©2011 Wendy Garland Streule ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2011 Wendy Garland Streule ALL RIGHTS RESERVED OBJECTS OF DESIRE: CASE STUDIES IN THE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF EROTIC IMAGES IN THE DUTCH GOLDEN AGE By WENDY GARLAND STREULE A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Art History written under the direction of Catherine Puglisi and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey January 2011 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Objects of Desire: Case Studies in the Production and Consumption of Erotic Images in the Dutch Golden Age By WENDY GARLAND STREULE Dissertation Director: Catherine Puglisi This dissertation is an investigation into the place and purpose of eroticism in seventeenth-century Dutch art. Sexualized iconography was certainly not uncommon in this period; much of it has become familiar fare to modern scholars and viewers. What is significantly less understood, though no less frequent in occurrence, are images that are erotic in and of themselves. It is my thesis that there exists a larger body of erotic visual material than has been heretofore acknowledged. Drawing attention to the existence of imagery concerned encouraging a direct erotic response facilitates a reconstruction of the place of erotic imagery in seventeenth-century Holland. This study analyzes the material in an effort to create a new context for the reception of these cultural artifacts and works to highlight how canonical prejudices have encouraged scholars and viewers to see these objects as peripheral to the artistic product of the Dutch Golden Age. Questions concerned with audience, market pressures, artistic aspirations, the relationship between a theme and its form and meaning are addressed through close readings of nine primary case studies. The subjects of these examples are drawn from ii almost every category, ranging from genre subjects to pastoral themes. This diversity is suggestive of a higher threshold of tolerance for suggestive imagery than was previously assumed for this culture. As each chapter demonstrates, these nine examples are but a fraction of images that privilege a visual rather than a thematic or didactic eroticism. The intent of works such as Bartholomeus van der Helst’s Female Nude with Drapery or Jan Gerritsz van Bronchorst’s Sleeping Nymph and a Shepherd is remarkably clear. By analyzing these astonishing works and establishing appropriate backdrops against which their eroticism is highlighted, this dissertation foregrounds material that has too often been mischaracterized in the study of seventeenth-century Dutch art. Focusing on how these objects mean as a way to understand what they mean serves to broaden the field of Dutch art historical studies and reinsert these images into a more holistic and international picture of European Baroque art. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS One of the greatest boons to this project has been the tremendous number of generous people who have helped me pull it off. I was fortunate in that the amount of time and energy I had to devote to the work was tripled in large part because of the wonderful people I met and the opportunities I was afforded along the way. Firstly, my tremendous thanks go to my advisor, Dr. Catherine Puglisi, who graciously adopted the dissertation at a crucial moment and encouraged me to make my own way with it. Her close reading and insightful suggestions challenged me to do more with the material. Dr. Puglisi’s faith in my ability to see this task through helped me realize that it was, despite the obstacles, possible. Along with Dr. Susan Sidlauskus, Dr. Puglisi also patiently tackled the paperwork and administrative requirements necessary for me to complete my degree. To my committee of readers, Drs. Puglisi, Sidlauskus, Weigert, and Franits, I owe many thanks for a defense that provided me with one of the most pleasant experiences of the whole process. It was Dr. Franits’ command over and enthusiasm for the field of Dutch art that started me down the path towards in-depth study; I am enormously grateful to him that he agreed to be part of this process, as well. Giving generously of their time and expertise and travelling distances to attend the defense, these scholars have shown me the best of the professional side of the art historian. Early ideas were eagerly discussed by the participants of the Getty Institute’s 2003 graduate dissertation workshop. Their insightful comments helped shape the questions I continued to ask myself as the project matured. A similar camaraderie was to be had in the Netherlands where Reindert Falkenburg kindly invited me to join his graduate discussion group. Ex-patriot friends and colleagues Susan Anderson, Eric iv Casteel, Meghan Pennisi, Todd and Leigh Richardson, Noël Schiller, and Vanessa Schmidt sated appetites both physical