsheba was inspired by Rembrandt's painting done in the same year on the same subject and given the same title, though their treatments are rather different; both Drost’s and Rembrandt’s paintings are in the Louvre
in Paris
.
According to Houbraken he was a painter of historical allegories who had been a pupil of Rembrandt. Houbraken saw a Johannes Predicatie (Sermon of John) by him that was well composed and painted. He spent a long period in Rome where he became friends with Karel Lot
and the well-to-do Utrecht painter Joan vander Meer
, who had travelled to Italy in the company of the marine painter Lieve Verschuier
in 1653 and became friends with him there.
According to the RKD he was in Amsterdam until 1655 and then travelled to Italy. He influenced the painter Adolf Boy.
Sometime in the mid 1650s, the young artist went to Rome
, where, again according to Houbraken, he collaborated with the German artist Johann Carl Loth
on a lost series of the Four Evangelists
in Venice
. He died in the latter city in 1659.
Willem Drost's recognized lifetime output of artwork is very small, while Rembrandt is credited with more than 2,000 paintings and etchings, the majority of which are not signed. In recent years, some paintings attributed to Rembrandt have had their authenticity come under question. The importance of these Rembrandt works is such that the Foundation Rembrandt Research Project
was established in Amsterdam to review the attribution of all of his works. Scholars have now reattributed a number of Rembrandt's paintings to his pupils and associates.
Drost was one of Rembrandt's most talented disciples, so much so that his 1654 painting titled: Portrait of a Young Woman with her Hands Folded on a Book was one of the ones attributed to Rembrandt for more than 300 years. As well, when the portrait of a young man on horseback titled The Polish Rider
was discovered in 1897 it too was attributed to Rembrandt. Acquired by New York City
's Frick Collection
, The Polish Rider is one of the Frick Museum's most valued treasures. For years, the painting's subject matter and purpose was questioned by many scholars, led by the renowned expert Julius Held in 1944. Starting in 1984, in a movement led by Dr. Josua Bruyn of the Foundation Rembrandt Research Project, some began to believe this great painting may also be that of Willem Drost as may be several others. The Frick Collection has not changed the attribution, and today it is generally believed that Rembrandt initiated the painting but had others help him finish it. These attributions remain controversial, but a reattribution of a group of "Rembrandt" drawings to Drost is more widely accepted.
Other paintings, date and owner to be determined:
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and printmaker of history painting
History painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
s and portraits who died young.
Biography
He is a mysterious figure, closely associated with Rembrandt, with very few paintings clearly attributable to him.He was presumably born at Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam 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...
, in what was then known as the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
of the Netherlands, but when and where is unknown. Around 1650, according to Houbraken
Houbraken
Houbraken may refer to:*Arnold Houbraken , Dutch biographer of artists, and engraver*Jacobus Houbraken , Dutch engraver, son of Arnold Houbraken...
, he became a student of Rembrandt, eventually developing a close working relationship, painting history scenes, biblical compositions, symbolic studies of a solitary figure, as well as portraits. As a student, his 1654 painting titled Bathsheba was inspired by Rembrandt's painting done in the same year on the same subject and given the same title, though their treatments are rather different; both Drost’s and Rembrandt’s paintings are in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
According to Houbraken he was a painter of historical allegories who had been a pupil of Rembrandt. Houbraken saw a Johannes Predicatie (Sermon of John) by him that was well composed and painted. He spent a long period in Rome where he became friends with Karel Lot
Johann Carl Loth
Johann Carl Loth was a German Baroque painter, born in Munich but active most of his life in Venice.-Biography:He is also called Johann Karl, Karel, Carlotto, and Carlo Lotti. According to Houbraken he was one of three grand masters of art called "Karel" Johann Carl Loth (1632 – October 6, 1698)...
and the well-to-do Utrecht painter Joan vander Meer
Jan Vermeer van Utrecht
Jan Vermeer van Utrecht , was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Though he was born near Delft, there is no known relation between this painter and Johannes Vermeer.-Biography:...
, who had travelled to Italy in the company of the marine painter Lieve Verschuier
Lieve Verschuier
Lieve Pietersz Verschuier was a Dutch Golden Age painter of maritime subjects.-Biography:He was born in Rotterdam, and is documented in Amsterdam in 1651, where he possibly learned to paint from Simon de Vlieger. He traveled to Rome in 1653 as a young man with Jan Vermeer van Utrecht and became...
in 1653 and became friends with him there.
According to the RKD he was in Amsterdam until 1655 and then travelled to Italy. He influenced the painter Adolf Boy.
Sometime in the mid 1650s, the young artist went to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where, again according to Houbraken, he collaborated with the German artist Johann Carl Loth
Johann Carl Loth
Johann Carl Loth was a German Baroque painter, born in Munich but active most of his life in Venice.-Biography:He is also called Johann Karl, Karel, Carlotto, and Carlo Lotti. According to Houbraken he was one of three grand masters of art called "Karel" Johann Carl Loth (1632 – October 6, 1698)...
on a lost series of the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. He died in the latter city in 1659.
