New Talk Dates Small Things Like These

gailbrown432
14 hours ago
3 min read

One of the most well known and beloved small paintings must be The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius. An enigmatic image painted by an enigmatic artist.

Kept in the Maurishuis, in The Hague, it was the subject of the novel of the same name by Donna Tartt, published in 2013.

The painting seems to the book’s main character, Theo Decker, to share a quality with his adored mother: "Everything came alive in her company; she cast a charmed, theatrical light."

Fabritius lived in Delft, described by Samual Pepys on a visit there in the 1660s as “A most sweet town with bridges and a river in every street”. It remains very much the same as it did 400 years ago.

The goldfinch is characterised by red markings on its head and the bright yellow stripe on its black wing. Goldfinches, were often kept as pets as long ago as Roman times. Pliny, for instance, mentions their ability to perform dexterous tricks. They have a beautiful melodic call, particularly the males and in C17th were often kept by a window to enchant passers by as other contemporary Dutch paintings show. They owe their Dutch nickname, Putterje, or water drawer, to the fact that they could be taught to collect water from a bowl with a bucket the size of a thimble.

It is possible that Fabritius' Goldfinch was meant to be hung high up on a wall, as the goldfinch is depicted as seen from below. At first sight it must have looked like a real little bird. Some have speculated that the painting could have been a shop sign perhaps for a wine merchant in The Hague, Cornelius van Putter - a play on his name which sounds like the goldfinch's Dutch nickname. It is painted on a much thicker piece of wood than was usual for a painting destined to hang in an interior room. These types of supports for paintings were also used for so-called 'cabinet paintings', small painted objects that were made to be held in the hand, aids to mindful contemplation perhaps.

The longer we look, the more enchanting the bird becomes. It asserts its presence through the turn of its head. The electrifying flash of yellow on its wing reminds me of David Bowie's painted face, a jolt of showy individuality. It is a while before we realise that this little starman has nowhere to go. The small links of a chain can be traced from the bird's leg to the bar of its perch.

On 12 October 1654, the same year The Goldfinch was painted, a huge explosion at the gunpowder storage warehouse in Delft reduced much of the city to ashes.

Fabritius’s studio, situated just a stone’s throw away from the gunpowder store, was wiped out by the blast, with him in it. He was 32. Fresh examination of The Goldfinch has revealed how lucky we are to still have the painting, if not its painter.

CT scans show tiny pocks and dents in the paint consistent with the effects of a blast. The scans also revealed that the painting did not split into fragments because the paint was still wet, still drying slowly on the studio wall. Donna Tartt’s novel begins with a huge explosion in the Metropolitan Museum in New York where the painting was on temporary display. The painting survives again, but Theo’s mother does not.

The quality and the originality of his few surviving works show Fabritius to have been one of the great masters of the Dutch Golden Age. His phenomenally deft brushwork made him Rembrandt’s most talented pupil, while his subtle renditions of light and vivid treatment of colour were to influence another Delft artist, Johannes Vermeer.

As the season changes to Autumn and we all come indoors again, I would love to see you at my new talk which explores the significance of small things found in domestic interiors. From lobsters to cheeses, watches to letters, each object tells a story about time and distance, business and pleasure. Focusing on still life & interior paintings from the Netherlands of the C17th, often called The Dutch Golden Age, we will look at the pioneering Dutch female painter of what became known as 'breakfast pieces', Clare von Peeters. We will examine dark & moody Vanitas paintings, so characteristic of that period, and peer into enigmatic interiors painted by the 'Sphinx of Delft', Johannes Vermeer.

I do hope to see some of you in the next few weeks