National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Self-Portrait

Overview

Judith Leyster’s Self–Portrait exudes pride and self–confidence, and it has become one of the National Gallery of Art’s most popular Dutch paintings. Leyster has depicted herself at her easel, briefly interrupting her work on a painting of a violin player in order to interact with the viewer. The momentary quality of the portrait and the vigorous brushwork echo the work of Frans Hals, Haarlem’s most celebrated portrait painter and Leyster’s colleague. By juxtaposing her hand holding a brush with the hand and bow of the violin player, Leyster cleverly compares the art of creating harmonious music with the art of creating paintings. She holds the tools of her trade—a palette, a cloth, and no fewer than 18 brushes. In reality she would not have worn the elegant dress and lace–trimmed collar while at work in her studio.

Leyster was accepted into the professional artists’ guild of Saint Luke’s Guild of Haarlem as an independent master in 1633, a rarity for a female artist at the time. As such, Leyster was entitled to establish her own workshop and take paying students. Early chroniclers of Haarlem praised her proficiency and talent. She was celebrated as "the true leading star" in art, a clever allusion to her family name, which means "lodestar." Leyster incorporated a star in her professional signature, the monogram JL*. Following her marriage in 1636 to fellow Haarlem artist Jan Miense Molenaer, Leyster stopped producing art in her own name but probably continued to paint in collaboration with her husband.

Inscription

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Marks and Labels

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Provenance

Possibly the painting identified as a painting by Frans Hals depicting his daughter at the easel that appeared in four London sales between 1810 and 1812.[1] E.M. Grainger, Hastings, Sussex; Mrs. Granger, Bexhil-on-Sea, East Sussex;[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 16 April 1926, no. 115); purchased by E. Smith, probably for a London dealer.[2] private collection, New York, in 1928.[3] (Ehrich Galleries, New York); purchased 9 May 1929 by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, Washington, D.C.;[4] gift 1949 to NGA.

[1] This suggestion was made by Burton Fredericksen. In a letter of 12 December 2002 to Arthur Wheelock (in NGA curatorial files) Fredericksen writes that the lack of recorded dimensions, the low price at which the painting was bought in, and the fact that it was part of a group of minor paintings prevent a firm conclusion, although paintings by Hals did not bring high prices at the beginning of the nineteenth century. For the first three sales, the painting was described as The Portrait of F. Hals' Daughter by F. Hals; for the fourth sale it was The Painter's Daughter at her easel, also by Hals. The sales are as follows: consigned by a Dr. Biam (or Byam) along with four other paintings to Christie's, London, 7 July 1810, no. 161, bought in; the same consignor to Christie's, London, 8 March 1811, no. 65, bought in; consigned by "Pritchard" to Christie's, London, 19 April 1811, no. 157; anonymous consignor to Peter Coxe, London, 3 June 1812, no. 28, bought in.

[2] Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie’s Archives, kindly provided the name of the consignor; see her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files. Despite the slight difference in the spelling of the last name, E.M. Grainger and Mrs. Granger were likely related.

[3] Information on this purchaser is from an annotated copy of the 1926 sale catalogue, and various articles in London papers giving the sale results; copies in NGA curatorial files.

[4] The owner of the painting is identified in this way in Wilhelm R. Valentiner, "Rediscovered Paintings by Frans Hals," Art in America 16 (1928): 239, fig. 2.

[5] The purchase date is in the donor's collection records for the painting, in NGA curatorial files.

Exhibition History

1933
A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago, 1933, no. 64, as by Frans Hals.
1937
Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century, John Herron Art Museum, Indianapolis, 1937, no. 22, as by Frans Hals.
1937
Frans Hals Tentoonstelling ter gelegenheid van het 75-jarig bestaan van het gemeentelijk Museum te Haarlem, Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, 1937, no. 9, repro., as by Frans Hals.
1937
Paintings by Frans Hals: Exhibition for the Benefit of New York University, Schaeffer Galleries, Inc., New York, 1937, no. 3, as by Frans Hals.
1988
People at Work: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art, Hofstra Museum, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, 1988, no. 11.
1993
Judith Leyster: A Dutch Master and Her World, Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem; Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, 1993, no. 7, repro.
1993
Judith Leyster: "Leading Star", National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., 1993-1994, brochure, color repro.
1999
Elck zijn waerom: Vrouwelijke kunstenaars in België en Nederland, 1500-1950 [As You Will: Women Artists in the Netherlands and Belgium, 1500-1950], Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp; Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, 1999-2000, no. 34.
2001
Face to Face: Portraits from Five Centuries, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2001-2002, no. 35, repro.
2002
Jan Miense Molenaer: Painter of the Dutch Golden Age, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Indianapolis Museum of Art (Columbus Gallery); Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire, 2002-2003, fig. 8 (shown only in Raleigh).
2003
Loan to display with permanent collection, National Gallery, London, 2003-2004.
2009
Judith Leyster, 1609-1660 [Judith Leyster's 400th Anniversary], National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, 2009-2010, unnumbered brochure, cover repro.

