843. BLOWING BUBBLES.
Gaspard Netscher (Dutch: 1639-1684).
Netscher, one of the chief painters of Dutch "high life," had a somewhat eventful career. He was born at Heidelberg, which was then being besieged. His mother, after seeing her two elder children die of hunger before her eyes, escaped with Gaspard through the investing lines to Arnheim. The boy was intended for a doctor, but took to painting and studied under Terburg. In 1659 he started on a tour to Italy, but at Bordeaux he fell in love with a girl from Liège, whom he married. He settled at Bordeaux, but his pictures, such as this, which are now so much valued, then brought him but slight remuneration; and after returning to the Hague, he turned his attention to portrait-painting. Several of his portraits are of English sitters, and it is supposed that he visited this country, but this is uncertain. Netscher's portraits are generally on a small scale, and very highly finished. He was patronised by William III., and was rapidly acquiring fame, when he died at the age of forty-five. His genre pieces resemble those of F. Mieris.