Artwork
Singer with a Guitar
Singer with a Guitar is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jan Steen. It dates from 1660 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Jan Steen’s oil on canvas, dated 1660, portrays a solitary musician absorbed in his performance. The figure, cloaked in dark attire, is illuminated by a modest flame that flickers behind his head, casting deep shadows across the composition. The work resides in the collection of Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst, where it is displayed among the museum’s Dutch Golden Age holdings.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure is a male lute player, his eyes closed and brow furrowed, suggesting intense focus on the music. The quiet, introspective mood invites viewers to contemplate the personal, perhaps private, nature of musical practice in the 17th century, emphasizing concentration over spectacle.
Technique & Style
Steen employs chiaroscuro to model the figure, using the flame’s glow to create a stark contrast between illuminated flesh and the surrounding darkness. The careful rendering of the instrument’s strings and the subtle gradations of light on the clothing demonstrate the artist’s skill in achieving three‑dimensionality within a limited color palette.
History & Provenance
Created in 1660, the painting entered the Statens Museum for Kunst’s collection, though the exact acquisition details remain undocumented in public records. Its presence in the museum underscores the institution’s commitment to representing Dutch genre painting from the mid‑17th century.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jan Havickszoon Steen was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century.
Paintings of physicians by Jan Steen
The Dissolute Household
Merry Company on a Terrace
Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman
Interior of an inn with an old man amusing himself with the landlady and two men playing backgammon, known as 'Two kinds of games'
The Drunken Couple
The Happy Family
Bathsheba after the Bath
