Dutch Golden Age Painters Beyond Rembrandt and Vermeer

The Laughing Cavalier, in the Wallace Collection, is a place to begin with Hals. The sitter’s sideways turn, raised elbow, and glittering sleeve make the portrait feel like a moment caught in motion. The costume gives you plenty to inspect, but Hals keeps pulling your gaze back to the man’s expression.

In Self-Portrait at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Leyster turns away from her easel while she paints a violinist. The musician introduces the merry company scenes she was known for. The poised brush makes the portrait feel like an interruption.

Start with The Merry Family at the Rijksmuseum. The adults make music and the children join in, following the example of the older people around the table. Find the note above the fireplace to see how Steen lets a loud household scene carry a joke about what adults teach.

The Courtyard of a House in Delft at the National Gallery in London shows what de Hooch can do with a doorway. Follow the paving and openings away from the woman and child. Each threshold offers a little more of the house without letting you see all of it.

Find Vase with Flowers at the Mauritshuis. Start in the middle, where a cut poppy has left a space among the stems. The gap makes the bouquet look deeper. Past the brightest petals, you can see how Ruysch arranged flowers with different degrees of freshness together.

The Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede in the Rijksmuseum leaves a lot of room for the sky. Follow the approaching cloud toward the mill and see how the mill’s height gathers the separate details into one landscape. Start here if you like weather that changes the scale of a view.

In River Landscape with Riders at the Rijksmuseum, follow the glow on the riders to the light edges of the clouds and the reflections in the river. The same low light ties together people and distances. Put it beside Ruisdael’s mill to see how differently two painters could use the sky.

Start with Interior of the Sint-Odulphuskerk in Assendelft at the Rijksmuseum. Follow the lines of the architecture into the bright church. Once you have the bearings of the room, notice how small the people at the sermon look in the space Saenredam has measured out.

In Gallant Conversation at the Rijksmuseum, look at the woman’s satin dress and then at the visitor with a hat still in his hand. Ter Borch lets you see enough to guess about the meeting without confirming what it is about. That makes the clear folds and reflections of the satin all the more striking.

See The Goldfinch at the Mauritshuis. Start with the little chain near the bird’s foot, then let your eye move out into the light and shadow on the white wall. Fabritius gives those few elements the sense of a living bird you have briefly come upon.

At the Mauritshuis, give The Bull time at two distances. Take in the size of the animal, then move your eyes along its coat and look for the flies. Potter put that close observation on a scale that lets a subject from the pasture hold the room.

Find Still Life with a Turkey Pie at the Rijksmuseum. Claesz painted the imported porcelain, the nautilus shell, and the oysters so they vie for your attention. The table gives you a way to see just how far the ingredients and serving pieces for a single meal could travel.

Look for Still Life with Drinking-Horn at the National Gallery in London. The silver mount on the horn and the wine glasses ask for close attention in the dark. Begin with the light on the lemon peel to see how differently Kalf handles the shine of the expensive vessels.

Try The Woman with Dropsy at the Louvre. A physician raises a glass next to the seated patient. Let your eye travel toward the patches of light on the window, white clothing, and chandelier. Dou gives a small room the weight of a stage, with the bowed and raised hands carrying much of the story.

Find Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters at the Rijksmuseum. Follow one person on the ice and then switch to someone whose reason for being there looks quite different. The high viewpoint lets you move between work, play, and misfortune in the same crowd.

Start with The Cannon Shot at the Rijksmuseum. The loose sails and quiet water make the cloud by the side of the warship hard to miss. Van de Velde uses the stillness around the ship to set off one short event in a quiet stretch of sea.

Look for the vanitas still life in the Rijksmuseum. The flowers offer a starting point, but look down toward the skull and the written tablets. Van Oosterwijck chose objects that invite you to think about what will outlast an arrangement as elaborate as this.