Self-Portrait

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Self-Portrait

Artist Bartholomeus van der Helst (Dutch, 1613-1670)

Place of OriginNetherlands

Date1655

Dimensions38 x 39 in. (96.5 x 99 cm.)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1976.12

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 23

Label TextLeaning casually on a stone baluster in a wooded park, this man displays all the attributes of a gentleman of leisure. The sumptuous velvet, gold cord, and flamboyant lace sleeves proclaim his wealth and taste. The open collar with cords and tassels hanging loose was the height of chic. Bartholomeus van der Helst’s elegant style and smoothly rendered technique made him the most sought-after portraitist in Amsterdam in the mid-1600s, even eclipsing Rembrandt. He often presented his merchant-class clients in a countryside setting that implied land ownership outside the city. Such country dwellings carried implications of noble status—the ultimate goal of many wealthy townspeople. To underline this association with aristocracy, the man points to a hunting dog. Hunting was a pastime traditionally restricted to the nobility. Since the Renaissance, artists too had aspired to the status of gentleman, seeking to distance their profession from common labor. The similarity of the man in this painting to known self-portraits by Van der Helst strongly suggests that this also depicts the artist himself.Published Referencesvan Gelder, J.J., Bartholomeus van der Helst, Rotterdam, 1921, nos. 176, 527 (probably identical with nos. 285, 290 and 347).

van Hall, H., Portretten van Nederlandse Beeldende Kunstenaars, Amsterdam, 1963, p. 134, no. 5.

The Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 75, pl. 101.

"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 19, no. 2 & 3, 1976, p. 64, repr.

"La chronique des arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 89, no. 1298, Mar. 1977, repr. p. 49, no. 195.

Schulze, Frans, "A Consistently Discriminating Connoisseurship," Art News, vol. 76, no. 4, Apr. 1977, p. 67.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 174, repr. (col.).

Exhibition HistoryMadrid, 1921.

Eindhoven, Stedelijk van Abbe Museum, 1949-1952.

Schiedam, Stedelijk Museum, 1952, no. 30.

Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, 1953.

Rome, Palazzo degli Esposizioni, Le XVIIème siècle europèen, 1956, no. 130.

Arnhem, Gemeentemuseum, 1960, no. 22, fig. 39.

Mauritshuis, The Hague; San Francisco, The Fine Arts Museums, Great Dutch Paintings from America, 1990-1991, no. 29, pp. 269-272, repr. (col.) p. 268.