Musicians - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

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Musicians

Grebber, Pieter Fransz de

Haarlem, the Netherlands, c. 1600-Haarlem, the Netherlands, c. 1652/1653

Oil on canvas

91 x 73.7 cm

c. 1620-1623

First quarter of the 17th century

69/114

Donated by María de Arechavaleta, from the collection of José Palacio in 1953

Painting is a silent art. Sound-whether it's a soft conversation, a loud shout or the clatter of a horse's hooves on cobblestones-is something a visual artist can only suggest. The greatest challenge for a painter therefore probably lies in representing musicians. For what is a musician without sound?

The Haarlem painter Pieter de Grebber, a contemporary of fellow townsman Frans Hals, made this painting of three musicians around 1620-1623. In it, a young woman plays a lute, her slightly opened mouth indicating that she is also singing. Next to her sits a flautist and behind her there is a man with a viola da gamba. The music books in the foreground seem to have been greatly used: the corners are curled and damaged and a cover is torn. To a contemporary, it would have been immediately clear what kind of music was being made, but for the current viewer this is far from obvious. It's quite possible that this is dance music. In seventeenth-century Holland, the three instruments shown here were commonly used as accompaniment to dancing. Through his composition and his use of colour, De Grebber seems to be helping us in evoking the sounds. The woman with the striking red dress in the foreground clearly has the most important part, while the flautist provides the embellishment and the viola da gamba player accompanies these two. The subordinate role of the latter is apparent from his position in the background and his pose, turned away from the light. He seems to be tuning one of his strings.

The subject of the work is exceptional for De Grebber, who was primarily a painter of religious scenes and portraits and rarely made genre pieces. This painting is one of the earliest works of his that we know. At the time it was made, paintings with musicians enjoyed a particular popularity in Holland. Especially in Utrecht, artists such as Gerard van Honthorst and Hendrick ter Bruggen had a special penchant for this theme. De Grebber may have also had a personal interest in this choice of subject. He must have played music and even composed in his free time and he was friends with the composer Joan Albert Ban. In terms of style, De Grebber's work in no way resembles that of the Utrecht painters. While they were fascinated by the strong light-dark chiaroscuro contrasts of the Italian artist Caravaggio, De Grebber's model was Rubens. The bright colours and the smooth brushwork are clearly inspired by the master. In fact, a few years before making this painting, he and his father had visited the great Flemish master in Antwerp. (Friso Lammertse)

Selected bibliography

  • Lasterra, Crisanto de. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : catálogo descriptivo : sección de arte antiguo. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1969. p. 53, n° cat. 114. (Con el título 'Músicos', y atribuido a Pieter Fransz de Grebber)
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  • Schnackenburg, Bernhard. Jan Lievens : Friend and rival of the young Rembrandt with a catalogue raisonnée of his early Leiden work 1623-1632. Petersberg (Alemania), Michael Imhof, 2016. pp. 31-32, il. 13.
  • 110 Years 110 Works [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 118-119, sin n° cat.
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  • 110 Ans 110 Oeuvres [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 118-119, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Urte 110 Artelan [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 118-119, sin n° cat.
  • "Las láminas del Museo están ya en la calle", El Correo. 29/10/1976.
  • "Publicidad de ONCE", El Correo. 29/05/1994.