Willem Drost's recognized lifetime output of artwork is very small, while Rembrandt is credited with more than 2,000 paintings and etchings, the majority of which are not signed. In recent years, some paintings attributed to Rembrandt have had their authenticity come under question. The importance of these Rembrandt works is such that the Foundation Rembrandt Research Project
Rembrandt Research Project
The Rembrandt Research Project is an initiative of the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek , which is the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Its purpose is to organize and categorize research on Rembrandt, with the aim of discovering new facts about this Dutch...
was established in Amsterdam to review the attribution of all of his works. Scholars have now reattributed a number of Rembrandt's paintings to his pupils and associates.
Legacy
The Polish Rider
The Polish Rider is a 1655 painting of a man traveling on horseback through a murky landscape, now in the Frick Collection in New York. When the painting was bought by Henry Frick in 1910, there was consensus that the work was by 17th-century Dutch painter Rembrandt...
was discovered in 1897 it too was attributed to Rembrandt. Acquired by New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Frick Collection
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is an art museum located in Manhattan, New York City, United States.- History :It is housed in the former Henry Clay Frick House, which was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913-1914. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt...
, The Polish Rider is one of the Frick Museum's most valued treasures. For years, the painting's subject matter and purpose was questioned by many scholars, led by the renowned expert Julius Held in 1944. Starting in 1984, in a movement led by Dr. Josua Bruyn of the Foundation Rembrandt Research Project, some began to believe this great painting may also be that of Willem Drost as may be several others. The Frick Collection has not changed the attribution, and today it is generally believed that Rembrandt initiated the painting but had others help him finish it. These attributions remain controversial, but a reattribution of a group of "Rembrandt" drawings to Drost is more widely accepted.
Selected works
- 1651: Ruth and Naomi on the road to Bethlehem - Ashmolean MuseumAshmolean MuseumThe Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
, OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England - 1652: Self Portrait of the Artist
- 1653: Portrait of a Man - (Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
); - 1653: Portrait of a Woman - Museum BrediusMuseum BrediusMuseum Bredius is a museum named after Abraham Bredius on the Lange Vijverberg in The Hague. It is remarkable for its collection of etchings and paintings, but is most attractive to visitors for its accurate restoration of the 18th-century Herenhuis interior with period furnishings.-History:The...
, The HagueThe HagueThe Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
; - 1653:The Philosopher - National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC;
- c.1654: Portrait of a Young Woman - The Wallace Collection, 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...
; - 1654: Portrait of a Young Woman with her Hands Folded on a Book - National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery, LondonThe National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
, England; - 1654: Portrait of an Officer in a Red Beret - David Findlay Galleries, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- 1654: Bathsheba - LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; - c.1655: Portrait d’homme feuilletant un livre, LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; - 1655: The Unmerciful Servant - The Wallace Collection, London, England;
- 1655: "Flute Player" - Private CollectionPrivate CollectionPrivate Collection may refer to:* Private collection, a privately owned collection of works, usually a collection of art* Private Collection , 1983* Private Collection , 2008...
, Germany - 1655: Bust of man wearing a large-brimmed hat - (c.1655), National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, Dublin, Ireland; - c.1656 Young Man with a Flute - ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
: Private Collection - c.1657: Old Woman Teaching a Child - Hermitage MuseumHermitage MuseumThe State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
, St. Petersburg, Russia - c.1658: Boy with a Recorder - Galleria Palatina, 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....
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; - c.1659 L'écaillère - LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; - c.1659: Mercury and Argus: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen – Gemäldegalerie Alte MeisterGemäldegalerie Alte MeisterThe Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden features major works of art. It is located in the gallery wing of the Zwinger....
, DresdenDresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Germany; - 1659: St. Matthew and the Angel - North Carolina Museum of ArtNorth Carolina Museum of ArtThe North Carolina Museum of Art is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina, featuring paintings and sculpture representing 5,000 years of artistic work from antiquity to the present. The museum features more than 40 galleries as well as more than a dozen works of art in its Museum Park...
, Raleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh... - c.1659: Abraham Casting Out Hagar & Ishmael - Guilford CollegeGuilford CollegeGuilford College, founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends , is an independent college whose stated mission is to: provide a transformative, practical and excellent liberal arts education that produces critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment, guided by Quaker...
Collection, Greensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S... - c.1650: Self Portrait of the Artist as John the Evangelist, Bader Collection, Milwaukee;
Other paintings, date and owner to be determined:
- Portrait d'une dame à sa fenêtre
- Young Man, Half-Length Seated, in a Red Jacket and Broad-Brimmed Cap
- Saint-John the Evangelist in a Landscape
- A Young Woman, Bust Length, Wearing Traditional Costume
- A soldier, buckling his belt, a helmet on a table nearby
- Bildnis eines Geographen mit Zirkel, Winkelmass und Globus (attributed to Willem Drost)