Judith Leyster Overview

Judith Leyster signed her paintings with a unique symbol: her initials interwoven with a lodestar. This visual translation of her last name means "guiding light" in Dutch. But for 200 years after her death Leyster's light was blacked out in the... [more]

Judith Leyster signed her paintings with a unique symbol: her initials interwoven with a lodestar. This visual translation of her last name means "guiding light" in Dutch. But for 200 years after her death Leyster's light was blacked out in the art world. Until the late 1870s her work was attributed to her contemporary Frans Hals, the great Dutch painter of genre scenes. Leyster was finally rediscovered when that unique signature emerged during the cleaning of a painting attributed to him. Twenty-two of Leyster's works remain in existence. Her repertoire extended from still lifes of flowers to portraits and genre paintings of more or less pedestrian scenes: partygoers engrossed in a game of backgammon, ruddy-faced couples drinking, plump children cuddling a cat, and musicians at play. "The Concert" is representative of Leyster's style: while a singer and lute player gaily perform, a violinist smiles out at the audience. The painting bursts with casual warmth and activity. But not all Leyster's paintings were concerned with merrymaking. "The Proposition," or "Man Offering Money to a Young Woman," is one of her more controversial pieces. In a candlelit setting, a bearded man in a fur hat jingles gold coins in his hand, propositioning a humbly dressed woman. The woman tries to ignore him by focusing on her sewing. Leyster paints annoyance, concentration, and fear in the woman's face in what is unmistakably a sympathetic portrayal of her precarious situation. Leyster became a painter when her Flemish brewer father went bankrupt and she was forced at 15 to learn a trade to support the family. She began at that time to study under a local portrait painter, Frans Pietersz de Grebber. Thoughout her career Leyster conducted her professional life just as her male counterparts did: she belonged to the Haarlem painter's guild (as its sole female member) and she mentored a number of male students who worked vigorously under her instruction. In 1639 Leyster married a fellow painter and they raised three children while struggling with financial difficulties throughout their lives. As with the work of many other women artists, Leyster's artistic output decreased significantly after her marriage. [show less]