The Rijksmuseum Bulletin
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the rijksmuseum bulletin 348 the rijks gerard termuseum borch repeats bulletin Gerard ter Borch Repeats On Autograph Portrait Copies in the Work of Ter Borch (1617-1681)* • gerbrand korevaar and gwen tauber • n 12 April 1701 a painting Detail of fig. 13 standard monograph on the artist, credited to Gerard ter Borch regards the majority of these works O 2 was sold at auction in the Heeren- as copies made by other artists. logement in Amsterdam. This was It has been argued more recently nothing out of the ordinary in itself, that among the copies, partial copies but the ensuing dispute tells us that the and free variants in Ter Borch’s current attribution was the subject of some oeuvre, there may be paintings made ‘discourse and wagers’. The collector by pupils as part of their training or and art dealer Jan Pietersz Zomer and as a product for the market.3 This the artist Jan van Hugtenburch were position is difficult to maintain when called on to judge whether this work there are a number of high-quality from the holdings of the Antwerp versions. In the immediate circle of collector Constantinus Francken had Ter Borch, who is not known for his been painted by Ter Borch or was a copy numerous pupils and followers, there by another artist. To reach a verdict, a were no artists who could equal the ‘similar work by said Ter Burgh’ was master’s standard.4 Caspar Netscher, brought to the sale room from another who was apprenticed to him in 1654, town for com parison. The confron- was his most talented pupil, but his tation revealed that not one, but both hand is markedly different from his paintings had to be originals by Ter teacher’s. Borch.1 While the question as to whether There is no indication of which Ter Borch often made replicas him - works sparked this debate, but the self may remain open to debate, a anecdote touches on an interesting thorough examination of the stylistic phenomenon in Ter Borch’s oeuvre: and technical evidence does point to the question as to whether the artist his authorship in two instances of painted repetitions of his portraits and portraiture. In this article we shall genre works himself. At the sale in examine two versions of the Portrait 1701, the experts who were called in of Godard van Reede (1588-1648)5 believed that they were dealing with (figs. 1, 2) and two of the Portrait of two auto graph versions of a painting, Jacob de Graeff (1642-1690)6 (figs. 13, but the authenticity of a replica of 14) and attempt to detect from the a composition by Terborch has materials and techniques used how often been called into question in Ter Borch set about making a replica. the art historical literature. Sturla Divining the method of duplicate Gudlaugsson, the author of the production that was followed is often 349 the rijksmuseum bulletin Fig. 1 gerard ter borch ii, Portrait of Godard van Reede (1588-1648), c. 1646-48. Oil on brass, 14.8 x 11 x 0.1 cm. Amsterdam, Rijks museum, inv. no. sk-a-3842. 350 gerard ter borch repeats Fig. 2 gerard ter borch ii, Portrait of Godard van Reede (1588- 1648), c. 1646-48. Oil on copper, 14.4 x 10.9 x < 0.1 cm. Oud-Zuilen, Stichting Slot Zuylen, inv. no. s 190. Photo: Cees de Jonge. 351 the rijksmuseum bulletin Figs. 3a, b a matter of tracing clues in all the gerard ter borch ii Amsterdam, available images. Close scrutiny of the or harmen ter Rijks museum, inv. no. construction of each composition with borch, A Man in rp-t-1887-a-810; Three Positions, in purchased with the naked eye and through a microscope, or after c. 1640-45, the support of and interpreting available X-radio- recto and verso. the Vereniging graphs, infra-red reflectograms and Black chalk; paper Rembrandt. cross-sections of the paint layers may blackened on provide enough clues to deduce the verso for transfer, method.7 Working from the material 110 x 175 mm. 352 gerard ter borch repeats evidence, it is sometimes possible to material evidence of transfer tech - determine the development of each n iq ues attest to their facility in composition individually and then mechanical transfer. In the Ter Borch even, by means of comparison, the Family Estate drawing collection in the relationship of one version to another. Rijksmuseum, the blackened versos of We hope this will contribute to the some drawings are evidence of the discussion surrounding Ter Borch’s regular practice of transferring the replicas.8 image on the front to a new support (figs. 3a, b). The back of the sheet is Identical Portrait Manufacture blackened with chalk, and the drawing An artist could tackle a