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A Worldly Art: The Dutch Republic, 1585-1718
Newly independent in 1585, the increasingly prosperous and politically powerful Dutch Republic experienced a tremendous rise in the production of artwork that was unparalleled in quantity, variety, and beauty. Now back in print, this classic book (originally published in 1996) examines the country’s rich artistic culture in the seventeenth century, providing a full account of Dutch artists and patrons; artistic themes and techniques; and the political and social world in which artists worked.
Distinguished art historian Mariët Westermann examines the “worldly art” of this time in the context of the unique society that produced it, analyzing artists’ choices and demonstrating how their pictures tell particular stories about the Dutch Republic, its people, and its past. More than 100 color illustrations complement this engaging discussion of an extraordinary moment in the history of art.
Distinguished art historian Mariët Westermann examines the “worldly art” of this time in the context of the unique society that produced it, analyzing artists’ choices and demonstrating how their pictures tell particular stories about the Dutch Republic, its people, and its past. More than 100 color illustrations complement this engaging discussion of an extraordinary moment in the history of art.
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
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October 5, 2022read for my 17th cen dutch art class. very interesting!! taught me a whole bunch i wasn’t previously familiar with
June 21, 2010
This is a nice little book - with beautiful prints and full of insights.
I have to warn though, that the author does show a tendency, especially as the book proceeds - a tendency that is widespread in the Humanities - to confuse metaphor with analysis, and also to confuse the subject of analysis (that is, the author) with the object of analysis (in this case, the painting)..., and the tendency, finally, to confuse modern strategies of reading, thinking, being... with ancient and medieval ones. As a result, in the latter part of the volume at least, at least half of the sentences should have been omitted, as they do not state anything that is true.
In other words - anachronism rears its lazy head.
I realize that most readers won't be as put off by that sort of thing as I am, and I did enjoy the book and I did learn a great deal from it - but that is partially a function of how little I know about 17th cen Dutch art.
I have to warn though, that the author does show a tendency, especially as the book proceeds - a tendency that is widespread in the Humanities - to confuse metaphor with analysis, and also to confuse the subject of analysis (that is, the author) with the object of analysis (in this case, the painting)..., and the tendency, finally, to confuse modern strategies of reading, thinking, being... with ancient and medieval ones. As a result, in the latter part of the volume at least, at least half of the sentences should have been omitted, as they do not state anything that is true.
In other words - anachronism rears its lazy head.
I realize that most readers won't be as put off by that sort of thing as I am, and I did enjoy the book and I did learn a great deal from it - but that is partially a function of how little I know about 17th cen Dutch art.
July 18, 2017
Though this was a little more technical than I needed (had to brush off that art history knowledge stored in the dusty far recesses of my brain), I am really glad I read A Worldly Art: The Dutch Republic, 1585-1718 in preparation for my upcoming visit to the Netherlands. Westermann effectively explains how Dutch art, even more than that of Italy (almost entirely under church patronage) reveals a lot about the culture of the time. In Holland, wealthy merchants and urban investors ran the show, and middle-class values predominated over the epicureanism of monarchies and elites farther south. While classical and historical themes were still popular, every day people, places, and occupations were regularly portrayed, both realistically and didactically. I also found that a sense of humor is very present in Dutch paintings, whether through obvious scenes of revelry or more subtle symbolism.
Perhaps the best part of this book are the 130 color reproductions of the gorgeous works of artists such as Vermeer, Hals, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Bosschaert, de Hooch, and a plethora of "Van Somethings." The author effectively used all these illustrations to exemplify her points. I am so excited now to visit Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum!
Perhaps the best part of this book are the 130 color reproductions of the gorgeous works of artists such as Vermeer, Hals, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Bosschaert, de Hooch, and a plethora of "Van Somethings." The author effectively used all these illustrations to exemplify her points. I am so excited now to visit Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum!
January 25, 2021
A wonderful and detailed examination of art in the Dutch Republic, and how the movements of artists from this region and period allowed their art to demonstrate not only their own artistic philosophies, but the goals, ambitions, and paradigms of the Republic.
As a history, it manages to really examine a place and time and understands how humans were allowing art to convey facts and values about their reality. And as an art history book, this was a wonderful work that I opened again and again to observe the beautiful paintings, sketches, prints, and architecture.
As a history, it manages to really examine a place and time and understands how humans were allowing art to convey facts and values about their reality. And as an art history book, this was a wonderful work that I opened again and again to observe the beautiful paintings, sketches, prints, and architecture.
June 17, 2018
I'm not sure if I thought this textbook was boring or if I am just sick of looking at these particular paintings in order to memorize them for my 17th century Dutch art history class. It could be both. Either way, not recommended!
September 16, 2025
interesting descriptions of art in the dutch seventeenth century “golden era” of art. full color images help a lot with visualizing this period. rather dense at times.
