Velasquez (1599—1660)
In the second period of his career which began when he returned to Madrid in 1631, Velasquez produced sixty paintings, more or less half his entire work. Among them is one historical work, “The Surrender at Breda”. The besieged fortress town of Breda in North Brabant surrendered to the Spanish general Spinola after a staunch resistance of twelve months. The victorious general had granted honourable terms to the captured garrison. The ceremony of the delivery of the keys is the subject of Velasquez’s painting. The work was soon popularly renamed “The Lances”, because of the verticals which seemed to express the peaceful halt of the army at the moment of surrender. It has been considered the best historical work in West European painting. Velasquez makes the distinction between the various physical types of Spaniards and Dutch with great perspicacity. The land and sea of Holland is recognisable. The colours are rich and pure, though not blaring or discordant, and blend together in the light midday air. The drawing is superlative, and the natural ease of the two opposing generals, the sorrowful dignity of the loser and the courteous smile of the victor, are extraordinary.
Whether he paints peasants or noblemen, clowns or infants, Velasquez is never the slave of his subject, even in his historical pictures; he arranges his composition; he applies his colours to give the required values; he places his figures or objects so as to create the space he has planned. There is an air of certainty in his perfection; he is confident of being a master of technique, and everything else — whether of sentimental or literary interest — is merely an adjunct.
Vermeer (1632-1675)
Another instance of baroque qualities is found in the “Young Woman with a Water Jug” .The strong feeling for the texture of substances marks this as a typical Vermeer work. The young girl is lost in thought as she gazes through the window. As in most Vermeer’s pictures, light is the dominating factor. Here it is used to silhouette the young woman against the wall and to throw reflections from the blue window pane into her face and white starched collar and hood. These reflections are almost impressionist in their awareness of the influence of adjacent objects on each other. The blue cushion is mirrored in the silver bowl, and the figured table-cloth is reflected on the underside of the bowl.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)
Varying the Impressionist technique, he applied his spots of paint in a systematic personal manner. Tiny wriggles of pure pigment were squeezed out of the tube directly onto the canvas. His “La Mousme” utilises this trick of colour application; through it the picture is set in motion in a new way. The emphasis now is on sinuous curving movements, on outlines of form as in Gauguin, but sparkling and. vibrant in effect rather than broad and resonant. The slight clashes of colour create a restless reaction, as do the rough and irregular outlines.
Superficial charm and surface description are the furthest things from the painter’s mind. He distorts the various elements of the figure and makes them conform to the outline of the chair, the body is reduced to a series of colour and form patterns.
One of the pictures in which he most completely expressed himself was “The Prison Yard”. Here he conjures up with forcible economy the tragic aspect of these prisoners pacing their monotonous round and makes the high walls eloquent of the impossibility of escape. Nothing is more affecting than the endless rotation of these marching figures, their circular movement emphasised in its monotony by their radiating shadows.
In “The Portrait of Dr Rey” the energetic and smiling features of the subject have been observed and recorded with great penetration, the likeness caught by a sure hand. Forms have been outlined and volume emphasised with equal certainty. The same confidence is evident in the way Van Gogh has placed the model against the green background of the ornamental spiral and lozenge shapes which are closely related to the inflections of the sitter's shoulders and facial rotundities.