A Guard Room Scene with Figures Conversing

Label

In a darkened stone room, a company of men gathers, harshly illuminated in candlelight. Best known for his paintings of fictive architectural interiors, the Flemish painter Hendrik van Steenwijk included diminutive figures carrying out everyday actions. The artist often drew on prints, like those in this exhibition, for his painted compositions. Almost lost in the shadows, the gathered soldiers appear small, giving them a sense of vulnerability. A presence in European society in this period, soldiers represented a distinct social group. Rather than shown in battle, the soldiers pause in a moment of rest to sit and converse with one another, restoring a sense of humanity to these actors of war.

From the 2023 exhibition Recording War: Images of Violence 1500 – 1900, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Academic Programming

Course History

ARTH 46, Northern Baroque Art, Joy Kenseth, Spring 2015

Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke 1, Summer 2023

Studio Art 27.01/28.01/74.01, Printmaking I/II/III, Josh Dannin, Summer 2023

Facilitated Experience: Special Tour - From Goya to Photojournalism, Summer 2023

Studio Art 25.01, Studio Art 31.01, Painting I, II, Daniele Genadry, Summer 2024

Exhibition History

Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 20, 2011.

Recording War: Images of Violence, 1500-1900, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 20-December 9, 2023.

The Golden Age: 17th century Art in The Netherlands, Northern Baroque Art, Art History 46, Joy Kenseth, Teaching Exhibition, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 31-May 31, 2015.

Provenance

Bob Haboldt; sold to Jane and Raphael Bernstein, Ridgewood, New Jersey, March 29th, 1989; given to present collection, 2010.

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu

Subject