Gerrit Van Honthorst: Art Analysis

The piece of Art, Smiling Girl, a Courtesan Holding an Obscene Image, painted by Gerrit van Honthorst in 1625 can be seen at the Saint Louis Art Museum. I was initially drawn to this image from across the gallery mostly due to the subject’s bright red dress with gold sleeves, it was one of the brightest colored images in the gallery. It is about three feet tall and two feet wide, it is an oil on canvas painting. As I approached the image, I was still intrigued as the image she is holding is of a naked man facing away, the subject in the painting seems to get enjoyment from this. To me this piece of art makes me curious, I want to know who this woman was and why she is holding that image. The artist seems to be communicating the importance of
Van Honthorst’s use of lines within this work of art, makes the girl seem to fade into the dark background of the image. The texture in this painting is characteristic of seventeenth century northern European art. The texture within this work of art is realistic as though what is in the painting could be touched and feel like silk on the sleeves of the dress and the feathers look like they feel soft and fluffy. There is a great range of value within this piece, the background of the painting is very dark while the girl in the painting has very pale skin making her stand out from the dark background. This image is asymmetrical, the way that the girl is seated and holding the oval portrait make the painting unbalanced, the image would be symmetrical if the girl was facing forward rather than a three-fourths view of her. The emphasis in this painting is her face and her smile, her pale face against the dark background really stand out, her rosy cheeks and big smile make it easy to spot across the room. This painting is realistic, she is proportionate and she looks like any other girl that one might see. Over all, this painting is pleasing to the eye and had a wonderful texture, and
He was a greatly influenced by Caravaggio. In 1610, van Honthorst, moved to Italy to study Caravaggio’s realism and dramatic use of artificial light (Gerrit van Honthorst). Caravaggio is one of the most widely imitated artists in the history of Western art. Many of Caravaggio’s followers, including van Honthorst, were particularly interested in Caravaggio’s paintings of the underbelly of Rome’s street-life (Benay). His followers were most likely struck by Caravaggio’s ability to grant subjects dignity that was not necessarily consistant with the lowly actions shown in the painting (Benay). The image, Smiling Girl, a Courtesan Holding an Obscene Image, clearly shows van Honthorst’s use of Caravaggio’s technique of making subjects that were engaging in unseemly behavior still look dignified. Gerrit van Honthorst returned to the Netherlands in 1620, after studying the methods of Caravaggio. Van Honthorst stayed in Utrecht until 1627. Although van Honthorst continued to paint using Caravaggio's techniques in his works, by 1624 a number of his painting began to depart from the usual stylistic formula of his fellow Caravaggisti; artificial illumination was used less frequently in his major compositions (Errata: Gerrit van Honthorst: A Discussion of His Position in Dutch Art, 1962). Van Honthorst’s most significant contribution to Dutch art was his leadership, of the Utrecht followers of Caravaggio. It