Oil Painting, 'Colonel Cornelis Backer', attributed to Wybrand Hendricks after Pieter Claesz. Soutman, ca. 1775 -1830

A portrait of Colonel Cornelis Backer seated on a chair holding his caliver in the crook of his left arm and a walking stick in his right

Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

Purchased by Constantine Alexander Ionides for £300 on 29 June 1891 (his inventory, private collection). Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides, 1900
The collection formed by Constantine Ionides includes works of a wide variety of schools, periods and artists. His collection includes Old Masters, 17th century works, contemporary British works and French 19th century works. Constantine formed friendships with artists of the day, especially Legros, who, having spent 17 years in Britain, became a naturalise British citizen. Constantine’s plans concerning his collection conformed to a more ‘public-welfare’ vein of thought than his father or brother. He decided to donate his collection to the Victoria & Albert Museum, instead of privately distributing it or disposing of it in a Sales room.
The collection bequeathed to the museum in 1901 comprises 1138 pictures, drawing and prints, to which a further 20 items were added on the death of his widow in 1920. The works are listed in the V&A catalogue of the Constantine Alexander Ionides collection.

Historical significance: Wybrand Hendricks (1744-1831) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, Curator and collector. In 1776 he moved to Haarlem, where he painted still-lifes and made watercolour copies after 17th-century masters for collectors. He was in Ede from 1782 to 1785 but returned to Haarlem in 1785 and until 1819 was curator of the art collections of the Teylers Foundation. He also became Haarlem’s most sought after portrait painter and depicted many prominent citizens. his drawings and paintings are characterized however by a realism at times close to caricature, a somewhat clumsy handling of figures and space and, occasionally, a completely idiosyncratic composition.
CAI.79 is a later reduced copy of the figure of Colonel Cornelis Backer who appears at the lower right in the large group portrait attributed to Soutman of the Officers and sub-alterns of the Calivermen's Civic Guard now in the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem and dated ca. 1642 (Inv.no. OS I-313). Calivers were a kind of light musket or harquebus introduced during the 16th century. The original work must have hung in the head quarters of the Civic Guard as a record of its members. Pieter (Claesz.) Soutman (c. 1580-1657) was a Dutch engraver, etcher, draughtsman, painter and publisher who specialized in painting history pieces and portraits. Most of his paintings executed in Haarlem during the 1640s reveal the influence of Rubens and van Dyck but also that of artists from the Haarlem school, particularly Frans Hals.

Following its independence from Spain in 1581, the Dutch Republic experienced an era of unprecedented wealth - a 'Golden Age'- in which successful merchants and entrepreneurs formed a new middle-class elite which dominated local government and civic institutions. This elite became the new principal patrons of the arts. To establish and reinforce their social position, the bourgeoisie regularly commissioned portraits to commemorate the important moments in their lives: births, marriages, and professional and civic appointments. As artists sought new solutions in portrait painting to satisfy the evolving demands of their clientele the genre developed from individual portraits preserved within private settings into group portraits, often depicting families or members of charitable institutions and civic guards, positioned more visibly within both the public domain. Two cities were at the forefront of Dutch portraiture from the 1630s onwards: Amsterdam and The Hague. Amsterdam however had a greater number of portraitists and a larger demand for portraiture.

This is a late 18th- early 19th century copy of the portrait of Colonel Cornelis Backer in Soutman's group portrait Officers and sub-alterns of the Calivermen's Civic Guard now in the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem of ca. 1642.
A handwritten note in the object file reads '...D.C. Röell, Director of the Gemeente Museum, Amsterdam, thinks (21/4/1936) this copy may possibly be by Hendriks, who was working at Haalem in the 1st half of the 19th cent.'
This slightly confused note must refer to David Cornelis Röell who was in actuality Director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam between 1936 and 1945, and director-in-chief of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, 1945-1959. [The Gemeente Museum is of course in The Hague]
Nevertheless, the attribution to Wybrand Hendricks is suggestive, particularly as in 1776 he moved to Haarlem, where he painted still-lifes and made watercolour copies after 17th-century masters for collectors. He was in Ede from 1782 to 1785 but returned to Haarlem in 1785 and until 1819 was curator of the art collections of the Teylers Foundation and became Haarlem’s most sought after portrait painter and depicted many prominent citizens. his drawings and paintings are characterized however by a realism at times close to caricature, a somewhat clumsy handling of figures and space and, occasionally, a completely idiosyncratic composition.

A portrait of Colonel Cornelis Backer seated on a chair holding his caliver in the crook of his left arm and a walking stick in his right. Pieter (Claesz.) Soutman (c. 1580-1657) was a Dutch engraver, etcher, draughtsman, painter and publisher, active in Flanders and Holland. As a painter, Soutman specialized in history pieces and portraits. Most of his paintings executed in Haarlem during the 1640s reveal the influence of Rubens and van Dyck but also that of artists from the Haarlem school, particularly Frans Hals. CAI.79 is a later reduced copy, possibly by Wybrand Hendricks, of the figure of Colonel Cornelis Backer who appears at the lower right in the large group portrait attributed to Soutman of the Officers and sub-alterns of the Calivermen's Civic Guard now in the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem and dated ca. 1642 (Inv.no. OS I-313). Calivers were a kind of light musket or harquebus introduced during the 16th century. The original work must have hung in the head quarters of the Civic Guard as a record of its members.

CAI.79