Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Figure 6. Jan van Coym, View of Dordrecht from the Dordtse Kil, sigrled and dated 1644. Panel, 64. 7 X 95. 9 eln. National Callery of Art,
Washil1gton, D. C. (1978. 1.11). Alicia Mellon Bruce FUl1d.
that both the visible wood grain and the monochromatic palette, especially
the use of almost colorless smalt in the grayish skies, resulted from conscious
artistic choices rather than accident (13). The rapidity with which these works
must have been painted may have had an economic motive as well, lowering
the cost of production and hence enlarging the market for such works (14).
Conclusion
The transition from Flemish mannerist landscape to a new Dutch form of
naturalistic landscape in the first decades of the seventeenth century represents
a dramatic transition in style. The mode of mythological or biblical episodes
set before brightly colored, imaginary vistas, which Flemish immigrants had
brought north, was replaced in Holland in just a few years by subdued and
sympathetic renderings of the Dutch countryside.
The preliminary results of this study of the painting techniques of the period
suggest that the change in style was accomplished by deliberate changes in
painting technique. Dutch artists modified the conventionalized Flemish landscape
technique of light grounds, complete underdrawings, and colored underpaints,
which established three schematic zones of space. Instead, working
from drawings made from nature, they developed a sketchy shorthand style
in which the properties of their painting materials were exploited to evocative
effect. Thinly applied grounds and spare applications of underpaint allowed
the panels themselves to play a role in the image. Underdrawings became
quick notations upon which a more complete painted "sketch" was developed,
and this monochrome image, only partially colored and worked up in
the final stage of painting, was a dominant part of the finished work.
These developments are a fascinating illustration of the ways in which political
and social changes fo ster new artistic markets. As members of Dutch society
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Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice