Jan Weissenbruch 1822-1880

W.Laanstra, Johannes (Jan) Weissenbruch schilder graficus 1822-1880, Amsterdam 1986, p.119, no. O/80-2, illustrated in colour

The canvas has been relined. A few very minor thin specks in the sky to the left of the church, some minor retouched specks in the two women and boy to the left, in the man carrying the baskets and in the group of figures by the horse-sledge. Otherwise this lot is in good condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Jan Weissenbruch owes his reputation to his sunny views of Dutch towns. Following in the footsteps of his tutors Wijnandus Nuijen and Salomon Leonardus Verveer, he rendered cities like Haarlem, The Hague and Amsterdam with a fine eye for light and space. His work fits well in the tradition of the Masters of the Golden Age like Pieter de Hooch, Gerrit Berkheyde and Jan van der Heyden, painters Weissenbruch admired. These seventeenth century masters displayed a great influence in Weissenbruch's work up to 1847. Halfway through the century he adopted a more realistic style, recording his immediate surroundings with photographic precision. Not only did Weissenbruch strip his townviews of superfluous details and give preference to firm and tangible contours, he also exchanged his soft traditional palette for cooler and fresher colours.

The present lot is a good example of his more realistic style. Weissenbruch's use of light and space gives this townview an atmosphere of stillness, further enhanced by the figures which appear to stand motionless on the sunlit square. Placed in the center of the Grote Markt stands the statue of the supposed inventor of the art of printing, Laurens Jansz. Coster. Given the fact that this statue by Louis Royer was unveiled in 1856, the present lot must have been painted after that date.

A smaller version of this lot has been sold in these rooms on 26 October 1998, The Teulings Collection, lot 191.