This painting is a fantastic Dutch example of a so-called ‘conversation piece.’ In the eighteenth century, the phrase ‘conversation piece’ referred to a work of art depicting people who are engaged in civilized conversation (rather than the meaning it has for most people today: something that is interesting enough to talk about).
In this case, we are looking at the circle of friends of the wealthy art collector Jan Gildemeester. The location is Gildemeester’s impressive canal house on the Herengracht 475 in Amsterdam, part of which he destined to be an art gallery. After his death in 1799 – only a few years after Adriaan de Lelie painted this – more than 300 pieces of his collection were auctioned. These included many highlights from Golden Age painters like Terborch, Steen and Rembrandt, but many contemporary works of art as well. Some of these would eventually end up in the Rijksmuseum, like The Swan by Jan Asselijn (see my post of August 14, 2010).
The most appealing aspect about De Lelie’s painting is that it offers us a perfect impression of the life of the riches in this period. Note, for example, the gracious interior in Louis XIV style, the clothes and wigs the guests are wearing, and their refined behavior. Particularly interesting is the rare insight into the way people exposed art around their houses at the end of the eighteenth century: paintings from floor to ceiling, with ladders to facilitate proper viewing.
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