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拍品專文
This lavish garden scene ranks among Dirck Hals’s undisputed masterpieces. It is also arguably his earliest work, datable on grounds of style and of the fashion of the costumes depicted to around 1617 (Kolfin, op. cit. p. 105). Merry companies, set in gardens or outdoor terraces, had begun to be painted at the very beginning of the seventeenth century by Esaias van de Velde, David Vinckboons and Willem Buytewech, however, as Elmer Kolfin writes: ‘Today, fewer than 25 outdoor merry companies by all three combined are known from the period 1610-25’ (ibid.). Kolfin further emphasises that the sharp rise in the production of such garden scenes only came about in around 1620 with the work of Dirck Hals, who made it his specialty. Indeed, when both Van de Velde and Buytewech had left Haarlem in 1617, Hals became the only practitioner of such subjects there.
During these early years, Hals took his cue from the work of Buytewech, who, in addition to his elder brother Frans Hals, may even have been his master. The present work can be compared to Buytewech’s well-known Company in a park in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (on loan from a private collection). The many similarities in the composition and the distribution of the fashionable figures in two groups on either side of the set table, as well as in motifs such as the wine-cooler in the mid-foreground and the empty chair in front of the table, compellingly suggest that Hals might be emulating Buytewech here, while Hals’s spontaneous execution suggests the influence of Frans.
Hals’s loose brushwork is perfectly suited to rendering the loose morals of the protagonists. As is customary in such scenes of levity, subtle allusions to vanity and the folly of sensual enjoyment are hidden in details, for instance the peacock pie in the middle of the table, which symbolised superbia, human pride and voluptuousness. Such details in combination with the subject of feasting young people would have reminded contemporary beholders instantly of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). However, this work is in the first place a celebration of conviviality. Depicting no less than eight love couples, this fête champêtre is a splendid continuation of the traditional Garden of Love.
During these early years, Hals took his cue from the work of Buytewech, who, in addition to his elder brother Frans Hals, may even have been his master. The present work can be compared to Buytewech’s well-known Company in a park in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (on loan from a private collection). The many similarities in the composition and the distribution of the fashionable figures in two groups on either side of the set table, as well as in motifs such as the wine-cooler in the mid-foreground and the empty chair in front of the table, compellingly suggest that Hals might be emulating Buytewech here, while Hals’s spontaneous execution suggests the influence of Frans.
Hals’s loose brushwork is perfectly suited to rendering the loose morals of the protagonists. As is customary in such scenes of levity, subtle allusions to vanity and the folly of sensual enjoyment are hidden in details, for instance the peacock pie in the middle of the table, which symbolised superbia, human pride and voluptuousness. Such details in combination with the subject of feasting young people would have reminded contemporary beholders instantly of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). However, this work is in the first place a celebration of conviviality. Depicting no less than eight love couples, this fête champêtre is a splendid continuation of the traditional Garden of Love.