A bull and an ass

Karel Dujardin (1622–1678) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and etcher of landscapes, cattle, genre scenes, portraits, and religious subjects. He was a son of the painter Guilliam Dujardin (b. 1597). Who taught Dujardin is unknown, possibly Nicolaes Berchem (1620–1683) or Paulus Potter (1625–1654), as the influence of both painters is visible in his work. Besides his Italian landscapes, Dujardin also painted portraits and historical scenes in a classicised style which are smooth, elegant and colourful.

While in the Netherlands, Dujardin lived in The Hague and Amsterdam. In 1675, he travelled to Italy, where his style changed completely; his figures were now smaller and the tone was darker. In Rome, Dujardin joined a society of Dutch artists called the Bentvueghels and was nicknamed 'Bokkebaard' (goatee beard). From Rome he travelled to Venice, where he died unexpectedly in 1678. Although he was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, he was laid to rest in the Catholic manner (wrapped in a white shroud) and was carried to his grave by his Dutch friends, painter Govert van der Leeuw (1645–1688) and Johannes Glauber (1646–1726).

Te Papa currently has 22 etchings by Dujardin in its collection, most of which were donated to the Colonial Museum by Bishop Ditlev Monrad in 1869, although this one is mounted in the so-called King George IV album, purchased by the Dominion Museum in 1910. The etchings usually depict different animals in Italianate rather than Dutch landscapes - before Dujardin went to Italy - but this was by no means unusual.

Traditionally titled <em>A bull and an ass</em>, strictly speaking this etching depicts a bullock and an ass - a sexually mature bull would be too aggressive to tolerate any other animals in his midst. Located in a nondescript meadow, the bull stands in profile and the ass in three-quarter view, both facing left. The impression is from the third state with a reduced plate - Dujardin cut back the large zone of sky seen in the previous states.

Sources:

British Museum Collection online, https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1617505&partId=1&searchText=duj ardin+ass&page=1

Rijksmuseum, ‘Karel Dujardin’, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/rijksstudio/artists/karel-dujardin

Dr Mark Stocker  Curator, Historical International Art   April 2019