Joan Le Ducq

JOHAN LE DUCQ (The Hague, 1629 - 1676).
"Game of cards".
Oil on oak panel.
It has Italian frame of the first half of the eighteenth century.
Measurements: 30 x 38 cm; 50 x 56 cm (frame).
This work represents a recurring theme in Dutch painting in the Baroque period, an informal meeting of characters in a tavern or domestic interior. The illumination, of baroque heritage, is dispersed on the table and affects each of the faces, of lively expressions. The warmth of friendship and fun is captured in the smiles and the bonhomie of the countenances. The space is in complete half-light, focusing the attention on the clothes, the gauzy blouses, handkerchiefs, etc..., a detail and love for the popular types that knows a long tradition in the Dutch painting.
Johan le Ducq Dutch draughtsman, engraver, art dealer and soldier. Johan le Ducq was for a long time confused with Jacob Duck. Van Gool mentions that his first artistic apprenticeship was with Paulus Potter- The first time Ducq is mentioned as a painter is in 1655, in connection with a brawl in which the Hague painter Olivier Hasenbaert was also involved. In 1656, Ducq was a founding member of the guild "Confrérie Pictura", but refused to pay his dues in 1658. Johan le Ducq joined the Painters' Guild of The Hague. On June 17, 1662, Ducq received permission to sell his copper plates and engravings at the Confrerie. The engraving on a cup in the Confrerie Pictura by Jonas Gutsche (Rotterdam, BvB) identifies Ducq as the third "Hooftman" of the artists' guild in 1670 and the first in 1671.