Jan Looten

Jan Looten (Amsterdam 1618–1680 London) An autumnal landscape with figures, oil on canvas, 105 x 103 cm, framed, We are grateful to M. de Kinkelder of the RKD, The Hague, for confirming the authenticity of this painting. She notes that the tree stump in the foreground can almost be seen as the artist’’’’s signature (correspondence with the consignor dated December 2011). Jan Looten, who grew up in Amsterdam, saw his chance in the expanding London art market following the Restoration in Great Britain and the return of the Stuart kings. He opened a workshop in London, in which talented young artists, such as Jan Griffier and Simon Verelst worked with him. King James II, a member of the Stuart dynasty, owned at least three landscape paintings by Looten.

Jan Looten (Dutch 1618-1681) Sportsmen in a wooded landscape with a castle on a promontory in the distance signed and dated 'JAN Looten/1659' (lower right) oil on canvas 131 x 153 cm (51 9/16 x 60 1/4in). in a carved and giltwood frame PROVENANCE: Maurice Segoura, Paris Jan Looten was a follower of Jakob van Ruisdael, and the present painting is typical of his landscapes which are composed of lush woodlands inhabited by riders and sportsmen.

LOT 48 JAN LOOTEN AMSTERDAM 1618 - CIRCA 1681 LONDON A VIEW OF A VILLAGE IN A FOREST LANDSCAPE, WITH AN INN ON THE BANKS OF A RIVER AND FIGURES BATHING ON THE LEFT, OTHER FIGURES ON A PATH, A CHURCH TOWER BEYOND 12,000—18,000 EUR DESCRIPTION bears initials lower right: D.V.H oil on canvas PROVENANCE Dr. L.D. van Hendel, Arnhem; Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, De Zon, 22 June 1965, lot 5451 (as D.V.H...). CATALOGUE NOTE Although this painting had been traditionally attributed to Daniël van Heil, also known as the monogrammist D.V.H., due to the somewhat illegable monogram lower right, it was Marijke de Kinkelder of the R.K.D., The Hague, who rightly identified it as a late work by Jan Looten, painted when the artist was in England. Compare for instance a work sold, Munich, Neumeister, 14 September 1988, lot 489, which shows a similar composition and rendering of figures and trees.

Oil on canvas, 68,5 x 106cm. NB: A similar painting, signed and dated 1658, oil on canvas, 115 x 154cm., can be found in Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, inv.no. 1464 (Literature: J. Giltay, Honderdvijftig jaar erbij en eraf.De collectie Oude Schilderkunst van het Museum Boymans vanBeuningen Rotterdam 1849 tot 1999, 2000, page 112, with ill.) Reverse side with two laquer stamps with text SchweizerichesGeneralkonsulat Prag .

MEASUREMENTS measurements note DESCRIPTION signed and dated lower right IAN Looten/1661 and inscribed with the numbers 88 and 19 oil on canvas PROVENANCE By descent in the Reedtz-Thott family to Baron Axel Reedtz-Thott, Gavnoe Castle, Denmark; By whose Executors sold, London, Christie's, July 2, 1976, lot 26, to Feigen; With Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York; From whom acquired by the present owners in 1996. LITERATURE AND REFERENCES J. Lange, Baroniet Gavnoes Malerisamling, 1876, cat. no. 12; K. Madsen and O. Andrup, Baroniet Gaun¢s Malerisamling, 1914, cat. no. 88; K. Madsen, Malerisamlingen paa Gavnoe, Kunstmuseets Aarsskrift, IV, 1917, pp. 63-4.