Dutch Treat Ter Borchís Paintings Show Intricate Detail of High Life by Gary Tischler In the wide-ranging exhibition of works by wide-ranging 17th-century Dutch artist Gerard Ter Borch, now at the National Gallery of Art, you get to talk and think about a lot of things. Viewers can look at Ter Borch as a kind of storyteller, but the kind of storyteller who lets you come up with the punch line. Ter Borch isnít very well known in the constellation of stars of Dutch painters, which is a crowded one. Maybe this was because he appears to have been very good, even exceptional, at a lot of things, without quite ever having a historical and critical mythos arranged around him like other Dutch luminaries, such as Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. But the exhibition presents us with a rich tableóa kind of buffet of the life and works of Ter Borch. And with buffets being what they are, thereís a little bit of everything hereósome of it remarkable indeed, and some of it a little pedestrian, particularly the pear-shaped, somber, dressed-in-all-black men and women striking the standard pose of self-importance that Dutch burghers and people of respectable means seem to have been born with at the time . Ter Borch, the son of a painter turned tax collector, lived from 1617 to 1681, a turbulent period of Dutch history when the wars with Spain had finally concluded and prosperity was a mix in the national life. The young artist appears to have been naturally gifted and observant. Consider the painting of a soldier on horsebackóweary, his shoulders drooped, observed from behind. This was rendered during Ter Borchís teens and remains a distinctive and remarkably powerful painting. This is the kind of exhibition where a conversation with curator Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. led into odd byways, including the expression Ter Borch captured in his paintings featuring cows. "Believe me, you have never seen more real cows than that," Wheelock said. The curator also noted the elastic qualities of many of Ter Borchís paintings, which seem to be telling stories that lend themselves to a variety of interpretations. Many of Ter Borchís so-called "high-life" paintingsósome using his younger half-sister as a modelówere apparently domestic romantic scenes, with gentleman callers, rings, glasses of wines, letters, music lessons and heavy doses of satin dresses, a genius-level specialty of Ter Borch. The real genius of Ter Borch, however, besides getting the quality and texture of satin just right, is two-fold. These scenesóa man bowing in courtly fashion or appearing to offer coins, a woman delicately drinking a glass of wine, a man eying a woman being courted by another man, an officer writing a letteróare remarkably detailed in their rendering. The brushwork is sure and swift, and the paintings are lit with a natural light thatís not so selective as to idealize the scene. These paintings seem real, almost contemporary. They could be taking place in drawing rooms or they could be, as one critic suggested, taking place in a brothel. What they are is very alive and mysterious. Theyíre full of things that are just around the corner, about to happen or have just happened. That alone would set Ter Borch apart, but there are also some singular works that defy categoryóthe crowded portrait of the participants at the Treaty of M¸nster in 1648, for instance, a painting on copper that manages to get 77 participants and witnesses into the piece. Itís a remarkable work with its blacks and other dark colors sprinkled with splashes of red. Thereís also an early and quite strange portrait of Helena van der Schalcke, who was only 2 years old at the time. With her big black eyes, she seems almost wise beyond her years, surrounded by white against a dark background. Thereís something lovely and a bit unsettling about it. Even stranger is the painting of fanatic flagellants at night, with the streaks of red blood. Vermeer seems to have been influenced by the high-life scenes that Ter Borch executed so well, not to mention how he assayed satin. But Ter Borch is no Vermeer. It wouldnít do to have the two menís work in the same room together. Ter Borch, whom we now know a lot better and are richer for it, is what he is, having executed his craft quite well. He belongs in that diverse pantheon of Dutch painters for a number of reasonsóhis renderings of satin, the high life, the treaty, the portraits, even the cows. Thatís reason enough, without having to make grander claims for him. "Gerard Ter Borch" runs through Jan. 30 at the National Gallery of Art, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue, NW. For more information, please call (202) 737-4215 or visit www.nga.gov. Gary Tischler is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.