It was labored work with little of the
art spirit about it, except as the composition showed good masses. A
number of these painters gained celebrity in their day by their
microscopic labor over fruits, flowers, and the like, but they have no
great rank at the present time. Jan van Heem (1600?1684?) was perhaps
the best painter of flowers among them. Van Huysum (1682-1749)
succeeded with the same subject beyond his deserts. Hondecoeter
(1636-1695) was a unique painter of poultry; Weenix (1640-1719) and
Van Aelst (1620-1679), of dead game; Kalf (1630?-1693), of pots, pans,
dishes, and vegetables.
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: This was a period of decadence during which there
was no originality worth speaking about among the Dutch painters.
Realism in minute features was carried to the extreme, and imitation
of the early men took the place of invention. Everything was
prettified and elaborated until there was a porcelain smoothness and a
photographic exactness inconsistent with true art. Adriaan van der
Werff (1659-1722), and Philip van Dyck (1683-1753) with their "ideal"
inanities are typical of the century's art.
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