Willem van der Hagen
, Dutch, fl.1720-1745
Title
A Capriccio with Pastoral Figures and AnimalsDate1732
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
79 x 79 cm
Signedlower left: W V-Hagen. 1732
Credit LinePurchased, 1994
Object numberNGI.4598
DescriptionThis is typical of the classical capricci, or imaginary views with pastoral figures, painted by William van der Hagen, a number of which have appeared on the art market such as A River Landscape, which was signed and dated 1732. Here an architectural framework of classical ruins and a less defined Baroque building appear against a hilly landscape with a view of a lake on the left. In front of these buildings, a shepherd and milkmaids appear at a fountain with their cattle, sheep and a goat. In the foreground, on the right, a shepherdess holds up her skirt as if about to dance to the music of a flautist, who leans against a plinth which supports a classical urn.
The composition is stage-like in the manner of Claude Lorraine. The artist uses coulisses of light and dark tones; the foreground is cast into shadow from the building on the right while the middle ground is shown in evening sunlight. Compositional lines meet at the figure of the flautist. The strong verticality of the buildings, emphasised by the fluted Corinthian columns of the ruin which reflect the light, is softened by trees growing out of the masonry and bushes in the middle ground.
Various other influences can be seen in what Crookshank describes as an eclectic picture. The work of the painter Nicolaes Berchem, the most influential of all the Italianate Dutch artists, is most evident. The genre pose of the woman milking the goat and the precisely painted cattle reflect in general the work of Dutch seventeenth century artists. The sketchily painted figures are of French Rococo origin and the influence of Philip Mercier (1689 or 1691-1760) can be detected in the use of rich colours for the female figures. Van der Hagen would have derived his knowledge of classical architecture from prints and pattern books. The figure of the flautist leaning with his legs crossed, which often appears in Arcadian scenes of this kind, is of a type found in antique statuary, such as The Fawn with Pipes (Louvre, Paris).
This painting is unusual in composition with an imbalance caused by the strong vertical to the left of centre. Since the canvas appears not to have been cut down, van der Hagen may have developed this painting from a design for one of his stage sets.
(Irish Paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland, Volume I, Nicola Figgis & Brendan Rooney, 2001)
Label TextHaving begun his career in London, Van der Hagen was first noted in Dublin in 1722. This work is typical of his classical capricci, or imaginary views with pastoral figures. While the tone and composition owe a debt to the works of Claude Lorraine, the figurative elements are reminiscent of Dutch seventeenth-century painting, and the rich palette of French rococo art. The painting’s overall character, meanwhile, and its rather unorthodox composition (with a strong vertical at the centre) is partly attributable to Van der Hagen’s experience as a painter of theatrical backdrops.