DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22422#0463
Letter XXII.
ME. FORSTER'S COLLECTION.
451
CLEWER PARK, SEAT OF RICHARD FORSTER, ESQ.
" Few but good." This is the maxim which has guided Mr.
Forster in the choice of his pictures, and, in point of fact, the
few pictures which adorn his drawing-room exceed in interest
many a numerous collection, for each is a choice masterpiece of the
painter it represents. The kind proprietor allowed me to examine
them at leisure.
Rubens.—The Virgin holding the standing Child on her lap.
To the knees. Both the figures are decidedly realistic: the
Virgin with brown hair, the Child with fair hair. Rubens ap-
pears here in the greatest perfection as a colourist. The flesh
portions exhibit a rare juiciness and transparency, while the
drapery is given with the full intensity of red and blue. To this
is added a rounding and gradation of those parts which are in
full light which is quite marvellous. Such a Child as this, and
such a right hand as that of the Virgin, Rubens alone could
paint. Fortunately, also, this chef-d'oeuvre, which is carried out
with the utmost care, has retained its original surface undisturbed.
Formerly in the collection of Mr. Hart Davis.
Adrian van Ostade.—A numerous party of country-people
in a tavern ; two of them dancing to a fiddle, others drinking and
making merry in various ways. This picture, as Mr. C. J.
Niewenhuys remarks in the book mentioned in the preface, is one
of the finest works of the master. The arrangement of the nu-
merous figures is very artistic, the single actions are full of life
and spirit, the tones of the sky in the different planes of distance
graduated with the greatest delicacy, the transparent, reddish gold
tones of the foreground as masterly as the chiaroscuro of the back-
ground, and the execution of the details solid and careful. Inscribed
with name and dated 1674. Wood, 1 ft. 54 in. high, 1 ft, 3i in.
wide. Formerly in the Calonne collection, for which it was pur-
chased for no less a sum than 400 louis-d'or, subsequently
bought at the sale of Mr. John Dent's pictures by Mr. Nieuwen-
huys for 465 guineas.
Jan Steen.—An old man seated in the foreground holding a
girl by the apron, who has a glass in her hand ; also a dog. In
the middle distance are two men playing at backgammon, another
looking on. The accessories—a basket, a lute, &e.—are rich.
2 g 2
ME. FORSTER'S COLLECTION.
451
CLEWER PARK, SEAT OF RICHARD FORSTER, ESQ.
" Few but good." This is the maxim which has guided Mr.
Forster in the choice of his pictures, and, in point of fact, the
few pictures which adorn his drawing-room exceed in interest
many a numerous collection, for each is a choice masterpiece of the
painter it represents. The kind proprietor allowed me to examine
them at leisure.
Rubens.—The Virgin holding the standing Child on her lap.
To the knees. Both the figures are decidedly realistic: the
Virgin with brown hair, the Child with fair hair. Rubens ap-
pears here in the greatest perfection as a colourist. The flesh
portions exhibit a rare juiciness and transparency, while the
drapery is given with the full intensity of red and blue. To this
is added a rounding and gradation of those parts which are in
full light which is quite marvellous. Such a Child as this, and
such a right hand as that of the Virgin, Rubens alone could
paint. Fortunately, also, this chef-d'oeuvre, which is carried out
with the utmost care, has retained its original surface undisturbed.
Formerly in the collection of Mr. Hart Davis.
Adrian van Ostade.—A numerous party of country-people
in a tavern ; two of them dancing to a fiddle, others drinking and
making merry in various ways. This picture, as Mr. C. J.
Niewenhuys remarks in the book mentioned in the preface, is one
of the finest works of the master. The arrangement of the nu-
merous figures is very artistic, the single actions are full of life
and spirit, the tones of the sky in the different planes of distance
graduated with the greatest delicacy, the transparent, reddish gold
tones of the foreground as masterly as the chiaroscuro of the back-
ground, and the execution of the details solid and careful. Inscribed
with name and dated 1674. Wood, 1 ft. 54 in. high, 1 ft, 3i in.
wide. Formerly in the Calonne collection, for which it was pur-
chased for no less a sum than 400 louis-d'or, subsequently
bought at the sale of Mr. John Dent's pictures by Mr. Nieuwen-
huys for 465 guineas.
Jan Steen.—An old man seated in the foreground holding a
girl by the apron, who has a glass in her hand ; also a dog. In
the middle distance are two men playing at backgammon, another
looking on. The accessories—a basket, a lute, &e.—are rich.
2 g 2