Bidspirit auction | Caspar Netscher

Caspar Netscher - Caspar Netscher (after) ”Musical Couple”. 1666. Copy by Theodor Lazer mid-19th C.. Caspar Netscher circa 1639 Heidelberg or Prague (?) – 1684 The Hague Theodor Lazer Mentioned 1871 Oil on canvas, rounded at the top. Verso with a label on the upper stretcher bar, inscribed and signed in ink ”Theodor Lazer / Dresden / Seilergasse No./.7.III”. In a magnificent, gold-coloured stucco frame with continuous, wide leaf ornamentation and profiles partially silver-plated and lacquered with gold. For the original, cf.: Caspar Netscher ”Musical Couple”, 1666, oil on oak panel, rounded at the top, 59.5 x 46 cm, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gal.-No. 1349. Support with several closed tears, partly backed with patches or closed with putty, distinctly warped in the area of the patches. Paint layer with retouches in the background area upper right, left above the head of the standing lady, on the carpet, below the signature, and on the book lower middle. Fine craquelure with flaking and smaller losses. Frame with partial breakages. Dimensions: 61.5 x 47.5 cm, Frame 75.5 x 61.5 cm. Caspar Netscher circa 1639 Heidelberg or Prague (?) – 1684 The Hague Probably a Dutch painter and draughtsman of German origin. Netscher's mother fled to the Netherlands during the Thirty Years' War. Netscher's guardian in Arnhem recognized and fostered his interest in art. Probably apprenticed to the portrait and genre painter Hendrick Coster in Arnhem. In 1654, through the intermediary of the licence master Willem Everwijn, he was placed in Gerard ter Borch's workshop in Deventer. Subsequently moved to The Hague and worked as a copyist. In 1659, travelled by ship towards Italy. Married in Bordeaux and returned to The Hague in 1662. In the same year, joined the local painters' guild Pictura. Early works mainly genre paintings, later predominantly representative portraits. In 1674, portrait of the young William III, then Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the Netherlands, later King of England.