The Music Lesson
Gerard ter Borch·c. 1670
Historical Context
Gerard ter Borch's music lesson compositions represent the intimate domestic world of the Dutch burgher class at its most elegant and psychologically subtle. Ter Borch, who had traveled to Spain, England, and Germany before settling in Deventer, brought a cosmopolitan sophistication to the genre scene, elevating it beyond simple narrative into explorations of social ritual and private emotion. His signature achievement—the rendering of silk and satin with a softness and luminosity unmatched in Dutch painting—reached its fullest expression in these figures absorbed in music-making. Studio versions and workshop replicas of his most successful compositions reflect the commercial success that allowed Ter Borch to dominate the luxury end of the Dutch interior market throughout the 1660s and 1670s.
Technical Analysis
The oil on canvas demonstrates the ter Borch studio's mastery of rendering silk and satin fabrics with luminous, silvery tones. The intimate scale, refined composition, and quiet atmosphere reflect the master's characteristic restraint and elegance.
Provenance
(Van Diemen, Berlin and New York), in 1929.[1] William R. Timken [1866-1949], New York; by inheritance to his wife, Lillian S. Guyer Timken [1881-1959], New York; bequest 1960 to NGA. [1] While no earlier provenance is known for certain, Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, _Geraert ter Borch_,2 vols., The Hague, 1959-1960: 2:206, proposed that this painting might be the one that was sold at auction in Rotterdam on 3 August 1811, no. 48 (HdG 1907-1927, 5: 55, no. 146). The dimensions (63.5 x 49.5 cm) of this depiction of a music lesson, however, were somewhat smaller than those of NGA 1960.6.10, so it may well have been yet another variant of the composition. In 1935 the Berlin branches of Van Diemen and its affiliated galleries were liquidated by order of the Nazis, with sales organized by Graupe on 25 January and 26 April. This painting was not in either of those sales, and thus had been sold from or sent to the New York branch before 1935.
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