The Paintings of Dirck van Baburen (ca. 1595-1624)

FAIN: FT-57469-10

Wayne Edward Franits
Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY 13244-0001)

During the grant period (July and August, 2010), I plan to conduct research for a book-length study of the paintings of the celebrated seventeenth-century Dutch master, Dirck van Baburen (ca. 1595-1624). Baburen was the most influential artist of the so-called Utrecht Caravaggisti, a term denoting the followers from the Dutch city of Utrecht of the famous Italian painter, Caravaggio (1571-1610). Upon his return to the Dutch Republic in the fall of 1620 after an extended stay in Italy, Baburen executed pictures that were seminal for the thematic development of seventeenth-century Dutch painting. The proposed project will eventually result in a book that will make substantial contributions to ongoing scholarship on Baburen as well as to the overall field of seventeenth-century Dutch painting. Yet, owing to the richly evocative imagery that Baburen created, the book will also appeal to scholars of other disciplines in the humanities, including religion, literature, and women's history.

Associated Products

The Paintings of Dirck van Baburen ca. 1592/93-1624: Catalogue Raisonné (Book)
Title: The Paintings of Dirck van Baburen ca. 1592/93-1624: Catalogue Raisonné
Author: Wayne Franits
Abstract: Dirck van Baburen (1592/93–1624) ranks among the most influential Dutch followers of the famous Italian painter Caravaggio. After concluding his training in his native Utrecht, Van Baburen traveled to Italy where he would remain for about eight years. The young artist enjoyed great success there, working for such major patrons as Vicenzo Giustiniani and the Spanish diplomatic representative to the Papacy, Pietro Cussida. Upon Van Baburen's return to Utrecht in late 1620, he established himself as one of that city's major painters by producing engaging work that combined innovative subject matter and appropriations of contemporary Italian art. Franits's monograph is the first major study of the artist in nearly 50 years. It consists of a lengthy introduction that explores Van Baburen's development as an artist and the reception of his work among contemporaries, followed by a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of his 42 authentic paintings, the 29 associated with the artist and/or his workshop, 152 rejected works, 18 that are lost, and lastly, 5 drawings that have been linked to Van Baburen directly or related to his paintings. Consequently, this book provides a much-needed reassessment of Van Baburen's oeuvre, addressing, for example, new pictures that have appeared on the art market in recent decades and exploring his hitherto understudied yet critical Italian period.
Year: 2013
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 13: 978-902724
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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