Jacques D Arthois

LOT 132 PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION JACQUES D'ARTHOIS BRUSSELS, BAPT. 1613 - 1686 A ROCKY COVE WITH FISHERFOLK ON THE SHORE, AN ARTIST SKETCHING IN THE FOREGROUND signed lower right: Jac d Arthois the reverse of the panel branded with the Antwerp panel-maker's mark of Lambrecht Steen I: LS oil on panel 33.7 by 45.4 cm.; 13 1/4 by 17 7/8 in.

Jacques d'Arthois (Brussels 1613-1686) A winter landscape with figures and a dog on a track, cottages beyond signed 'J . d Arthois' (lower left) oil on panel 10 7/8 x 16 in. (27.6 x 40.7 cm.) Anonymous sale [The Property of a Gentleman]; Christie's, London, 10 April 1987, lot 1 (£8,000).

Jacques d'Arthois (Brussels 1613-1686) A wooded landscape with shepherds and cattle resting near alake oil on canvas 150.4 x 223.3 cm. Provenance with Richard L. Feigen, London, 1990; where purchased by thepresent owner. According to Michel Kervyn this lot can be considered as a primeexample of Brussels 17th Century decorative landscape painting, dueto its large size and majestic composition, the richness ofharmonious colours and its effects of clair-obscur (written undatedstatement). Jacques d'Arthois collaborated with various artists.The staffage in the present painting could have been executed bythe young Pieter van Bloemen (Antwerp 1657-1720).

Sale W220 Lot 6470 - 25 March 2009 14:00 English translation is not available for Koller West auctions. D'ARTHOIS, JACQUES (1613 Brüssel 1686), Umkreis Bewaldete Flusslandschaft mit Merkur und Argus. Öl auf Leinwand. 86 x 117 cm. Provenienz: Schweizer Privatsammlung. Literatur: "Important Old Master paintings and drawings from the 15th - 18th century", Ausstellungskatalog Paris/Toronto 21. September - 8. Oktober 1978. Ausstellung: - Paris, Grand Palais, 1978. - Toronto, Kekko Gallery, 1978. Die Staffage ist im Stile Jacob Jordans gemalt. CHF 8 000.- / 12 000.- € 5 260.- / 7 890.-

JACQUES D'ARTHOIS (1613-1686) - LANDSCAPE WITH A CASTLE AND FIGURES - PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
Mis: 191 by 235 cm.; 75 1/4 by 92 1/2 in.
signed with monogram lower left oil on canvas

PROVENANCE
P. Roy collection, Rolle.

CATALOGUE NOTE
This immense landscape, characterised by its rich hues and powerful contrasts, is a typical work by the leading Flemish landscape painter of the second half of the seventeenth century, Jacques d'Arthois. D'Arthois was baptised in Brussels in 1613 and became a master of the painter's guild there in 1634. He is known to have had at least six pupils, including his brother Nicolaes (b. 1617) and his son Jan Baptist (b. 1638), the latter offspring from his marriage to Marie Sampels in 1636. Another pupil, Cornelis van Empel, came to him from Mechelen, to the north of Brussels. D'Arthois was well known in Brussels and its environs and indeed was appointed tapestry cartoon designer of the city of Brussels in 1655. Although the exact location represented in this work remains unidentified, it is likely to depict a high point in the forest of Soignies where the artist is known to have owned a house. He and several other artists, including Lodewijk de Vadder (1605-1655) and Lucas Achtschellinck (1626-1629), who also lived and worked in the forest, later became known as the Soignies forest painters. Typical of D'Arthois in this work is the framing of both vertical margins with tall, bushy trees, the path carved out of the clay bank and the traditional Flemish framework of browns in the foreground, and greens in the middle-distance fading into blues beyond. Moreover, the boldness of the brushwork and the rich, daring palette suggest the influence of the greatest Flemish painter of the first half of the century, Peter Paul Rubens. D'Arthois was not only a prolific painter of landscapes, but also collected a large number of paintings and owned several houses. His flamboyant lifestyle however meant that he died in 1686 severely in debt.