Caspar Netscher

Caspar Netscher , 1639-84, Dutch portrait and genre painter, b. Heidelberg. He moved to Holland, where he studied with Ter Borch. Netscher was especially adept in the rendering of fabrics. He painted portraits of many illustrious persons of his time, including those of William of Orange and Mary II of England and of Mme de Montespan. The Metropolitan Museum contains The Card Party and two portraits, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, his Boy Blowing Bubbles.

Netscher, Caspar (b ?Prague, ?1635/9; d The Hague, 15 Jan. 1684). Dutch painter. Houbraken, who says Netscher was born in 1639, makes inconsistent statements about his birthplace, mentioning both Heidelberg and Prague; according to Roger de Piles, he was born in Prague and died aged 48, which would place his birth in 1635 or 1636. Most of his career was spent in The Hague, where he settled in 1661/2, but he trained in Deventer with Terborch. From his master he took his predilection for depicting costly materials—particularly white satin. He painted genre scenes and some religious and mythological subjects, but from about 1670 he devoted himself almost exclusively to portraits, often for court circles in The Hague. His reputation was such that Charles II invited him to England (Vertue says that he came, de Piles and Houbraken that he declined). His work, elegant, Frenchified, small in scale, and exquisitely finished, influenced Dutch portraiture into the 18th century; his followers included his sons Constantijn (1688–1723) and Theodoor (1661–1732).

Netscher, Caspar (1635/9?–84). Dutch painter. Houbraken makes inconsistent statements about his birthplace, mentioning both Heidelberg and Prague, and there is similar doubt about his birthdate. Most of his career was spent in The Hague, where he settled in 1661/2, but he trained in Deventer with Terborch. From his master he took his predilection for depicting costly materials—particularly white satin. He painted genre scenes and some religious and mythological subjects, but from about 1670 he devoted himself almost exclusively to portraits, often for court circles in The Hague. His reputation was such that Charles II invited him to England (Vertue says that he came, de Piles and Houbraken that he declined). His work, elegant, Frenchified, small in scale, and exquisitely finished, influenced Dutch portraiture into the 18th century, his followers including his sons Constantijn (1688–1723) and Theodoor (1661–1732).