Judith Leyster
Judith Leyster (1609-1660) was a prominent painter of the Dutch Golden Age, known for her vibrant and expressive artworks. Born in Haarlem, Holland, she was the daughter of a brewery owner and a cloth maker. Leyster became an influential figure in the art world, notable for being the first female painter to join the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1633, where she established her own workshop and taught students. Her works, such as "The Jolly Toper" and "The Carousing Couple," showcase her mastery of light and shadow, influenced by the Caravaggisti and her potential studies under Frans Hals, although this is not definitively documented.
Despite her talent, Leyster's works were often misattributed to male artists like Hals, leading to her near-erasure from art history until a legal dispute in the late 19th century brought her contributions to light. Her legacy has been increasingly recognized, with recent exhibitions and sales of her paintings highlighting her significance as a female artist in a male-dominated field. Leyster's story reflects not only her artistic achievements but also the challenges faced by women in gaining recognition during her time.
Judith Leyster
Painter
- Born: July 28, 1609
- Place of Birth: Haarlem, Netherlands
- Died: February 10, 1660
- Place of Death: Heemstede, Netherlands
Significance: Although she had a career that lasted only about a decade, Judith Leyster is remembered as one of the best painters of the Dutch Golden Age. For years, much of her work was misattributed, and Leyster was nearly lost to history. However, a legal dispute over a painting eventually led to Leyster's getting credit for her work.
Background
Judith Leyster was born in Haarlem, Holland (now Netherlands), on July 28, 1609. She was the eighth of nine children. Her father, Jan Willemsz, owned a local brewery. Her mother, Trijn Jaspers, was a cloth maker. Willemsz's brewery was called Leyster, which means "lodestar." This is how the family got its last name.
Leyster's early childhood seemed to be comfortable and free from much trouble. Before she turned twenty, however, some financial issues seemed to arise within the Leyster family. This forced the family to move to Vreeland near Utrecht. There, experts believe Leyster was likely influenced by the Caravaggisti, the followers of an artistic movement inspired by Italian painter Caravaggio. The Caravaggisti were known for their chiaroscuro, or their use of light and shadow to express different emotions. Although this technique is not as prominent in Leyster's work, some evidence of the Caravaggisti's influence is evident in her paintings.
By 1629, Leyster had returned to Haarlem. Historians believe that she then began to study under the painter Frans Hals. Proof that Hals acted as her teacher does not exist, but art experts can easily see Hals's style, which is sometimes described as a combination of drawing and painting, in Leyster's work.
Life's Work
Leyster signed her works with her initials, shot through with a shooting star. One of her earliest signed works was called The Jolly Toper(1629), a painting of a man raising a beer glass in merriment. However, tobacco and other smoking materials also appear in the picture. At the time, many people considered smoking a depraved activity, so experts wonder if Lester was making a moral argument in this painting.
One of her next works, The Carousing Couple (1630), was misattributed to Hals for many years. It featured a couple drinking and laughing. The woman holds a glass of wine, while the man plays a violin.
In 1630, Leyster painted a self-portrait, which now hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The Proposition (1631) showed the possible Caravaggisti influence in Leyster's work. In this particular image, a single flame lights her subject, a woman sewing.
In 1633, Leyster became the first female painter to join the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. Joining the painters' guild allowed Leyster to set up her own workshop and teach students. In 1634, she did just that. Some sources say that one of Leyster's first students created a dispute between Leyster and her former tutor, Hals. The student had agreed to study under Leyster but decided to continue working with Hals instead. Leyster took this to the head of the guild, who eventually ruled that the student's mother would have to pay some tuition fees to Leyster.
In 1636, Leyster married. Following this, her work as a painter decreased significantly. She helped run her husband's business and raised their children. Leyster's husband was also a painter, and Leyster likely had a hand in some of his works. She did continue to work on illustrations and some paintings, but she did not devote nearly as much time to painting as she had before her marriage. After her death in 1660, Leyster's work was largely forgotten, even though her husband's work survived.