February 26, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
Read for uni
Read for uni
August 30, 2015
This was assigned reading for my NEH Summer Seminar. I am so glad this book was included as part of the seminar. I am a history teacher with a weak background in art. This book bridged that gap. I found several of the insights into understanding history through art fairly profound. Westermann gave me a deep appreciation for the art and artists of this period. Her critical analysis was enlightening and thoughtful. I am now convinced that the Dutch Republic was as creative as was Classical Athens, which is saying a lot.
September 23, 2020
I had a wonderful holiday in Amsterdam many years ago, and I spent a full day in Delft and another full day in Haarlem and visited the white churches I had seen in paintings back in the U.S. I will always remember the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, where I felt I'd gone back in time because the people in his portraits look so alive. You look at the dates and see 16— and think, how can that be? Those folks look like they could walk right out of that painting and start talking to you.
I'm not sure when I bought this book (probably at an art museum), but I finally got around to reading it cover to cover in these pandemic times. It has 126 full-color images, plus assorted detail cuts, Vermeers and Rembrandts and all our favorites. The writing is not stirring and the content is not surprising, but it tells the story of the golden era of Dutch painting (with a few buildings and prints thrown in for good measure) when austere Protestantism meant no one was monopolizing all the artists for making religious works. We learn how paintings contributed to the self-image of individuals as well as a state, a republic without royalty. It's not so much a history as an exploration of all the ways painting shaped the Dutch middle and upper classes while at the same time they were shaping the market for paintings.
The book aptly captures that standout quality that makes these paintings so recognizable — their domesticity, their secular life, their merchants and Stadhouders, landscapes with ice skating and windmills, extravagant vases full of glorious tulips — and interiors full of lavish furnishings that their wealth, ripped from Brazil and the East Indies, made possible.
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I'm not sure when I bought this book (probably at an art museum), but I finally got around to reading it cover to cover in these pandemic times. It has 126 full-color images, plus assorted detail cuts, Vermeers and Rembrandts and all our favorites. The writing is not stirring and the content is not surprising, but it tells the story of the golden era of Dutch painting (with a few buildings and prints thrown in for good measure) when austere Protestantism meant no one was monopolizing all the artists for making religious works. We learn how paintings contributed to the self-image of individuals as well as a state, a republic without royalty. It's not so much a history as an exploration of all the ways painting shaped the Dutch middle and upper classes while at the same time they were shaping the market for paintings.
The book aptly captures that standout quality that makes these paintings so recognizable — their domesticity, their secular life, their merchants and Stadhouders, landscapes with ice skating and windmills, extravagant vases full of glorious tulips — and interiors full of lavish furnishings that their wealth, ripped from Brazil and the East Indies, made possible.
.
November 24, 2018
This overview of the Dutch Golden Age was a very short read and felt almost cursorily summative. Each chapter offers a sweeping overview of a particular aspect of 18th century Dutch culture in relation to the contemporary paintings and painters, but the details presented always felt like paths that could've been explored further. This work seems like an excellent introduction, but as I was looking for something more probing I didn't feel overwhelmingly satisfied or disappointed by it.
February 20, 2018
An excellent little book of fine print quality and images. For a book of less than $25 you won't find many of this quality in information, or binding. I would recommend this for students of the Visual Arts or history. Not recommended for the casual reader without a desire to learn. Not a difficult read, but an intelligent one. I was very pleased.
April 10, 2020
A convincingly written overview of 17th Century Dutch art. Mariet provides a very accessible point of entry into some of the main particularities that this moment brought. (many of which went onto shape so much of our contemporary world). A great start for anyone interested in thinking about the Dutch Golden age.
April 10, 2023
Read for my art history class, part of a Dutch 17th century minor. Lots of interesting examples, detailed and insightful. Does contain a lot of lacunae given a lot of arthistorical research and new insights within the past 25 years on subjects like women in the artworld & influence of patronage and other social systems on the art produced.
December 25, 2017
An engaging, technical read for students of art history. The perfect background text for anybody taking a course in Dutch Golden Age art.
June 2, 2020
Westermann’s text is accessible and presents an informed, well-researched survey of art production between 1585 and 1718.
January 14, 2022
Interesting, a good introduction to Dutch art in the 17th century. The images are excellent.
October 21, 2024
3.5 pretty dry but yk not bad for a text book
March 13, 2022
This short introduction to the production of art during the Dutch Golden Age (1585-1718) is a gem. It covers briskly and confidently the functioning of the Dutch art market during the Golden Age, the creative processes of artists, the political uses of paintings, the depictions of overlapping social units in paintings, and artists’ self reflections about their works. The book’s many colored photographs nicely complement the text. Look no further if you are looking for a concise and visually stimulating text about the Dutch Golden Age.
April 26, 2012
Art Historian Mariët Westermann has done another fine job in presenting history via Art. She has several books on Dutch Art and Artists and is an excellent researcher. Her prose are very easy to understand and read, it is especially useful to some one just venturing into the subject. She manages to have a good balance between reproductions of the Art work and her words. One sees enough of the paintings that are discussed to understand the meaning and her points. This is a very concise yet accessible book.
