They say that Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did backwards and in high heels. What if a woman painted as well as the great Dutch masters while wearing an absurdly large lace collar. Like, something you'd put on an injured dog. That's Judith Leyster.
Leyster did a lot of paintings, and this self-portrait isn't necessarily the best of them. But it's very good, brimming with life, threatening to break out of its two dimensions. Leyster's self-confidence is palpable, not least in the fact that she's giving a sneak preview of her next painting. She was only in her early twenties when she did this, which must have driven some rivals crazy.
1 comment:
Thanks for the introduction to an artist previously unfamiliar to me. Leyster really was a very good painter in her own right. It's interesting that although she was fairly well known during her lifetime she was soon forgotten afterwards and a number of paintings done by her were attributed to Franz Hals. Looking at both their paintings there are some similarities among the candid compositions, but mostly the canvasses are unique to each.
Jer noted it would have been extra amusing had she been using her ruff as a palette.
Are you familiar with Hilma af Klint? She was a visionary artist who introduced abstract expressionism to the West. That may or may not have been her plan as you'll see if you read a bit about her.
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