Bartholomeus van der Helst

In addition to the portraits for which he is most famous, van der Helst painted a few genre, historical, biblical, mythological, and allegorical scenes.[3][10] In all these paintings, the portrait aspect is still important.[3]

A young woman holding a sunflower

Van der Helst was principally a painter of portraits. The majority of his work is made up of individual portraits, though he also painted family portraits, double portraits and pendant portraits. An example of the latter are the portraits of Lieutenant-Admiral Aert van Nes and his wife Geertruida den Dubbeld. Among his most prestigious assignments were the group portraits of Amsterdam 'schutters' (civil militia members) and regents. The most famous work in this category is his 1648 Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).[11] In this large-scale composition depicting 25 people, van der Helst was able to do justice to each individual. He also realised a clear composition through his sophisticated use of light and color.[12]

As a portrait painter to Amsterdam's elite, he created life-sized portraits, which responded to the demand of the patricians of Amsterdam for portraits that offered a good likeness rather than an idealized image. His style is characterized by clear drawing, plasticity, even lighting and a pleasant palette relying on light and clear tones. He preferred balanced compositions.[13]

Jan J. Hinlopen in 1665, with his second wife Lucia Wijbrants

Gerard Andriesz Bicker

His early works show the influence of Pickenoy, his presumed master, and to a certain extent of Rembrandt. This is clear in the Portrait of an unknown man, probably a Protestant minister of 1638 (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen). It shows a man reading a book who looks up at the viewer as if he has been disturbed, a motive derived from Rembrandt. The vivid representation of the sitter is characteristic of van der Helst's early work.

Van der Helst found his own style in the 1640s. The Portrait of Andries Bicker dated 1642 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) is typical his work from this period: it is well modeled, of a strong plasticity and painted with a barely visible brush stroke.

The fashion for the French elegant style was visible in his work after 1650. An example is the Portrait of the animal painter Paulus Potter painted in 1654. This work was based on a self-portrait of Potter, which he had made shortly before his early death. The gestures and movements of the sitter in the painting are elegant. The artist has further succeeded in rendering the fabrics in a smooth painting style and almost perfect technique.

The paintings of the final years of Van der Helst's career are characterized by increased attention to detail and a more even lighting. The subtlety and intensity that characterizes his earlier work has made way for a clarity of expression that leaves nothing to the imagination.[13] The artist also used a more colourful palette and richer contrasts and emphasized more strongly the distinctions between dark and light tones.[14]

One of Van der Helst's most famous works is the portrait of Gerard Andriesz Bicker at half-length of 1639 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). Van der Helst painted in 1642 a portrait of Andries Bicker, the father of Gerard Andriesz Bicker and the mayor of Amsterdam, as a pendant to this work. The contrast between the two sitters could not be more pronounced: while the father looks like a stern and sober Protestant, the son looks like a fanciful dandy with a smug look in his eyes. At the time the painting was made Gerard Andriesz Bicker was only 17 years old, but already held the titles of Lord of Engelenburg and High Bailiff of Muiden.

This portrait is often used to illustrate the decadent wealth of the Amsterdam merchants of the Dutch Golden Age in Amsterdam.[15]

The Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam

Van der Helst also painted a number of genre scenes. An example of a genre scene by van der Helst is the View of the Nieuwmarkt (1638, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg), which combines still life, cityscape and figure piece. The composition shows an old woman holding a big wheelbarrow full of vegetables. On her left hangs the carcass of large slaughtered pig. Next to the pig are four children, one of whom blows the pig's bladder while the others look at the viewer. In the background is a view on the Nieuwmarkt with the Sint Anthoniswaag. This work was probably made for van der Helst's private use as it likely depicts the view from his house on the Nieuwmarkt.[4]

Another genre scene is The Musician (1662, Metropolitan Museum of Art), which depicts a woman tuning a theorbo while a viola da gamba is resting in front of her. Printed music in tenor and soprano parts is placed on a table nearby. The musician looks directly at the viewer as if inviting him to take up the viola da gamba to join her in a duet. While the work has usually been regarded as a genre scene, it is possible that it is in fact a portrait of Anna du Pire, the artist's wife.[16]

As was common in 17th-century Dutch artistic practice, van der Helst regularly collaborated with other specialist artists. A frequent collaborator was Ludolf Bakhuizen, a prominent marine and landscape painter. Bakhuizen painted the marine scenes, which are the backdrop of his portraits of the Dutch naval heroes Vice-Admiral Johan de Liefde and Lieutenant-Admiral Aert van Nes with the pendant portrait of his wife Geertruida den Dubbeld (all three dated 1668 and in the Rijksmuseum).[2]

An interesting case of a collaboration between multiple Golden Age painters is the Portrait of Willem van Wyttenhorst. No less than four painters had a hand in its creation: Bartholomeus van der Helst, Cornelis van Poelenburgh, Jan Both and Jacob Duck. Van der Helst was responsible for the general composition and Jan Both for the landscape. It is possible that Duck painted the harness as he was a specialist in guardroom scenes (also called 'kortegards'), which depicted soldiers at leisure among their weapons, harnesses and other military gear in a guardroom. It is likely that van der Helst also painted the face but the role of van Poelenburgh is not clear.[17]

Van der Helst also collaborated with the animal painter Jan Baptist Weenix on the Shepherd boy with sheep and goats. Van der Helst painted the shepherd boy in the painting. He scratched his signature in the wet paint on the boy's collar while Weenix did the same in the wet paint at the upper right. It is believed the painting was intended to be hung over a large fireplace. This probably explains the contrived perspective with the somewhat too large sheep placed right on the edge in the foreground.[18]