35 - Matthijs Naiveu,

Matthijs Naiveu, Dutch 1647-1726- Interior with a young woman seated at a distaff; oil on panel, signed and indistinctly dated 'M. NAIVEU f 1669[?]' (upper right), 48.8 x 36.4 cm. Provenance: Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 6 April 1977, lot 98. with Faustus Galleries, London, where purchased on 26 April 1977 (for £16,000). Private Collection, UK. thence by descent. Note: 'The pupil of Abraham Toorenvliet (1620-1692) and then from 1667 to 1669 of Gerard Dou (1613-1675) in Leyden, Naiveu developed principally as a genre painter. He also painted religious and allegorical subjects in the style of Dou. His portraits, which are unusual are influenced by the late work of Caspar Netscher are somewhat emphatic in gesture. His varied colours, animated brushstrokes and lively compositions distinguish Naiveu's work form Dou and Pieter van Slingelandt (1640-1691), to whom his work often used to be ascribed. Naiveu became a member of he Leyden Guild in 1671 and was its head in 1677. Later that year he moved to Amsterdam. He is said to have visited Italy in 1698. The present work must have been painted while Naiveu was in Leyden training with Gerard Dou. Although the subject is slightly reminiscent of Dou, the feeling and style of the work show little of the latter's influence. The brushstrokes, which are applied almost sketchily, rather recall Naiveu's early mater, Toorenvliet; considering that Leyden in the 1660s was dominated by the 'fine' technique of Dou, this little painting is remarkably bold and free. It is also quite independent of the Dou school in feeling. Instead of observing the convention for representing people in a minute and rather precious way Naiveu has painted this young girl with sympathy as well as animation. There were, of course, other painters in Leyden at the time who had the strength and individuality to develop independently of Dou. It is with the two most important of these, Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667) and Jan Steen (1626-1675) that Naiveu has something in common. Though a lot younger than both Steen and Metsu, Naiveu seems to have achieved maturity in his art at an astonishingly young age. One of the only hints we have of the painter's youth when he worked on the picture is the presence of 'pentimenti' (traces of paint where the artist changed his mind and which show slightly as the paint becomes transparent with age). Otherwise the sureness of Naiveu's handling is remarkable.' (Faustus Galleries, London, catalogue note no.4393).