Controversy Leads to Rediscovery
By the end of the nineteenth century, the painting The Carousing Couple had changed hands a few times. At this point, many people assumed that Frans Hals was the painter behind the work. After all, the techniques and style were similar to many of Hals's other paintings. However, when the painting was sold in 1892, the new owner noticed something strange. By the violinist's shoe was a signature that featured a combined J and L shot through with a shooting star.
The new owner, believing the painting was a fake, sued the seller. The case went to court, and news about the controversy spread. After hearing about the case, Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, a Dutch art historian, claimed that he recognized the monogram on the painting. He revealed that the artist had been Leyster and not Hals as so many people had believed for years. The buyer won the court case and the seller had to provide a partial refund, as Leyster's work was not worth nearly as much as Hals's at the time.
In 1893, Hofstede de Groot published an essay about Leyster's work. Eventually, this led to more paintings being correctly attributed to her. In the twenty-first century, the art world rediscovered thirty-five of Leyster's paintings. She has been recognized--belatedly--for what she accomplished as a woman in a man's world. In 2022, a painting that had only recently been attributed to Leyster, Boy Holding Grapes and a Hat, sold at auction for the unexpectly high price of $242,600. This was more than 125 times what it was expected to bring. The painting, a work done in oil paints on a small piece of wood, was eventually displayed in the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire, alongside a larger work by her husband, Jan Miense Molenaer. That same year, Leyster was honored with a Google Doodle on December 19. This recognized the date in 2009 when National Gallery of Art and the Frans Hals Museum both launched exhibitions of this previously little-known and under-appreciated female artist.
Impact
Leyster was not just a great artist. She was a woman who was succeeding in what was considered a man's profession in the seventeenth century. Although her career was brief, she was recognized by her contemporaries as having great skill. Even when it seemed like the world had forgotten her, the competency of her work was evident. People confused her paintings with works created by Hals, whom many considered one of the greats of the Dutch Golden Age. Leyster's name has since been restored to her work, and people can appreciate her talents once again.
Personal Life
Leyster married a fellow painter, Jan Miense Molenaer, in 1636. They had five children: Joannes, Jacobus, Helena, Eva, and Constantijn. Only one of their children, Helena, survived to adulthood and had children of her own. Leyster suffered from ill health for a time, and she died in Heemstede on February 10, 1660.
Bibliography
Batycka, Dorian. "A Painting Some Experts Believe Is by a Little-Known Female Old Master Just Sold for 125 Times Its High Estimate." Artnet, 5 May 2022, news.artnet.com/market/judith-leyster-auction-record-2108724. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Bookman, Todd. "Currier Museum Acquires Rare 17th century Painting by Dutch Artist ‘lost to history’." NHPR, 23 Dec. 2022, www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2022-12-23/currier-museum-acquires-rare-17th-century-painting-by-dutch-artist-lost-to-history. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
"Celebrating Judith Leyster." Google Doodles, 19 Dec. 2022, doodles.google/doodle/celebrating-judith-leyster/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
"Explore this Work: Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait." National Gallery of Art, www.nga.gov/Collection/highlights/highlight37003.html. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
"Judith Leyster." National Museum of Women in the Arts, nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/judith-leyster. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
"Leyster, Judith." National Gallery of Art, www.nga.gov/Collection/artist-info.1485.html. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Moody, Diane. "Leyster, Judith (1609–1660)." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, edited by Anne Commire, vol. 9, Yorkin Publications, 2002, pp. 458–61.
Rosenberg, Karen. "A Career Woman's Short but Sweet Career in the 17th Century." New York Times, 22 July 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/arts/design/23leyster.html. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Schjeldahl, Peter. "A Woman's Work." New Yorker, 29 June 2009, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/06/29/a-womans-work-2. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Smith, Dominic. "Daughters of the Guild." Paris Review, 4 Apr. 2016, www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/04/04/daughters-of-the-guild/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.