Yu. I. Kuznetsov — Investigator of the 17th Century Dutch and Flemish Art

Abstract

The article is devoted to the scientific heritage of Yuriy Kuznetsov, the outstanding Soviet art historian, and aims to show his contribution into investigations of the 17th century Dutch and Flemish art, which was the main field in his professional interests. The author traces Kuznetsov’s path in the science for about 30 years, identifies and describes thematic lines of his researches and shows the importance of his works for the development of Netherlandish studies in Russia. Being a brilliant master of attribution, Kuznetsov established the authorship of many Dutch pictures in the state Hermitage (where he worked since 1947 until his death) and in the funds of regional museums. He published investigations about Nicolaus Knüpfer, Adriaen van Ostade, Jan Steen, Nicolaes Berhem and other figures of Italianized trend in Dutch school. His monograph about Rembrandt’s picture “Danae” in the Hermitage collection is a classic example of a comprehensive study of art work (1970). The combination of stylistic and iconographic analysis with results of technological examination and involvement of biographical data made it possible to definitively identify the plot of this picture and reveal its history, connected with the creative evolution and private life of the painter. Kuznetsov also studied Flemish and Dutch drawings with success. Works of Rubens’s graphics (1965, 1974) and the book covering the development of drawings in the Netherlands in the 15th–17th centuries (1981, sole in Russian science to now days) are the most important in this part of his legacy. Kuznetsov was the organizer of number exhibitions dedicated to the masters of Flanders and Holland, the author of guide-book to the Dutch exposition in Hermitage. The methodology of his researches combines close attention to every art work and broad cultural outlook, interest to creative connections and influences between masters. Kuznetsov’s scientific activity by its intensity, variety of subjects and outstanding results has to call one of the great pages in historiography of Flemish and Dutch art.