WILLEM VAN MIERIS (Northern Netherlands., 1662-1747). "Venus and Adonis". Oil on oak panel.

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OLD MASTERS & SCULPTURE - Day 2

By Setdart Auction House

Jun 1, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-06-01 09:45:00 2021-06-01 09:45:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : OLD MASTERS & SCULPTURE - Day 2 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/old-masters-sculpture---day-2-6999
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• Lot Description
  WILLEM VAN MIERIS (Northern Netherlands., 1662-1747). "Venus and Adonis". Oil on oak panel. French period frame in carved and gilded wood. Measurements: 49.5 x 37 cm; 60 x 52 cm (frame). Willem Van Mieris embodies in this composition the new classicist trend of Dutch art in the 17th century. With a delicate and subtle style that sinks its roots in Classical Antiquity, Van Mieris offers us the myth of Venus and Adonis worked with the finesse and elegance that characterized his extensive artistic production. In it we can observe features completely identifying his style: the idealization of the female nude, an aspect deeply rooted in his studies of classical sculpture; the influence that the sculptor Van Bossuit (1635-1692) exerted on him, appreciable in the softly modeled figures; the influence of the painting of the fijnschilders or the search for absolute perfection in the details and the refinement of the features, among other aspects. Son of Frans Van Mieris, one of the most famous Dutch painters of the late seventeenth century (whose popularity crossed the border of the Netherlands, being highly appreciated by Cosimo de Medici and the Grand Duke of Tuscany), Willem Van Mieris was introduced and trained in the painting of his father. As a result of the artistic context in which he developed his work, Willem Van Mieris was greatly influenced by the ideas of the fijnschilders, a term for Dutch painters who, between 1630 and 1710, strove to represent reality with the utmost precision. However, Van Mieris' vision went further, focusing on genre painting and depicting scenes of upper-class life. Van Mieris represented the human figure based on how it should be according to the classical canons of beauty (a theory directly taken from the treatise of the Amsterdam art theorist Gerard Lairesse), and which he was able to develop because he was in contact with the works of Francis Van Bossuit, a sculptor who had previously lived and worked in Italy. Thus, Van Mieris borrowed some of his poses for his paintings. Among Van Mieris' most important pupils were the portraitist Hieronymous van der Mij, and his own son, Frans van Mieris the Younger. Throughout his career as an artist, Van Mieris achieved remarkable popularity in the Netherlands, with paintings in the collections of many eminent members of the new Dutch aristocracy, as well as foreign nobles such as the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Van Mieris is currently represented in the most important art galleries worldwide, including the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum Boijamns Van Beuningen, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Pinacoteca de Brescia, the RISD Museum or the Walters Art Museum, among others.
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