Art-Leyster-Self Portrait TB03

Please drop this item in rural or Premium Member Only caches.  Do not drop it in an urban cache or leave it behind at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; this prevents the chain and tag tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take this travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission needed to leave the U.S.

This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize paintings seen, and admired by the bug owner. A digital copy of this painting was downloaded from the internet. The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist. One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work.

The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery). Judith Jans Leyster (1609-1660) was a painter during the Dutch Golden Age, the 17th century. Prior to this time most patrons of the arts were the church and royalty who largely wanted portraits and paintings with religious or allegorical themes. After the Renaissance, northern Europe became a center of commerce and the middle classes prospered to the point that they wanted art to decorate their homes. And, they had broader tastes is subject matter than institutional patrons. To satisfy the demand, the Dutch and Flemish regions developed an amazing number of artists. Portraiture and religious topics were still important, but landscape, seascape, cityscape, still life and commemorative paintings began to appear. However, another kind of subject matter really flourished at this time, genre paintings. These were scenes from everyday life, depicting people from all classes.

I have twice seen this self-portrait at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Leyster was one of three significant women artists of the Golden Age. She painted genre works, a few portraits, and a single still life. There are fewer than 35 surviving works attributed to her. She largely gave up painting after her marriage to another artist, a union which produced five children. Little is known about her early training but in her early twenties she became the only female member of the Haarlem painters' guild and soon had students of her own. Even though her work is closely identified with that of Hals, their relationship remains unclear. What is known is that she successfully sued Hals for a breach of ethics after he took on one of her students.