commission is placed face up on a new support.10 for two identical paintings of the same The design is transferred by tracing sitter in a number of ways. He could, the original drawing lines with a hard, for instance, make a drawing from life blunt instrument, pressing the chalk and then copy it on to both panels using on to a prepared canvas or panel. a transfer method. We know that copy- The drawing could also have been ing drawings from life on to differ ent copied free hand to both supports. compositions was customary in Ter Free-hand copying was something the Borch’s practice. The gleaming satin well-trained Ter Borch family had also dresses for which the artist is famed practised repeatedly. Gerard Jr was are not all unique creations – he often even able to decrease or increase the re-used exactly the same design. His size of a motif he was copying while oeuvre is full of repetitions of figures keeping the parts in proportion (fig. 4), Fig. 4 gerard ter borch ii, and parts of them, which he usually or depict it from different angles (fig. 5). Three Studies of a Sleigh executed himself, although some were If there was no separate drawing, Drawn by a Horse, 1631. done by his pupils. The woman’s dress another method was to make a drawing Pen and brown ink over in Ter Borch’s Galant Conversation; from life directly on to a prepared traces of black chalk, known as the ‘Parental Admonition’ support. The second version would 80 x 180 mm. (c. 1654) in the Rijks museum, for then either have been copied from the Amsterdam, instance, appears in no fewer than six first free hand or by means of a transfer Rijksmuseum, inv. no. rp-t-1887-A-789; compositions, among them a painting method such as tracing, pouncing or 9 11 purchased with the by his pupil Caspar Netscher. using a counter. Less likely, but pos- support of the The numerous drawings and prints sible, would be that a sitter was asked Vereniging Rembrandt. by the artistic Ter Borch family with to pose for two drawings. 353 the rijksmuseum bulletin Why a Replica? repetitions in his practice: replicas or It was not usually artists themselves copies account for some fifty percent who took the initiative when it came of his work.15 Van Mierevelt made high- to making replicas, copies or second, quality replicas of the most sought- perhaps modified versions of portraits; after works – the ‘principals’ – in his they were mostly undertaken at the oeuvre, often portraits of famous request of the person who owned or figures like Stadholder Frederick commissioned the work.12 Not infre - Henry, Amalia of Solms or Elizabeth q uently, of course, such a commission Stuart. He also produced more affor d- was prompted by an event in the able workshop copies, on commis sion sitter’s private life. There are, for and for the open market. example, many known replicas and Ter Borch’s portrait production workshop copies of Michiel van was not professionalized in such a Miereveld’s 1612 portraits of the Delft manner or scale – there are in any burgomaster Paulus van Beresteyn, event far fewer known copies by him. which were given to each of his His working method – a consistent children, presumably on the occasion build-up with two or more drawing of their marriage.13 Rembrandt’s 1640 steps and a high degree of refinement portraits of Herman Doomer and his in the finishing – was essentially un- wife Baertje Martens had to be copied suited to volume production for the after their deaths, according to a clause open market. Beyond this, small, finely in Baertje’s will of 1668, so that their painted portraits were usually more son Lambert could keep the originals expensive than larger ones.16 It would and his sisters could have copies.14 have been too great a risk to make There is usually no such docu men- replicas for the open market without tary evidence to explain the second the assurance of reasonable sales.17 version of a portrait, however, so the In Ter Borch’s case it is likely that he context of the creation of such a would not spend time on a second painting can only be reconstructed. version of a particular com position In the case of a specialist portraitist unless he could be certain that he could like Michiel van Mierevelt we know sell it. This emerges from a correspon d- more about the great importance of ence in 1676 between Apollonio 354 gerard ter borch repeats Fig. 5 Bassetti, secretary to Cosimo iii de’ dote he made the copy because he gerard ter borch ii, Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and was afraid of spoiling the first version Four Studies of a Giochino Guasconi, the grand duke’s during a second session.