The young mother.

The mother of Dutch 'Golden Age' painter and etcher Cornelis Pietersz. Bega (Begijn) (1631/2-64) inherited half the estate of her renowned Mannerist artist father Cornelis van Haarlem. Bega's father, Pieter Jansz. Begijn, was a goldsmith and silversmith: such was Bega's prosperous, artistic Haarlem family. He studied with the top genre painter Adriaen van Ostade, well represented in his prints at Te Papa. Bega's early works recall his teacher's dark, freely executed, many-figured subjects, though he often showed more psychological insight. From 1653 to 1654 he visited Germany, Switzerland and France, then returned to Haarlem to join the Guild of Saint Luke. His life was cut short, probably by the plague epidemic, ten years later. 

Bega's principal subjects were taverns, domestic interiors and villages, with characters ranging from nursing mothers and prostitutes to gamblers and alchemists. Between about 1660 and 1664, his genre scenes became more colourful, less populated, more emotionally expressive, and more focused on the fine details of object textures. Among those influenced by Bega was Jan Steen. Later European artists imitated Bega's style and borrowed characters from his dramas. Bega also drew, etched, and made counterproofs in a variety of materials. Though sadly short-lived, Bega became well known in his lifetime for his Dutch peasant genre themes, use of tenebrism (dramatic light and shade) and experimental methods of printmaking.

There is some ambiguity in this etching showing a young mother breastfeeding her baby in a rural home. Is the older man leaning over her the woman's husband, as one collection (DAC Collection, Wesleyan University) somewhat primly suggests? Or, more likely, is Bega addressing the lascivious appetites of the Dutch peasantry, as we see in another etching, not in the collection, Young Hostess Caressed by a Man? The young mother seated in an Inn (Te Papa 1869-0001-24) is related in its theme. Both works are likely to date from Bega's last few years prior to his premature death in 1664.

See:  The J. Paul Getty Museum, 'Cornelis Bega', http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/294/cornelis-bega-dutch-16311632-1664/

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   September 2018