1047 - Gérard de Lairesse

Gérard de Lairesse Venus and Amor Oil on canvas (relined). 88 x 115 cm. Monogrammed lower right: G de L. Provenance Presumably sale of Quiryn van Stryen, Haarlem, 2.9.1715, lot 1 ('Venus met Cupido, heerlyk geschildert door Gerard de Lairesse'). – Presumably sale of Philip van Dyk, The Hague, 13.6.1753, lot 56 ('Een Venus met Cupido, door denzelven ['Gerard de Laires']'). – Sale of Willem van Haansbergen, The Hague, 19.6.1755, lot 61 ('Venus met Cupido, zeer fraay door Gerard de Lairesse'). – Sale, Rotterdam, 28.6.1756, lot 49 ('Een Venus en Cupido, zeer fraay, door Gerard de Lairesse, hoog 2 voet, 10 duim, breet 3 voet 9 duim', corresponding to approximately 82–89 cm x 108–118 cm). – Flatter Collection, England, early 20th century. – Private collection, Sweden. – Galerie Jean-François et Philippe Heim, Paris, 1990. – Dutch private collection. Exhibitions The Aristocratic Art of Painting, Holland about 1700, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Köln / Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht / Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, Kassel 2006/2007, no. 36. Literature Catalogue de la Galerie Jean-François et Philippe Heim, Tableaux anciens 1520–1770, Paris 1990, p. 34f. – C. Kemmer: Review of Alain Roy: Gérard de Lairesse (1640–1711), in: Simiolus, XXIII (1995), p. 193. – A. Roy: Quelques nouvelles œuvres attribuées à Gérard de Lairesse, in: Les Cahiers d'Histoire de l'Art, II (2004), p. 130, no. 66bis. – Exh. cat. Cologne/Dordrecht/Kassel 2006/2007: Vom Adel der Malerei. Holland um 1700, ed. by E. Mai, S. Paarlberg, G. J. M. Weber, Cologne 2006, p. 176, no. 36, ill. p. 177. Born the son of a painter in Liège, Gérard de Lairesse settled in Amsterdam in 1666 after brief periods in 's-Hertogenbosch and Utrecht. In the Dutch capital he swiftly rose to become the most prominent and sought-after painter of his generation, attracting commissions from patrons that included the Stadtholder and future King of England, William III. After losing his sight around 1689/90, de Lairesse turned to the theory of art, and his 'Het groot schilderboek' went on to exert an influence that extended far beyond the borders of Holland. A memorable portrait of the young painter was made around 1665 by Rembrandt (ill. 1). De Lairesse was the leading exponent of Dutch classicism, working almost exclusively in the realm of mythology and allegory, drawing on French models in a way that earned him the epithet of the 'Dutch Poussin'. The present depiction of Venus and Cupid is a quintessential example of the elegance and grace that characterise de Lairesse's work throughout his career. The composition is strikingly close-up – almost confrontationally intimate – presenting a largely unclad Venus seated upright on a bed, alongside a wholly naked Cupid. Arms raised, mouth open in alarm, the son of Venus flees from his mother, who takes aim at him with one of his own arrows. The subject goes beyond the familiar topos of Cupid disarmed: here, in what must be a rarely depicted scene, the usual order is dramatically reversed. Where Cupid ordinarily fires his arrows to kindle love – or mischief – he now finds himself threatened by a love-shaft aimed at him by none other than his own mother. This taut, 'two-figure drama' unfolds against a view into a parkland landscape on the left and a dark drapery on the right, between which stands an extravagant, monumental vase adorned with volutes and figurative reliefs – a foil against which the goddess's flawless, pale-rose flesh tones stand out to particularly luminous effect. For comparative illustrations, see the printed catalogue as well as the PDF version.