and intellectual and made Leiden quickly feel like a second home. While abroad, the guidance of several authorities in various fields proved crucial for addressing ideas presented by the material I found. An early trip to Antwerp introduced me to Inger Leemans who encouraged my pursuit of a visual expression of the erotic. In Leiden, Amsterdam, and The Hague Elmer Kolfin, Huigen Leeflang, Michiel Franken, and Jef Schaeps took time to answer questions and discuss the feasibility of the project. Whether through correspondence or conversation, the following scholars and collectors provided timely advice: Ann-Sophie Lehman, Klaske Muizelaar, Derek Phillips, Charles Scheiner, and Jan van der Waals. Back in the States, Nadine Orenstein’s help came at a critical juncture. The few years I spent as her intern at the Met can be counted as some of the most educational and convivial I had as a graduate student. Taking time from her own work to answer questions and offer opinions about my material, she helped whittle an unwieldy topic down to a workable idea. The staffs of the Art Library at Rutgers and Avery Library at Columbia proved invaluable custodians of knowledge and endured endless requests for off-site materials. Several institutions assisted with funding for travel and research; among them the Fulbright Program, Rutgers University, and Nuffic. I am indebted to their generosity. Finally, and most completely, this dissertation is dedicated to my family who encouraged me along the way and made due without my presence at one too many holiday gatherings. My parents’ early and enthusiastic support of my interest in the arts v came without judgment or expectation. Their devotion to my intellectual growth has known no bounds. To my daughter, Orli, whose enthusiasm upon its completion (almost) made the nights in the library worth it. The palpability of her pride in my accomplishment has been infectious. And to my husband, Ethan, without whom I would never have had the time, energy, or opportunity to see it finished. This dissertation is just as much his labor of love as it is mine. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES: viii CHAPTER ONE: 1 A Matter of Experience: Sensuality in Dutch Art of the Golden Age CHAPTER TWO: 45 Eroticizing the Everyday: Desire and Domesticity in Dutch Toilet Scenes CHAPTER THREE: 88 Fancy Undress: Intimacy and Artistic Aspirations in Fantasy Portraits CHAPTER FOUR: 124 Desire and Desirability: History Paintings and the Market for Erotic Images CHAPTER FIVE: 161 Covert Gazes and Intimate Embraces: Eroticism and the Pastoral Tradition CONCLUSION: 199 Returning to the Surface BIBLIOGRAPHY: 208 FIGURES: 235 CURICULUM VITA: 329 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Caeser van Everdingen, Young Woman Combing her Hair, c. 1650 Oil on panel, 70.5 x 61.5 Paris, David Weill Collection (in 1913) Figure 2.2 Godfried Schalcken, Young Woman with a Mirror Seated under a Canopy in a Landscape, c. 1690 Oil on panel. London, Private Collection. Sold London (Sotheby’s) 1996 Figure 2.3 After Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, c.340 BC (Roman copy) Vatican, Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican Museum Figure 2.4 Nicolas Bataille and Robert Poinçon, The Whore of Babylon, from the Apocalypse Tapestry, 1375-1382 Château d’Angers Figure 2.5 The demon of Vanity and the coquette. From Geoffrey de Latour Landry's Ritter vom Turn, printed by Michael Furter, Basle, 1493 Figure 2.6 Titian, Vanity, c.1515. Oil on canvas, 97 x 81 cm Munich, Alte Pinakothek Figure 2.7 Giovanni Bellini, Young Woman at Her Toilette, 1515 Oil on panel Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum Figure 2.8 Titian, Woman with a Mirror, c.1514 Oil on canvas, 99 x 76 cm Paris, Louvre. Figure 2.9 Giulio Romano, Woman Before a Mirror, 1523-24 Oil on canvas (transferred from a panel) Moscow, Pushkin Museum viii Figure 2.10 Anonymous, Lady at Her Toilette, 1585-95 Oil on canvas Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts Figure 2.11 Anonymous, Gabrielle d’Éstrées and her sister in the bath, c. 1595 Oil on panel Paris, Louvre Figure 2.12 Annibale Carracci, Venus Adorned by the Graces, 1590-95 Oil on panel transferred to canvas, 133 x 170.5 cm Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art Figure 2.13 Peter Paul Rubens, The Toilet of Venus c. 1615 Oil on panel, 124 x 98 cm Vienna, Collection of the Prince of Lichtenstein Figure 2.14 Follower of Rubens, (Jan Boekhorst ?), Woman with a Mirror, c. 1640 Oil on panel, 78 x 63.3 cm Kassel, Staatliche Museen Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Figure 2.15 Gerard ter Borch, Young Woman at Her Toilet, 1650’s Oil on panel, 26.6 x 28 cm London, Wallace Collection Figure 2.16 Gerrit Dou, Lady at Her Toilet, 1667 Oil on panel, 75.5 x 58 cm Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Figure 2.17 Jan Saenredam after Goltzius Visus, c.