Judith Leyster's Proposition By Frima Hofrichter

625 Words2 Pages

In her article, “Judith Leyster’s Proposition – Between Virtue and Vice,” Frima Fox Hofrichter offers the readers to acknowledge a painter of still-life, portraiture, and genre works named Judith Leyster, who had been greatly commended in her native city of Haarlem by introducing a new view in painting that contradicts a popular theme. The key question that the author, Frima Hofrichter, is addressing is Judith Leyster’s outlook towards her painting of The Proposition, instead of the actual subject in the art piece.
The most important information in this article is Judith Leyster’s notable painting called, The Proposition, and several paintings done by artists, such as Quentin Metsys and Dirck Van Baburen, whose works differ from Leyster’s …show more content…

By this concept the author means that it was common for artists during the sixteenth-century to make artworks where the subject matter is about prostitution, brothels, and procuresses (Hofrichter 3). Frima Fox mentions that not only was Leyster’s perspective different from her compatriots, but also her behavior towards the subject (Hofrichter 4). The main point of view presented in this article that the author, Frima, is looking at is Leyster’s attitude toward prostitution. The author believes that Judith Leyster’s painting displays her standpoint as a woman of virtue, which is visibly portrayed in Judith’s artwork, where the woman is dressed formally and is ignoring the man’s offer (Hofrichter 6). Waiting for a response of the woman sewing, the scene is described as a silent and intimate propositional scene, which was not brought up again until 25 years later when Gerard Ter Borch was present (Hofrichter 7). The author trusts the influence of Judith Leyster’s Proposition on other artists, like Metsu and Vermeer, whose works show a similar concept of a woman being disturbed by a male figure and the silent mood of proposition in painting (Hofrichter

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