Paul van Somer, Portrait of a Young Lady, About 1620. Oil paint on panel; 35 1/8 × 27 1/4 in. (89.2 × 69.2 cm). Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2021.26

image height: 35 1/8 in, 89.2175 cm; image width: 27 1/4 in, 69.2150 cm; frame height: 42 1/2 in, 107.9500 cm; frame width: 34 1/4 in, 86.9950 cm; frame depth: 1 3/4 in, 4.4450 cm

European and American Art Before 1900

European Painting and Sculpture before 1900

This picture reflects the taste for naturalism in both portraiture and fashion that developed in the early 17th century. Paul van Somer portrays his sitter with a relaxed demeanor and lifelikeness that contrast with the masklike formality of the previous decades’ portraiture. The artist, who enjoyed a successful career in Amsterdam, was named painter to James I soon after moving to London in 1616. The Berger picture is one of a small number of works by van Somer in American collections. 
 

U.K.; Sotheby's, London, April 9, 1997, lot 9 (attributed to Robert Peake) [the foregoing from Witt Library photo documentation]; from whom acquired by William M.B. Berger and Bernadette Johnson Berger, Denver, 1997; Berger Collection Educational Trust; gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2021. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum and we will post information as it becomes available. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.