DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62941#0015
NICHOLAS BERGHEM.
3
his wife gave him little concern ; for he still painted
and sang, and continued to indulge in his favourite
pursuit of collecting prints after the old masters. The
gratification of collecting was not, however, at all times
a matter of facility; for being kept very short of
money, he was sometimes compelled to borrow from
his pupils, or to obtain it surreptitiously from his wife,
as she generally took upon herself to sell his pictures,
and gave him, with a grudging hand, as little as possible
of their produce. If his friends rallied him on the
subject, he would good-naturedly laugh with them,
and observe, “ that money was of little value or use to
him, whose chief delight was occupation ; that while
other persons lost both their time and money in fri-
volous pursuits, he could gain a sufficiency of the one,
by the application os the other to an agreeable amuse-
ment.” He took great delight in the instructions of
his pupils, whom he always treated as if they were
his children; and would frequently observe, that
“ genius required encouragement as well as cultivation.”
He had doubtless experienced the force and effect of
this maxim; for he appears to have attained, at an
early age, a distinguished reputation for talent, which
relieved him ever after srom all anxiety relative to the
sale of his works.
An anecdote, worthy of record, is related of an
eminent amateur, named Vander Hulk. This gentle-
man being desirous of possessing a collection of the
best specimens of living artists, bespoke a picture of
Berghem, and another of Jan Both, at the price os 800
ssorins for each; and, in order to excite a competition of
3
his wife gave him little concern ; for he still painted
and sang, and continued to indulge in his favourite
pursuit of collecting prints after the old masters. The
gratification of collecting was not, however, at all times
a matter of facility; for being kept very short of
money, he was sometimes compelled to borrow from
his pupils, or to obtain it surreptitiously from his wife,
as she generally took upon herself to sell his pictures,
and gave him, with a grudging hand, as little as possible
of their produce. If his friends rallied him on the
subject, he would good-naturedly laugh with them,
and observe, “ that money was of little value or use to
him, whose chief delight was occupation ; that while
other persons lost both their time and money in fri-
volous pursuits, he could gain a sufficiency of the one,
by the application os the other to an agreeable amuse-
ment.” He took great delight in the instructions of
his pupils, whom he always treated as if they were
his children; and would frequently observe, that
“ genius required encouragement as well as cultivation.”
He had doubtless experienced the force and effect of
this maxim; for he appears to have attained, at an
early age, a distinguished reputation for talent, which
relieved him ever after srom all anxiety relative to the
sale of his works.
An anecdote, worthy of record, is related of an
eminent amateur, named Vander Hulk. This gentle-
man being desirous of possessing a collection of the
best specimens of living artists, bespoke a picture of
Berghem, and another of Jan Both, at the price os 800
ssorins for each; and, in order to excite a competition of