Artwork
A confidential chat
A confidential chat is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Quirijn van Brekelenkam. It dates from 1661 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
History & Provenance
Historical records indicate the painting was once owned by Henric Muilman, a prominent Dutch art dealer, and later by Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll.
Quirijn van Brekelenkam created the oil-on-panel painting A Confidential Chat in 1661. The work is a genre scene depicting an intimate domestic interaction, executed in oil paint on a panel measuring 47 cm in height and 36 cm in width. Historical records indicate the painting was once owned by Henric Muilman, a prominent Dutch art dealer, and later by Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll.
These ownership details trace the artwork's path prior to its acquisition by the Rijksmuseum, where it is currently held. The creation date is definitively established as 1661, marking the period of the artist's mature output in the Dutch Golden Age.
The painting A confidential chat is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Created in 1661 by Quirijn van Brekelenkam, the work was previously owned by Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll and Henric Muilman. The provided sources do not contain specific inventory or accession numbers, nor do they list any exhibitions where the artwork has been displayed.
Overview
A confidential chat is a 1661 oil painting by Quirijn van Brekelenkam, a Dutch Baroque artist associated with the Leiden fijnschilders movement.
Subject & Meaning
The painting shows three women in a domestic interior, engaged in a private conversation. The women's attire and the everyday setting suggest a scene from ordinary life, characteristic of Dutch Golden Age genre painting.
Technique & Style
The work is notable for its meticulous detail, reflecting the Leiden fijnschilders' emphasis on precision and realism. Van Brekelenkam's style is likely influenced by his training under Gerard Dou.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Quirijn or Quiringh Gerritsz van Brekelenkam (1622/29, Zwammerdam – 1669/79, Leiden) was a Dutch Baroque genre painter.
- A Glass Of Lemonade
An Old Woman Bleeding a Young Woman, known as 'The Bloodletting'
Interieur mit drei Frauen und einem Mädchen
Merry company
Making Pancakes
A Sick Peasant Woman
Interior of a Tavern
Peasants Taking a Meal
The Sick Girl
Nursing Mother, and Child with Serving Maid
A Mother Feeding her Child (The Happy Mother)
'Good Neighbors'