Gelst, Bartolomeus van der

Gelst, the innkeeper’s son, was born in Haarlem. In connection with his marriage, he moved to Amsterdam in 1636 , lived there all his life and never left Holland. Perhaps he studied painting in Haarlem, but it is not known who taught him the first lessons (there are very few biographical data on Gelst). It is believed that in Amsterdam, Gelst studied with a major artist of the early 17th century, Nicholas Elias Pikenoy . It is not known whether he studied with Rembrandt , who lived in Amsterdam at the same time as him, but Gelst learned some of the techniques of the portrait style of Rembrandt, as well as Hals .

The year 1637 dates from the first known painting by Gelst - a portrait of four members of the Board of Trustees of the Walloon Orphanage. Stylistically, the picture is close to the works of Elias. Fame quickly came to Gelst, he appeared responsible orders. His main clients were representatives of the city elite, the main subjects - festivities of shooters, awarding prizes, figures of governors and trustees of charitable institutions, syndicates of city corporations. In 1642 , the artist painted a portrait of the mayor of Andris Biker with his wife and son.

Six years later, Gelst’s masterpiece was created - a huge group portrait of “The Celebration of the Signing of the Munster Treaty ”. In this painting, the talent of the author was clearly manifested in the creation of a harmonious multi-figure composition, while all the characters depicted are individual and easily recognizable. This painting is located in Amsterdam in the same place as the famous Rembrandt's “ Night Watch ”, so visitors can directly compare between the two artists on their works. For a long time, this canvas was considered equal to "Night Watch". Joshua Reynolds , who visited Amsterdam in 1781 , compared this picture with all the portraits he had seen before and found in it the highest embodiment of all those qualities that should be inherent in an ideal portrait. It is worth noting that, although the fame of Gelst is based primarily on portraits, he also created paintings of historical, biblical and mythological themes.

By the time Gelst moved to Amsterdam, Rembrandt was at the zenith of fame. However, the elegant style of van Dyck was gaining increasing popularity, and Gelst became one of the representatives of this style, wishing to cater to public tastes. During the 1640s the artist became the leading portrait painter of Amsterdam and overshadowed even Rembrandt. The detailed, refined portraits of Gelst, which also slightly embellished the portrayed, were liked by the public more than the later works of Rembrandt, which became more and more serious, marked by deep introspection. At the same time, Gelst was one of those painters who knew how to cater to the requirements of senior customers, while remaining in the position of realistic art. His pictorial technique was honed and virtuoso: he was able to perfectly reproduce the material authenticity of things, the ease of the pose and gesture of the model.

In 1654, Gelst became one of the founders of the Guild of St. Bows . Surrounded by honor, without needing anything, the artist lived in Amsterdam until the end of his life and educated his son, Lodewijk van der Gelst, who, however, turned out to be a rather mediocre painter. Among his other students, there were also no ones who deserved the attention of posterity.

During his life, the influence of Gelst (or rather, his style) on other artists was significant. Such students of Rembrandt, as Ferdinand Pain and Govert Flink , for the sake of this fashionable at that time manner of painting departed from the style of his mentor. The greatness of Gelst as a painter was recognized in the next century. He still holds a high place in the Dutch school; by the accuracy of the portraits and the successful selection of color, it is placed immediately after van Dyck. But on the whole, the artist always lacked depth and significance in conveying the human image. It was this that did not allow his works to become close to the portraits of Rembrandt and Hals, although most contemporaries believed that Gelst was superior to both of them. Well-known works by Gelst include “Portrait of a preacher”, “Repmaker family”, “Three crossbowmen”, “Portrait of a young princess and her nurse”, “Portrait of Paulus Potter ”, “Portrait of artist Flink ”, “Introducing the newlywed to the newlywed parents”, “New market in Amsterdam ”(the last picture is unusual for the artist in terms of content, since edibles play the main role in it).

• A. Plyushar . Encyclopedic Lexicon , Volume 8. - Typography of A. Plyushar ; S.-P., 1837 - p. 224-225 (Vandergelst, Bartholomew).

• Works in museums of the world
• Little-known works (inaccessible link - history )