The National Gallery in Washington acquires a work by ter Borch

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8/4/23 - Acquisition - Washington, National Gallery of Art - Just for once, the attribution of this painting (ill. 1) is based on the identification of the model. Exhibited at Tefaf in 2022 by the Salomon Lilian Gallery in Geneva, it was acquired by the National Gallery in Washington through the generosity of the Lee and Juliet Folger Fund.


1. Attributed to Gesina ter Borch (c. 1631-1690) and Gerard ter Borch (1617-1681)
Moses ter Borch holding a kolf cane, c. 1655
Oil on panel - 39.3 × 26.6 cm
Washington, National Gallery of Art
Photo: NGA Washington
See the image in its page

Passed for sale in the 1960s, it was then presented as a portrait of a girl by Albert Cuyp. In reality it is a little boy, and this one is said to be Moses ter Borch, whose round face, trumpet nose and blond curls appear in other works by himself, his brother and his sister. His father, Gerard ter Borch the Elder, travelled to Italy before opening his own studio in Zwolle around 1612. Although he eventually gave up painting to take on administrative duties, his children were nevertheless trained by him. The only one to make a living of it was his eldest son, Gerard ter Borch, known as the Younger, but his daughter Gesina and his two other sons Harmen and Moses left several works.
Gesina ter Borch, for example, wrote calligraphy in notebooks, which she completed with drawings. In pencil, ink, chalk and watercolour, she drew studies of figures and costumes, depicted elegant companies and interior scenes. Among these sketches, a little boy playing the violin resembles the young Moses. She also painted some pictures.
Moses himself held the pencil and brush. The Rijksmuseum holds his self-portraits, one painted, the other drawn.
Gerard ter Borch sketched his younger brother in an ink study, also in the Rijksmuseum, and had him pose for paintings, such as The Reading Lesson in the Louvre. He trained not only with his father, but also with Pieter de Molyn in Harlem around 1634, and joined the Guild of St Luke in 1635. He then travelled to England, Italy, Spain, France and the southern Netherlands, staying in Munster around 1645-1648, and then settling in Amsterdam.

So which of the family painted the full-length portrait of little Moses, warmly dressed, with a stick and a ball? The game of kolf was very popular in the Netherlands, played mainly in winter on the ice, but also on land when the weather was fine. It is often depicted in winter scenes in Avercamp, and portraits of children playing kolf are common: a very elegant little boy by Jan Van Ravesteyn and another by Wybrand de Geest are examples.


2. Gesina ter Borch (c. 1631-1690) and Gerard ter Borch (1617-1681)
Portrait of Moïse ter Borch
Oil on canvas - 76.2 x 56.5 cm
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Photo : Wikimedia (public domain)
See the image in its page

The painting in the National Gallery is probably a collaborative work between Gerard ter Borch, the only professional painter in the family, and his sister Gesina. Another joint work is a posthumous portrait of Moses (ill. 2), now in the Rijkmuseum. Moses ter Borch joined the Dutch fleet, fought in the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667), and died in the capture of Fort Languard near Felixstowe in England in 1667.
If art historians want to see the National Gallery portrait as a collaboration between the brother and sister, it is because Gerard the Younger created very refined paintings whose careful finish does not match the light touch and spontaneity of this painting. The master therefore probably supervised the creation of this composition, without painting it in its entirety. The pose of the model in contrapposto, for example, is the same as that of his elegant [Shepherdess->https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/246216] in the Museum Wasserburg Anholt. The staging of the figure, standing on a light-coloured floor in front of a neutral, dark background, is similar to that of the portrait by Helena van der Schalcke, in which there is also similar lighting.
However, the vibrant treatment of the sheepskin, which is particularly attractive, with its variations in colour, its rusticity, and its thickness, which contrasts with the delicate curls of the hair, is not found in other paintings by the master. The interest in the details of the costume and the graphic quality of the embroidered decorations on the cloak are more in keeping with Gesina’s art. The treatment of the shoes, which are very pointed, and the pose of the feet can also be found in some of her drawings.

Beyond being a portrait, this painting is perhaps a mischievous counterpoint to the allegory of winter often embodied by an old man with a cane and wrapped in furs, as in the case of the allegory by Jacob Matham.

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