Term in art history for a painting showing a small group of people enjoying themselves
Willem Pietersz. Buytewech, Merry Company, c. 1620, apart from the maid an all-male group
Merry company is the term in art history for a painting, usually from the 17th century, showing a small group of people enjoying themselves, usually seated with drinks, and often music-making. These scenes are a very common type of genre painting of the Dutch Golden Age and Flemish Baroque; it is estimated that nearly two thirds of Dutch genre scenes show people drinking.[1]
Dirck Hals, Merry Company at Table, 1627–29
The term is the usual translation of the Dutch geselschapje,[2] or vrolijk gezelschap, and is capitalized when used as a title for a work, and sometimes as a term for the type. The scenes may be set in the home, a garden, or a tavern, and the gatherings range from decorous groups in wealthy interiors to groups of drunk men with prostitutes. Gatherings that are relatively decorous and expensively dressed, with similar numbers of men and women, often standing, may be called Elegant Company or Gallant Company, while those showing people who are clearly peasants are more likely to use that word in their title. Such subjects in painting are most common in Dutch art between about 1620 and 1670.
Merrycompany is the term in art history for a painting, usually from the 17th century, showing a small group of people enjoying themselves, usually seated...
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a tavern and can be regarded as an important early statement of the merrycompany tradition. He also painted a small number of portraits, some of exceptional...
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history paintings, portraits, allegories and genre scenes, including merrycompanies. He worked in Brussels as court painter and left Flanders after the...
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engraving by Gillis van Breen (1595–1622), with the same scene. The merrycompany showed a group of figures at a party, whether making music at home or...
painting during the time. For example, in Willem Buytewech’s painting The MerryCompany (circa 1620–1622), there are three young men and a woman sitting around...
rather than to explore an interest in the subject matter. In these merrycompany compositions, the focal point is not dispersed among numerous figure...
Baroque painter active in Antwerp who specialized in the genres of merrycompanies and gallery paintings. Very little is known about the life of Jacob...
Merry Riana (born 29 May 1980) is a Chinese-Indonesian motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and writer. Merry Riana was born on 29 May 1980 to Suanto Sosrosaputro...
artists favored scenes depicting more ordinary, every-day life, and the merrycompany paintings were a common genre of their work. They depict common settings...
recurring themes in Flemish and Dutch genre painting is that of the merrycompany. These works typically show a group of figures at a party, whether making...
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MerryCompany with Two Men and Two Women, also known as The Visit, is an oil-on-panel painting by the Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch, created c. 1657....
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (international), Galloper (international) or roundabout (British English) is a...
The Merry Widow (German: Die lustige Witwe [diː ˈlʊstɪɡə ˈvɪtvə]) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor...
– 17 May 1656), born at Haarlem, was a Dutch Golden Age painter of merrycompany scenes, festivals and ballroom scenes. He played a role in the development...
Trade to the East". In Bentley, Jerry; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay; Wiesner-Hanks, Merry (eds.). The Construction of a Global World, 1400–1800 CE, Part 2, Patterns...
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