Bibliography

1928
Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Rediscovered Paintings by Frans Hals." Art in America 16 (1928): 238-247, repro.
1930
Dülberg, Franz. Frans Hals: ein Leben und ein Werk. Stuttgart, 1930: 42, repro. 41.
1930
Gratama, Gerrit David. "Het portret van Judith Leyster door Frans Hals." Oud-Holland 47 (1930): 71-75, repro.
1933
Rich, Daniel Catton. "Die Ausstellung 'Fünf Jahrhunderte der Frühmalerei' in Chicago." Pantheon 11 (January 1933): 372-381, repro.
1937
Rich, Daniel Catton. "Review of Wilhelm R. Valentiner's Frans Hals Paintings in America." Art in America 25 (July 1937): 130-137.
1937
Trivas, Numa S. "The Frans Hals Exhibition at Haarlem." The Connoisseur 100 (November 1937): 227-231, repro.
1963
Hall, H. van. Portretten van Nederlandse Beeldende Kunstenaars. Repertorium. Amsterdam, 1963: 187, nos. 2, 5.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 75.
1968
European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 66, repro.
1970
Slive 1970-1974, 3(1974): 152-153.
1971
Grimm, Claus. "Frans Hals und seine Schule." Münchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst 22 (1971): 146-178.
1973
Iskin, Ruth. "Sexual and Self-Imagery in Art: Male and Female." Womanspace Journal 1 (1973): 4-14.
1974
Montagni, E. C. L'opera completa di Frans Hals. Milan, 1974: 113, no. 249, repro. (also 1976 French ed., Tout l'oeuvre peint de Frans Hals, Paris).
1974
Tufts, Eleanor. Our Hidden Heritage: Five Centuries of Women Artists. New York, 1975: 71, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 194, repro.
1975
Munsterberg, Hugo. A History of Women Artists. New York, 1975: 26-27, repro.
1975
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 287, no. 382, repro.
1976
Daniëls, G. L. M. "Doe heb ick uyt verkooren..." Antiek 11 (November 1976/1977): 329-341, repro. 340.
1976
Nochlin, Linda, and Ann Sutherland Harris. Women Artists: 1550-1950. Los Angeles and New York, 1976: 139.
1978
King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 50-51, pl. 27.
1983
Hofrichter, Frima Fox. "Judith Leyster's 'Self-Portrait': 'Ut Pictura Poesis.'" In Anne-Marie Logan, ed. Essays in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday. Doornspijk, 1983: 106-109, repro. nos. 1, 3.
1984
Philadelphia 1984, 234-235, repro.
1984
Raupp, Hans Joachim. Untersuchungen zu Künstlerbildnis und Künstlerdarstellung in den Niederlanden im 17. Jahrhundert. Hildesheim and New York, 1984: 346-347.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 287, no. 376, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 227, repro.
1986
Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Grand Rapids and Kampen, 1986: 309.
1987
Heller, Nancy G. Women Artists: An Illustrated History. New York, 1987: 213, note 20.
1987
Schama, Simon. The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. New York, 1987: 415-416, repro. no. 196.
1988
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "The Art Historian in the Laboratory: Examinations into the History, Preservation, and Techniques of the 17th-Century Dutch Painting." In The Age of Rembrandt: Studies in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting. Roland Fleischer and Susan Scott Munshower, eds. Pittsburgh, 1988: 214-245, figs. 9-19, 9-20, 9-21.
1989
Hofrichter, Frima Fox. Judith Leyster: A Woman Painter in Holland's Golden Age. Doornspijk, 1989: 15, 24, 51-53, no. 21, pls. 21, 55, 56, 57, color plate x.
1990
Grimm, Claus. Frans Hals: The Complete Work. New York, 1990: 238-239, fig. 127b (detail) (Trans. by Jürgen Riehle from Frans Hals: das Gesamtwerk, Stuttgart, 1989).
1995
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York, 1995: 788, fig. 19-47, repro. (Rev. ed. 1999: 786-787, fig. 19-43, repro.)
1995
Wheelock, Jr., Arthur K. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 155-159, color repro. 157.
1997
Mittler, Gene and Rosalind Ragans. Understanding Art. New York, Ohio, California, Illinois, 1997: 186, no. 12-5a, repro.
1998
Codell, Julie F. "Artists/Art." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:60-61, 65, repro.
1998
Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition: Faith, Reason and Power in the Early Modern World. New York, 1998: no. 22.12, repro.
1998
Matthews, Roy T., and F. De Witt Platt. The Western Humanities. California, London, Toronto, 1998: no. 14.19, repro.
1998
Self-Portraits II: Women." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:808
2000
Kirsh, Andrea, and Levenson, Rustin S. Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies. Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies, vol. 1. New Haven, 2000: 182-183, fig. 191-193.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 194-195, no. 154, color repro.
2005
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. Rev. 2nd ed., combined volume. Upper Saddle River, 2005: 766, color fig. 19.52.

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