Gerard ter Borch II - Gallant Conversation [c.1654]

Gerard ter Borch II - Gallant Conversation [c.1654], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

A young woman in a silver-grey dress is standing with her back to us, her head tilted slightly to one side as though cautiously looking at the man sitting on the chair. The man is trying to catch her eye; the older woman appears to want to keep out of the way: she is sipping her wine while staring into her glass. This is a strange situation; what exactly is going on?

For a long time this painting was called 'Paternal Admonition'. The man was seen as a father lecturing his daughter. However, if you look closely, this cannot be right. The man is far too young to be the girl's father. And why is the large bed so obvious? In the Gemalde Gallery in Berlin there is a later, slightly smaller version of this painting. When the picture was cleaned it became clear that the man is holding a coin between his fingers. This explains a lot: the girl is apparently a prostitute and the man is a client requiring her services. 

Even without the coin it would have been clear to viewers in Gerard ter Borch’s day that this picture is a brothel scene. Other things in the painting also refer to this. On the right, behind the man's chair wanders a somewhat grubby dog. The dog and the candle on the table on the left were often used as symbols of sensuality, particularly if a bed was also depicted. This combination of a bed, dog and candle can also be found in other 'loose women' paintings, such as 'Woman at Her Toilet' by Jan Steen.

[Oil on canvas, 71 x 73 cm]

Johannes Leonhard - Gala on the Pleasure Boat

Johannes Leonhard - Gala on the Pleasure Boat, a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Johannes Leonhard (1858 – 1913) was a German artist.

Henri Lebasque - Female Nude by the Window

Female Nude by the Window - Henri Lebasque, a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

[Oil on canvas, 61 x 46.2 cm]

Henri Lebasque - Female Nude Seated

Female Nude Seated - Henri Lebasque, a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

[Oil on canvas, 73.5 x 92.5 cm]

Emile Bernard - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec [1885]

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - Emile Bernard [1885], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

This is a portrait of the painter Emile Bernard. At the time it was done Bernard was still only a teenager, and was a student with Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 – 1901) and Van Gogh at the Atelier Cormon in Paris. Like Gauguin, another of his friends, Bernard went on to develop a radical style of painting in his Breton scenes, for which he is now best known. Bernard later recalled that it took Toulouse-Lautrec thirty-three sittings to complete this picture, ten of which were devoted to working on the background.

[Oil on canvas, 540 x 445 mm]

Guercino - Elijah Fed By Ravens [1620]

Guercino - Elijah Fed By Ravens [1620], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The inscription on the stone slab refers to a passage in the the Old Testament which describes how after prophesying a drought Elijah was instructed to hide himself by the brook of Cherith, from which he could drink and where ravens would bring him bread and meat. Guercino painted the picture in Ferrara for his patron, Cardinal Jacopo Serra, Papal Legate of Ferrara.

During this period Guercino typically gave massiveness to his subjects by making them occupy a high proportion of the picture space. Elijah is over life-size and dominates the picture. The light cuts across the massive forms, breaking them up into patches of light and dark.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri was called Guercino in reference to his pronounced squint. He was born at Cento, near Bologna. He was largely self-taught but influenced by the Carracci and particularly by Ludovico Carracci. An early commission in Bologna was the altarpiece of the 'Investiture of Saint William' (1620, Bologna, Pinacoteca). In 1621 Guercino was invited to Rome to work for Pope Gregory XV. His ceiling fresco, Aurora, was painted for the Pope's nephew (Rome, Villa Ludovisi). 

[Oil on canvas, 195 x 156.5 cm]

Gerard de Lairesse - Diana [1677]

Gerard de Lairesse - Diana [1677], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Gerard de Lairesse (Liège, 1640 or 1641 – Amsterdam, 1711), also Gérard de Lairesse, was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist. In the second half of the 17th Century, the pious austerity and embarrassment of riches of the Dutch in Rembrandt's age had given way to unbridled opulence, even decadence, and de Lairesse's classical French style fitted this age perfectly. It made him one of, if not the most popular painter in Amsterdam. He was frequently hired to adorn the interiors of government buildings and homes of wealthy Amsterdam businessmen with lavish trompe l'oeil ceiling and wall paintings.

[Oil on canvas, 177 x 118.5 cm]