Cornelis Troost

At the beginning of the 18th century, a special type of group portrait known as a conversation piece became fashionable throughout Europe. In these informal scenes we see the sitters interacting in a domestic setting. Troost made a major contribution to this development in the Netherlands.

Portraits of administrative bodies are a typical Dutch tradition. Troost established his reputation with a large group portrait of the inspectors of the Collegium Medicum of Amsterdam. He also painted an anatomy lesson modelled on a famous one by Rembrandt.

Troost was an extremely adept pastellist. Thanks to the delicate touch of the pastel crayon, his portraits make a lively, authentic impression. By combining this medium with extensive gouache, Troost made a highly original contribution to European art.

To enliven his portraits, Troost used a snapshot-like effect. He had his sitters look slightly to the side, as if interrupted in their activities. A detail such as traces of powder from a wig spilled on a shoulder also indicated that the person being portrayed was not expecting visitors.

Troost painted and drew many scenes from plays. He knew many of the farces and comedies from his time as an actor. Troost had a great fondness for theatre and in his younger years he even performed on stage himself, together with his wife Susanna Maria van der Duyn.

Troost mainly depicted scenes from comedies and farces. They do not take place on stage, but rather in a domestic setting or on the street. The theatricality lies in the caricatural portrayal of the main characters, the props and the sometimes shallow picture plane.

The NELRI series is one of Troost’s most famous works. The five pastels form a humorous visual story about a cosy evening of a group of distinguished gentlemen. The series derives its name from the first letters of the five Latin titles.

In the 1740s Troost concentrated on military subjects. He developed an entirely new format for his guardroom scenes. Instead of messy and dimly lit, as in 17th-century paintings, Troost’s guardrooms are orderly and brightly lit.

Troost was proficient in both small and large dimensions. He decorated Amsterdam canal houses with ceiling and wall paintings. For this he had gained the requisite experience at the Amsterdam Theatre, where he was not only an actor but also a set painter.

Troost gave drawing lessons to his daughters Elisabeth and Sara. Sara was the most talented. She practised by copying her father’s work and then turned to making pastel portraits. This allowed her to support her family after her father’s untimely death.