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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SOU-STE |
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STEEN, JAN HAVICKSZ (1626-1.679) , Dutch subject-painter, was born at Leiden in 1626, the son of a brewer of the place. He studied at Utrecht ,under Nicolas Knupfer, a German historical painter, Dr Bode suggests that, before entering Knupfer's studio, Jan Steen took drawing lessons from Jacob de Wet in Haarlem. He bases his theory on the internal evidence of such early pictures as the " Market at Leiden " (Staedel Institute, Frankfort), the Kermesse " (A. von Goldschmidt-Rothschild, BerIin), " Calling for the Bride (Six Collection, Amsterdam), and " St John's Sermon" (Dessau Castle). About the year 1644 Steen went to Haarlem, where he worked under -Adrian van Ostade and under Jan van Goyen, whose daughter he married-. in 1649. 'In the previous year h< had joined the painters' gild of the city. In 1667 he is said to have been a brewer at Delft; in 1669 a small debt of ten florins owing to an apothecary led to the seizure and sale of his pictures; and in 1672 he received municipal authority to open a tavern. In 1673 he took a second wife, Maria van Egmont, the widow of a' bookseller in Leiden. The accounts of his life, however, are very confusing and conflicting. Some biographers have asserted that he was a drunkard. and of dissolute. life, but the number of his worksVan Westrheene, in his Jan Steen, etude sur Part en Holland, has catalogued nearly five hundred and Hofstede de Groot about double that numberseems euf lcient in itself to disprove the charge..., His later pictures bear marks pf haste and. are less carefully finished than those of his earlier, period. He died at Leiden in 1679. 'The works.of Jan Steen are distinguished by correctness. of drawing, admirable freedom and. spirit of touch, and clearness and transparency of colouring. But their true greatness is, due to their intellectual qualities. In the, wide range of his subjects, and their dramatic character, he surpasses all the Dutch figure-painters, with the single -exception of Rembrandt. His productions range from the stately interiors of grave and wealthy citizens to tavern scenes of jollity and debauch. He painted chemists in their laboratories, doctors at the bedside of their patients, card-parties, marriage' feasts, and the festivals of St Nicholas and Twelfth, Nighteven religious subjects, though in these he was least successful. His rendering of children is especially delightful, . Dealing often with the coarser side of things, his work. is full of humour; he depicts the comedy of human life in a spirit of very genial -toleration, but now and again there appear keenly telling touches of satire which recall a pictorial moralist such as Hogarth. Portraits from his brush are comparatively, rare. The best known is the portrait of himself at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The National Gallery contains three pictures by Jan Steen, of which the " Music Master " is the most important, and other excellent, examples. of his art in England are preserved in the Royal,, the Bute, and the Northbrook collections, at Apsley House
House
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