Jan Josefsz. van Goyen

By descent to Edward James Bruce, 10th Earl of Elgin, Broomhall, Dunfermline;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 27 November 1959, lot 23, to Agnew's for £5,250):
With Thos. Agnew & Sons;
Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Leavett-Shenley, The Holt, Upham, 1962;
Mr. and Mrs. J. Seward Johnson;
Their sale, New York, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 8 January 1981, lot 8;
With French & Co., New York;
Linda and Gerald Guterman, New York;
Their sale, New York, Sotheby's, 14 January 1988, lot 16.

Edinburgh, Royal Institution, 1819, no. 35;
New York, Minskoff Cultural Center (to benefit the Appeal of Conscience Foundation), The Golden Ambience: Dutch Landscape Painting in the Seventeenth Century, 1985, no. 5.

C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné..., vol. VIII, London 1927, p. 283, cat. no. 1131;
The Connoisseur, November 1959, p. 199, reproduced;
Apollo, October 1959, reproduced;
The Illustrated London News, 21 November 1959, reproduced;
The Connoisseur, June 1962, reproduced;
H.U. Beck, Jan van Goyen, 1596-1656, ein Oeuvreverzeichnis, Amsterdam 1973, vol. II, p. 416, cat. no. 926, reproduced.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This panel is made from three sections of oak joined horizontally. Repairs are clearly visible on the reverse to both of these joins, but these are expertly applied. Both joins are slightly uneven on the front, and some re-examination of the restoration would make improvements. When viewed under ultraviolet light, one can see that the sky is almost completely covered in retouches. This chronic abrasion and weakness can also be seen in the distance on the left, but the figures and much of the architecture on the right seem to be in better condition.
"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."

Van Goyen painted beach scenes throughout his career, often depicting the shoreline at Scheveningen, near The Hague, where he had settled in 1632.  Here we see fishing boats, at left, returning to shore while men sort and load the catch onto horse-drawn carts.  A crowd has gathered to watch while others go about their business near a small seaside village.  The format is one that Van Goyen used to great effect many times:  a low horizon is formed by the sea on one side of the composition and hidden on the opposite side, where the foreground rises half way up the picture plane to create a gentle diagonal; buildings, usually including a church spire, are set off against the sky which takes up the greater part of the overall composition.  In the past, the location of this painting has been tentatively identified as Scheveningen, but a suggestion has been made that it in fact depicts the beach at Katwijk, a few miles further north.

This painting, dated 1634, was executed during a period of transition for the artist.  During the 1620s, Van Goyen’s landscapes reflected the influence of his teacher Esias van de Velde, with stronger colors and more decorative and detailed design.  By the early 1630s, Van Goyen had begun to move towards a more realistic approach and tonal simplicity that would ultimately lead, in the 1640s, to his more austere and monochromatic works.  This painting, with the beautiful expanse of an overcast sky and muted palette for much of the landscape, is still enlivened with punctuations of red and green in the clothing of some of the figures.