EDUARD CHARLEMONT (Vienna 1848 – Vienna 1906)
The Card Game
signed E. Charlemont in the lower right
oil on panel
49 x 36 5/8 inches (124.5 x 93 cm)
WAS THE GOLDEN AGE SO GOLDEN?
If you are following us on Instagram, you may have seen that we are currently highlighting the 19th Century artist’s obsession with the Dutch 17th Century world. This obsession with the ‘idyllic state’ came mostly through the paintings by such masters as de Hooch, Jan Steen and Vermeer with their intimate domestic scenes that featured eternal bonds between young mothers and children.
But why were these idyllic scenes created? If we use our powers of deductive reasoning, we have to recognise that domestic life in the 17th century for most was far from ideal. The small merchant class was enjoying what is often referred to as 'The Golden Age' with huge financial benefits of global trade domination, but the majority of the population was living a less than perfect life. Most men were sailing to earn a living, and thus could be away from home for years. Leaving a wife and (possibly small) children to fend for themselves. Plague, war and financial strife all contributed to the challenges of daily life for women in the Netherlands. This domestic calm portrayed in these paintings doesn’t seem very plausible.
PIETER DE HOOCH, c. 1656 - c. 1660
Woman with a Child in a Pantry,
oil on canvas, 65 cm × 60.5 cm
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Given that the majority of pictures painted by the likes of de Hooch and other artists, portraying this sunny life, were purchased by the merchant class – the ones profiting most, it seems reasonable to assume that these were an attempt to pacify their possibly less than perfect business practices. Spouses were never paid the wage of a sailor who did not return (which were many), and wives wrote to their husbands begging them to send products that could be sold to feed their children. Sailors frequently had to wait months in a far-flung port to be able to sail back home, often delaying their journeys and their pay checks by six or more months.
In other countries, demographics for this time would regularly reflect the fact that women died in child birth. In the Netherlands however, sailors lost at sea meant that there were far more widows during this time, another contribution to an unhappy home life. To survive emotionally during these long journeys, sailing husbands clung to the idea that all was well on the home front, thus these images of perfect domestication – though not owned by – were enjoyed and almost needed by many. Not only was this the ‘dream’ of the sailor but these images also helped to keep spirits up on shore. Although the imagery is completely fantasy, this 17th century domesticity has left a lasting effect on the way women have been portrayed in photographs and paintings from the nineteenth century onwards.
Again, we visit the question of why were these fictionalised domestic scenes so popular? It is likely the natural human tendency to look for the good in things, to keep dreaming of a time when families would live in this ideal space, to keep hoping for a time when husbands would return and life would be light and loving and pure, which brings us right up to the 19th century and the same applied elements.
This lovely painting by the artist Eduard Charlemont is no different, in fact you might say it is the gold standard in this world of fictionalised domesticity. It depicts a story of a family. While the man of the house is not present, the sailboat model suggests that he is at the sea. It is probably winter, as the appearance of a foot warmer is seen. To feed his family, the husband has to sail. The wife, too, has to work hard, fixing the nets in support of her husband’s work, or to earn a living of her own while he is away.
The painting captures a moment when the woman takes a break from work to play cards with her daughter. The little girl, dressed like the little red riding hood, is playful. The sleeves of her outfit are long and folded up, suggesting perhaps it is not hers. Perhaps it belonged to her elder brothers who are with the father at sea as well. She puts down a card and nervously watches what card her mother is to play. The mother has more cards in her hands, and is perhaps to lose the game. Contrary to her daughter, she is all calm, after all it is only a game. Her facial expressions cast with modesty, satisfactory, kind, happiness, and love - brilliantly depicted by the artist.
This 19th century revival of 17th century paintings took over a century, but it solidified this idea of a Dutch Golden Age. The 19th century artists were looking for that same escapism – albeit from different things – as their predecessors, but the intended outcome is the same. Painters depicting an alternate reality from the new harsh and industrialised world of the 19th century. Helping people to dream, hope and have faith that things will get better.
Much of this essay was written based on the research done by Irene Cieraad in Rocking the Cradle of Dutch Domesticity: A Radical Reinterpretation of Seventeenth-Century “Homescapes” and with some additional poetic text by our dear friend, Mr. Maurice Chi.
14 October, 2020