Arcadópolis
Self-Portrait
Judith Leyster, c. 1630
What you see
Judith Leyster turns in her chair to look at us, her lips parted as if she had just said something. In her right hand she holds a brush near the canvas; in her left, the palette and a bundle of brushes. On the right, on the easel, is a picture within the picture: a violinist in a blue cap, laughing as he plays.
The tones are restrained: the gray background, the black dress and the white collar, enlivened by the violet pink of the sleeves and skirt. The brushwork is quick, especially in the lace and the hair. Notice the dabs of color on the palette and the white rag peeking out between her fingers.
About Judith Leyster
Judith Leyster was a Haarlem painter who in 1633 became a master in the city's Guild of St Luke, where she was then the only woman, which allowed her to run her own studio and take pupils. She painted musicians, drinkers and merry scenes with loose, lively brushwork, and signed with a monogram and a star, a pun on her surname, which refers to the “lodestar”. After her death she was forgotten and her pictures were credited to others, above all Frans Hals, until in 1893 the scholar Cornelis Hofstede de Groot recognized her monogram on seven paintings.
More by Judith Leyster
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