The Dancing Couple
Jan Steen·1663
Historical Context
Jan Steen's Dancing Couple from 1663 is one of his most joyful and animated compositions, depicting an outdoor festive gathering with a couple dancing at center while musicians play, bystanders watch, and children play in the background. The painting was likely inspired by the festive outdoor scenes of Pieter Brueghel the Elder and his tradition of depicting popular festivities with a combination of observation and moral commentary, but Steen's treatment is warmer and less judgmental than Brueghel's, his dancers conveying genuine joy rather than the mindless abandon that moralistic painters typically attributed to popular festivity.
Technical Analysis
Steen's oil on canvas captures the energy of the dance through dynamic figure movement and warm, festive lighting, with lively brushwork and a rich palette of earth tones and bright costume colors.
Provenance
Possibly (sale, The Hague, 24 April 1737, no. 7). probably Graf van Hogendorp; probably (his sale, The Hague, 27 July 1751, no. 6).[1] Pieter Bisschop [c. 1690-1758] and Jan Bisschop [1680-1771], Rotterdam, by 1752; purchased 1771 with the Bisschop collection by Adrian Hope [1709-1781] and his nephew, John Hope [1737-1784], Amsterdam; by inheritance after Adrian's death to John, Amsterdam and The Hague; by inheritance to his sons, Thomas Hope [1769-1831], Adrian Elias Hope [1772-1834], and Henry Philip Hope [1774-1839], Bosbeek House, near Heemstede, and, as of 1794, London, where the collection was in possession of John's cousin, Henry Hope [c. 1739-1811], London; by inheritance 1811 solely to Henry Philip, Amsterdam and London, but in possession of his brother, Thomas, London; by inheritance 1839 to Thomas' son, Henry Thomas Hope [1808-1862], London, and Deepdene, near Dorking, Surrey; by inheritance to his wife, Adèle Bichat Hope [d. 1884], London and Deepdene; by inheritance to her grandson, Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 8th duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme [1866-1941], London; (P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. and Charles J. Wertheimer, London), 1898-1901; (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 1901 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA. [1] Mariët Westermann kindly brought the 1751 sale to the attention of Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. For a discussion of the provenance of this painting, including the 1737 sale, see Ben Broos, _Great Dutch Paintings from America_, exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Zwolle and The Hague, 1990: 419-423.
_-_WGA21741.jpg&width=600)
