Jan Jozefsz. Van Goyen

Jan Josefsz. van Goyen (Leiden 1596-1656 The Hague) An extensive landscape with travellers on a path, a view of Arnhem beyond signed with monogram and dated 'VG 1650' (VG linked, lower left) oil on panel, tondo 63.2 cm. diam. The late Viscount Weymouth, Lorton Hall, near Rugby (according to a label on reverse). with L. Koetser, London, 1950. with E. Slatter, London, 1950. with J.H. Borghouts, Utrecht, by 1954. In the possession of the family of the present owner since 1957. H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen, II, Amsterdam, 1973, p. 66, no. 129. London, E. Slatter, Exhibition of Dutch and Flemish Masters, 10 May-8 July 1950, no. 23. Hans-Ulrich Beck records nineteen views of Arnhem by Van Goyen, with dated versions between 1633 and 1647 (H.-U. Beck, op. cit., nos. 272-89). This painting shows one of the more distant views of the city, looking South across the hills on a summer's day. Van Goyen more frequently depicted the city from across the Rhine, with water occupying the foreground. The path here acts as a compositional device winding its way from the foreground towards the city and leading the eye accordingly into the landscape. The monumental tower of the Grote Kerk (or Sint Eusebius) which breaks the skyline just left of the centre provides the focal point. To its left are the twin spires of the Sint Waldburgskerk. By comparison with Van Goyen's other treatments of the view, the present work corresponds most closely to another version, dated 164(5), which is taken from approximately the same viewpoint, (ibid., no. 276). The general design of both relate to a drawing of Arnhem, from a slightly advanced vantage point, in an English collection (see fig. 1; H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen, Amsterdam, 1972, I, p. 226, no. 716). Van Goyen repeats the circular format that his teacher Esaias van de Velde took from Flemish tradition, and also bases the composition on clear graduations of perspective - the figures conversing in the foreground, and the path that leads to the city of Arnhem in the distance. The tree is used to break up the otherwise strongly horizontal composition. Painted in 1650, this composition shows Van Goyen's masterful use of palette, deliberately restricted to a range of yellows and golden-browns, with occasional hints of blue. This tonal style, which Van Goyen first adopted in the 1630s, and to which he returned in the late 1640s, was one in which he is regarded as pre-eminent, having brought it to perfection at the time of the present work. In this later period, Van Goyen presents his subject with a breathtaking confidence.

Jan Josefsz. van Goyen (Leiden 1596-1656 The Hague) A dune landscape with figures on a horse-drawn cart and others conversing on a path signed with monogram and dated 'VG 1631' (lower right) oil on panel 10 5/8 x 14¾ in. (26.8 x 37.7 cm.) Anonymous sale [The Property of a Family]; Christie's, London, 9 July 1999, lot 10.

LOT 5 THE PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED FRENCH NOBLE FAMILY JAN JOSEFSZ. VAN GOYEN LEIDEN 1596 - 1656 THE HAGUE AN ESTUARY SCENE WITH THE ONSET OF A SQUALL AND WEYSCHUITS LOWERING THEIR SAILS signed in monogram on the lee-board of the boat lower left: VG oil on oak panel 39.5 by 60.5 cm.; 15 1/2 by 23 3/4 in.

Jan Josefsz. van Goyen (Leiden 1596-1656 The Hague) A river landscape with fishermen in a rowing boat, a cottage beyond signed with monogram and dated 'VG 1648' (lower centre, on the boat) oil on panel 14 7/8 x 13 5/8 in. (37.7 x 34.5 cm) Radiert von G. Greux. with Charles Sedelmeyer, Vienna and London, 1873, no. 76. Prince Paul Demidoff, San Donato, Florence; his sale, M. Charles Pillet, on the premises, 15 March 1880, lot 1029 (5,200 Lire). Maurice Kann, Paris; his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 9 June 1911, lot 25 (15,500 francs to Ducrey). M. Ducrey, Paris. with Dowdeswell & Dowdeswell, London. with Knoedler and Co., London, July 1956. with Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, from whom acquired by C.G. Hoare, and by descent. THE PROPERTY OF A FAMILY (LOTS 147 & 231) P. Mantz, 'Jan van Goyen', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, XII, 1875, illustrated. C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné, etc., VIII, London, 1927, pp. 191-2, no. 753. H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen, Amsterdam, 1973, II, p. 91, no. 184, illustrated. Norwich, Norwich Castle Museum, Dutch Paintings from East Anglia, 20 July-29 August 1966, no. 20. King's Lynn, The Fermoy Art Gallery, The Collection made by C.G. Hoare, M.C. and Family, 25 July-8 August 1970, no. 12.

Jan Josephsz. van Goyen (Leiden 1596-1656 The Hague) A winter landscape with figures skating in front of Monfoort castle signed and dated 'I V. GOIEN. 1625' (lower left) oil on panel 19 3/8 x 28 7/8 in. (49.3 x 73.4 cm.) with Landry, Paris, circa 1925. Victor Decock; his sale (+), Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 12 May 1948, lot 53, as 'École Hollandaise' (655,000 francs). Anonymous sale; Paris, 7 December 1954, lot 69 (950,000 francs). with Galerie Charpentier, 1955. PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION L.G.G. Ramsay, 'International Sale-Room', The Connoisseur, CXXXV, April 1955, p. 206, no. 7. H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen, Amsterdam, 1973, II, p. 21, no. 38; III, Doornspijk, 1987, p. 143, no. 38, illustrated. P.C. Sutton, Dutch & Flemish Seventeenth-century paintings. The Harold Samuels Collection, Cambridge, 1992, pp. 64-6, under no. 19, fig. 3. P.C. Sutton, Dutch & Flemish Paintings. The Collection of Willem Baron van Dedem, London, 2002, p. 102, fig. 17a. This bustling composition is one of van Goyen's early dated works and counts amongst the finest examples of his youthful style, when winter landscapes formed a key part in his repertoire. With thick, rapid brushstrokes, the bright red, blue and green accents used to describe the figures' clothes and the thick impasto in the trees contrasts with the rather sombre tones of the middle and background, which is much smoother in execution. The tonality in the dynamic palette is still quite different to the monochromatic style he started working in from 1627 onwards. The style, conception and design can be closely compared with two similarly early winter landscapes, dated 1624, also showing moated castles, (Sutton, 2002, op. cit., pp. 100-5; Beck, op. cit., p. 17, no. 34) and attests to his continued admiration for his master Esaias van de Velde, under whom he studied between 1617 and 1618. It can be closely compared to his teacher's oeuvre, such as the Town by a frozen river, now in the Stedelijk Museum, Leiden (G.S. Keyes, Esaias van de Velde, Groningen, 1984, p. 383, no. 197). While van de Velde often depicted simple, humble farm buildings and villages, he has chosen to depict a castle, Montfoort, which performs an important role in anchoring the composition and is juxtaposed with the crowd and dispersed figures in the foreground. Montfoort, situated between Leiden and Utrecht, is one of only a few identifiable secular buildings to feature in his compositions. Since it was almost completely destroyed by the French after their retreat in 1672, this painting also acts an important historical record. The castle appears in two other winter scenes by van Goyen, both of which show the moated castle from the other side: a roundel, datable to around 1624, a year before he painted the present panel, and a larger landscape which he executed ten years later, in 1634 (Beck, op. cit., nos. 20 and 38).