KAREL DUJARDIN (1626-1678)

SHEPERDS IN THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA
Oil on canvas laid on panel
28.5 x 32.7 cm

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Switzerland, since the 1960s
 
 
 
 
 
The present scene is a wonderful example of Dujardin's Roman-period paintings, characterised by their remarkable crispness, vibrant warmth of colour and subtle inclusion of Roman monuments to situate the landscape approximately. In this case, the edifice to the middle ground of the painting is likely derived from one of the many sepulchrii located outside Rome and around the Campagna. Such architectural focal points can be found in many of Dujardin's paintings of shepherds in Italianate landscapes, and are reminders of his prolific practise as a draughtsman and regular sketching trips around Rome and its environs. 
 
Of particular note in our example is the figure to the right foreground of the work and the tool which she holds underneath her arm whilst sleeping: this object is a simple stick used for spinning yarn, an appropriate past-time to while away hours spent in the countryside surrounded by sheep, and it reappears on numerous occasions in Dujardin's depictions of the subject (but is largely absent from his contemporaries' work). 
 
 
Contemporary biographies of Karel Dujardin provide conflicting details of his artistic training. Houbraken describes him as being Nicolaes Berchem's most accomplished pupil, based partly on similarities in subject matter. Dujardin's first works are dated around the mid-1640s, and we know that (after his initial training) the young Dujardin went to Italy, and joined the Bentvueghels group of painters in Rome, earning the 'Bent name' "Barba di Becco" ('goat-beard', or Bokkebaart). This journey had a lifelong influence, and he was evidently a keen student of both the Italianate vistas of the Roman campagna, and the hustle and bustle of everyday Roman life. His genre scenes depicting festivals in Roman settings are among thise most ambitious paintings, and their quality and eye for narrative detail mark him out as one of the best of the Northern artists active in Italy during this period. 
 
 
Dujardin probably travelled to Lyon around 1650; an idea which is supported by a sensitive drawing on vellum signed and inscribed Dujardin fecit Paris in Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett. His experience of art in France at the time was through works by Sébastien Bourdon, Simon Vouet, Laurent de la Hyre and Eustache le Suer. During this trip he met his wife, Suzanne von Royen, who is said to have been his landlady in Lyon: the story goes that Dujardin incurred such debts from his time in Lyon that the only way to escape these was to marry Suzanne, who was prepared to settle them in exchange for marriage. Whatever the case, the couple returned to Amsterdam in 1651. By 1656 Dujardin appears in the court capital, The Hague, as a founder of the artistic fraternity ‘Pictura’. He returned to Amsterdam around 1659 and his career flourished in the 1660s, a time when he produced portraits and spectacular history scenes, as well as his famous Italian landscapes. Dujardin left Amsterdam and sailed to Italy in 1675, apparently at the invitation of his friend Johann (or Joan) Reyst. He journeyed to North Africa - a rare trip for a Netherlandish artist to have made at this time - in the company of his friend Reyst in 1678, and on his return, he stayed in Venice while Reyst travelled back home to Amsterdam. It was during this brief stay that Dujardin fell sick and unexpectedly died, being buried in the catholic manner in that city.