Post, Frans (1612-1680)
A Brazilian Landscape
1650
Oil on wood, 61 x 91.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
From 1630 to 1654, the Dutch Republic maintained a colony in the north of Brazil. Post accompanied the governor to the area and filled sketchbooks with images of local flora and fauna. Motifs such as the iguana and cactus in the foreground of this painting added specifically tropical notes to the landscapes Post produced following his return to the Netherlands, which often featured figures from the local indigenous or enslaved populations—in this case Tupi men, women, and children. Post’s retrospective paintings, a mixture of fantasy and observation, continued to find a large clientele even after the Dutch lost the colony to the Portuguese. (MET)
See also:
• Brasil