Adam Pynacker

Jacob Boreel, The Netherlands;
His deceased sale, Amsterdam, Van den Bergh, 21 April 1746, lot 14, for 180 fl;
The Dowager Lady Stuart, London, by 1835;
Her deceased sale, London, Christie's, 15 May 1841, lot 62, to Nieuwenhuys for £189;
With Niewenhuys;
William Delafield, London;
His deceased sale, London, Christie's, 30 April 1870, lot 73, for £99-15-0, where purchased by Hibbert;
Colonel Oberst Hibbert, Birtles Hall, Cheshire;
Dr. C.Th.F. Thurkow, The Hague;
Acquired by Saam and Lily Nijstad by 1982.

The Hague, Mauritshuis, Terugzien in bewondering. A Collector's Choice, 19 February-9 March 1982, cat. no. 68.

G. Hoet, Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, met derzelver pryzen zedert een langen reeks van jaaren zoo in Holland als op andere plaatzen in het openbaar verkogt, vol. II, 'sGravenhage 1752, p. 185, cat. no. 14;
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of Works..., London 1835, vol. VI, p. 299, cat. no. 47;
J. Smith, A Supplement to the Catalogue Raisonné..., London 1842, p. 754, cat. no. 15;
G. Redford, A History of Sales of Pictures and other works of Art, London 1888, vol. II, cat. no. 315;
C. Hofstede de Groot, Holländische Maler..., Eelingen 1926, vol. IX, p. 561, cat. no. 184;
J. Walsh Jr and C. Schneider, A Mirror of Nature: Dutch Paintings from the collection of Mr and Mrs Edward William Carter, Los Angeles 1981, p. 80 and footnote 1;
Terugzien in bewondering. A Collector's Choice, exhibiton catalogue, The Hague 1982,  pp. 176-7, no. 68, reproduced;
L.B. Harwood, Adam Pynacker, Doornspijk 1988, p. 61, cat. no. 31, reproduced plate 31.

ENGRAVED
Anonymous, undated, as The Humane Traveller.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a fairly old lining and stretcher, which is still secure and firm. The condition is exceedingly good, as the paintings seem to be in this collection. There is scarcely any wear, with the fine detail beautifully preserved almost throughout. The only thinner place is in the darker paint down the centre of the main tree trunk, where there are little strengthening retouchings much of the way down. Occasionally small leaves have been strengthened on the right although in general the foliage is beautifully preserved. The fine craquelure is even and secure throughout but in the distant past the tension of the scalloping in the tacking edge in the lighter paint of the sky, perhaps once more brittle, appears to have induced an accentuated pattern of cracks spaced down the right edge in the sky, with three or four retouched places over this faint pattern of cracks. It is uncertain whether it led to any minute flaking before the lining, but the edges have evidently long been secure and smooth. The glazing and delicate finish in the modelling throughout, including the fragile red glazing in the boy's coat and the brown of the dog and other animals are all beautifully intact, as is the brilliant flickering light and shade through the landscape, and smallest details such as the departing figure disappearing down the hill in the centre behind, still crisply preserved. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Laurie Harwood dates this picture circa 1652-3.  She notes that it "is characterized by the high degree of refinement in the minute rendering of details used to describe staffage, foreground trees and bracken, although fully reminiscent of his earlier representations of trees in sunlight."  More than any of the other Dutch Italianate painters, Pynacker was more than anything a masterful painter of sunlight.  As Dr Harwood goes on to observe, here he "has fully exploited the effects of the oblique angle of the late afternoon's rays of sun as they strike the craggy branches of the great oak, and pick out details in the foreground."

Unusually, Pynacker has used a strong colour in the centre of the composition, perhaps as a compositional anchor, where he has given the man playing with his dog a crimson coat.  Apart from the cool blue of the fellow's breeches, this is the only colour that is not a yellow or green in the entire composition.  This is the first occasion in which Pynacker did this, and the most striking, but he does use strong colours, usually red or blue, in some of his pictures from later in the 1650s.

Pynacker is linked on strong grounds of style with the Dutch Italianate painters, and his first biographer Houbraken claimed he spent three years in Italy.  There is no documentary proof of such a trip, but if he did go, it is most likely to have been between 1645-8, when there are no records of his presence in Holland.  By the time he painted the Nijstad picture, he was living in Schiedam or Delft, where he remained until circa 1661. 

The subject of this picture has caused some head-scratching in the past.  We see a man resting under an oak tree by a forest path, playing with his dog who is partly turned on his back.  Next to them is a basket, and the goats grazing indicate that he is a goatherd.  The composition was engraved with the enigmatic title The Humane Traveller, and it has been suggested that the picture may depict a Biblical subject such as the Parable of the Good Shepherd.  It may well be however that it is merely a particularly charming genre picture.