Jan Josefsz. van Goyen

With Julius Böhler, Munich, by 1932;
AG, Lucerne, by 1932;
J. Rosenbaum, Amsterdam;
Dr. W. Greif, Zurich;
Mrs. G. Gresswell, Oxford, England, since 1968;
By whom sold, New York, Sotheby's, 28 January 1999, lot 257;
There purchased by the present collector. 

H-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656, Amsterdam 1973, vol. II, p. 257, cat. no. 557, 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 work is in beautiful condition. The panel is made from three pieces of oak joined horizontally. The panel is flat and the paint layer is stable. Under ultraviolet light, one can see a few spots of retouching in the lighter cloud in the center of the sky, in the upper center sky, in the center left and above the house on the right. There are a few retouches in the dark reflection in the water in the lower right and in the standing figure in the boat in the lower left. The condition is excellent.
"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's late pictures are atmospheric in both senses of the word.  Literally so, in that he was very interested in capturing in his paintings the states of weather, and the effects of clouds in response to meteorological conditions.  In these pictures he paints clouds with unprecedented freedom, so that they become in some measure the subject of the picture.  Furthermore, they are also atmospheric in the evocation of mood.  Here clouds are massing prior to a storm, with threatening darker clouds moving in from the right, while the town port below, painted in balmy tones of brown, remains calm, though uneasily so, since we know this will not last long.  The quiet fisherman and boat workers upon the shore go about their day amidst a still barely perceptible breeze, thus creating a dual mood in this large and beautiful composition.

Painted in 1651, this large format composition demonstrates van Goyen's ability to control a restricted palette with masterful effect. Yellow and varying hues of golden-brown control the lower third of the composition, while freely applied passages of blue punctuate the white clouds above. Van Goyen reserves subtle pops of color for the staffage on the shore, rendering them with soft tones of red and green. Indeed, it is in van Goyen's final phase as an artist that he synthesizes his inventive tonal style into a more varied and confident combination of color and control.