From a historic stand point she covers my favorite period in the development of the Dutch Republic that of the late 1500s into the early 1700s starting around the Spanish recapture of Antwerp until shortly after the Treaty of Ultrecht (the period of the Triple Alliance). It covers a lot of time but within that span is the Golden Age of Dutch Art. When the young Dutch Republic is trying to make its way in a still treacherous and chaotic time. What I liked in Ms. Westermann's approach is that she went into some detail of the Guilds and how Artists not only made art but sold it. The developing Market for Art work is fascinating and it interestingly parallels the expanding market for books as well. This same period in history sees and explosion of book and pamphlet printing--including of works of art.
This is a wonderful book that I would recommend to art historians and those interested in the early years of the Dutch Republic. It touches on the subject in a very human way and covers a wide range of activity that was going on and why the elements were just perfect for what becomes known as the Golden Age of Dutch Art. A most enjoyable and educational book.
From a historic stand point she covers my favorite period in the development of the Dutch Republic that of the late 1500s into the early 1700s starting around the Spanish recapture of Antwerp until shortly after the Treaty of Ultrecht (the period of the Triple Alliance). It covers a lot of time but within that span is the Golden Age of Dutch Art. When the young Dutch Republic is trying to make its way in a still treacherous and chaotic time. What I liked in Ms. Westermann's approach is that she went into some detail of the Guilds and how Artists not only made art but sold it. The developing Market for Art work is fascinating and it interestingly parallels the expanding market for books as well. This same period in history sees and explosion of book and pamphlet printing--including of works of art.
This is a wonderful book that I would recommend to art historians and those interested in the early years of the Dutch Republic. It touches on the subject in a very human way and covers a wide range of activity that was going on and why the elements were just perfect for what becomes known as the Golden Age of Dutch Art. A most enjoyable and educational book.
December 5, 2009
"In Calvinist churches the most important piece of furniture was the pulpit, from which preachers read and preached to the congregation." 48
"Rembrandt and his followers specialized in biblical scenes that cast great events in terms of recognizable human emotion, thereby enhancing their didactic value to contemporaries." 48
"By conflating separate biblical events, Rembrandt also demonstrated an advantage of pictures: in one scene they can visualize what must be said sequentially in words." 51
"Tragic literature represented people as better and larger than life, speaking with uncommon eloquence and experiencing the deepest emotions. Comedy, representing people as they are and speak, in all their follies and foibles, was considered a lesser task." 63
"Like comedies, comic images in theory should depict people as they are, or even as worse than they are." 81
"While pictures of windmills and sailing cars, frozen canals and ice boats speak of Dutch ingenuity with water and wind, a voluminous genre of cow paintings records a primary use of Dutch land." 107
"Rembrandt and his followers specialized in biblical scenes that cast great events in terms of recognizable human emotion, thereby enhancing their didactic value to contemporaries." 48
"By conflating separate biblical events, Rembrandt also demonstrated an advantage of pictures: in one scene they can visualize what must be said sequentially in words." 51
"Tragic literature represented people as better and larger than life, speaking with uncommon eloquence and experiencing the deepest emotions. Comedy, representing people as they are and speak, in all their follies and foibles, was considered a lesser task." 63
"Like comedies, comic images in theory should depict people as they are, or even as worse than they are." 81
"While pictures of windmills and sailing cars, frozen canals and ice boats speak of Dutch ingenuity with water and wind, a voluminous genre of cow paintings records a primary use of Dutch land." 107
June 7, 2010
I enjoyed this book. The author's writing style was pretty strait-forward and many of works she chose to focus on were new to me. I think the fact that she chose to arrange it thematically made book more pleasurable to read.
I especially liked her discussion of Dutch parable in the Jan Steen work In Luxury, Look Out and think it might be worth reading her chapter in Chapman's exhibition catalog Jan Steen, Painter and Storyteller entitled Steen's Comic Fictions.
I especially liked her discussion of Dutch parable in the Jan Steen work In Luxury, Look Out and think it might be worth reading her chapter in Chapman's exhibition catalog Jan Steen, Painter and Storyteller entitled Steen's Comic Fictions.
September 25, 2011
I read this in preparation for an art museum trip to the Netherlands next spring. I found it accessible and interesting, impressive given my lack of background in art history in general or Dutch art specifically.
November 17, 2014
Great book for art history lovers. Gives good historical background to the golden age of Dutch painting. Lots of beautiful prints as well, makes me want to travel the world to see all the featured paintings for real!
August 18, 2016
This book was easy to read and finish (not common among art/art history books). Westermann chose to organize her book thematically as opposed to chronologically, as is convention, which benefited the book a lot and makes more sense for golden age art. I really enjoyed this book.
June 7, 2012
I am rating this for the general reader. If you are a specialist and interested in this period of Dutch art add a star.
April 29, 2014
I expected more from this book. I wish that book was larger and discussed a dutch art more in depth.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews