Dutch Painting, 1600-1800 (The Yale University Press Pelican History of Art Series) - Hardcover

Dutch painting in its prime is one of the great achievements in the history of art. Painters described their life and their environment, their country and their city sights so thoroughly that their work seems to provide a nearly complete pictorial record of Dutch culture. This book explores all the aspects of a truly creative period when sureness of instinct and quality of performance held a safe balance. The work of the great masters - including Rembrandt, Hals, Vermeer, Ruisdael - and their impact on others are analyzed and set in the context of a period when government, religion and social structures were all reestablishing themselves after significant changes. Slive discusses the kinds of painting that became Dutch specialities: genre scenes, landscape, marines and still lifes, portraiture and architectural painting, as well as examining patronage, trends in art theory and criticism, and collecting.

This lavishly illustrated book is an authoritative study of Dutch painting from 1600 to 1800 and covers all the major artists of the period -- including Hals, Rembrandt, and Vermeer -- setting them firmly in the wider context of Dutch art. It has immediately established itself as the new standard work on this great period of painting.

"Seymour Slive's text first appeared in 1966 in partnership with the late Jakob Rosenberg. It was wonderful then, and it is even more so now that Mr. Slive has revised and expanded his text, and the number of illustrations is now 432, about twice as many as before". -- John Russell, New York Times Book Review

"Slive is a great teacher and he knows how to impart his enthusiasm to his readers.... This volume is the useful instrument which every user will hope and expect to find". -- Lyckle De Vries, Burlington Magazine

"Like the original Pelican volume, this one is an essential reference and serves both the academic and the general reader". -- Choice