- 51
Joos de Momper, Jan Breughel the Younger
Description
- Joos de Momper
- Mountain landscape with woodcutters
- oil on panel
Provenance
By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 12 July 1978, lot 11;
With Brod Gallery, London, 1979.
Literature
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."
Catalogue Note
This beautiful example has been dated by Klaus Ertz (see Literature) to De Momper’s mature period, in the early 1620s. From an elevated viewpoint, the earth tones and greens of the foreground give way to an ethereal blue as the landscape recedes into the distance. This work is a collaboration with Jan Brueghel the Younger who painted the foreground figures. This type of collaboration between two artists was common in Flemish painting of the period. De Momper had long worked with Jan’s father, Jan Brueghel the Elder, with whom he co-produced over 200 paintings.1 When his father died suddenly in 1625, Jan the Younger took over direction of the studio and continued working with De Momper, painting in a style heavily influenced by his father’s. Here the figures populate the right foreground, where they go about the mundane task of chopping wood, and provide a realistic element to the otherwise fantastical landscape.
1. See K. Ertz and C. Nitze-Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568-1625), Kritischer Katalog de Gemälde, Lingen 2008-10, vol. IV, p. 1378.