HERMAN SAFTLEVEN | A BARN INTERIOR WITH LIGHT STREAMING THROUGH A WINDOW

Baron Adam Christopher Holsten Carisius, Holstenshuus (1793–1879), circa 1850 (as Willem Kalf);

Elise Sehestedt Juul (1867–1971), Ravnholt;

Mogens Juul Esq., Puerto de la Cruiz;

Eugène Tondu, no. 373 (according to a label on the reverse);

Anonymous sale, Copenhagen, Rasmussen, 23 November 1984, lot 31 (as Willem Kalf);

Mr. and Mrs. William D. Graue;

By whom sold, New York, Christie's, 28 January 2009, lot 303;

With Johnny van Haeften, London, (when exhibited at TEFAF, 2009),[1] from whom acquired.

The SØR Rusche Collection has been exhibited extensively over the last two decades. Please click here for further information.

P. Gammelbo, Dutch still-life painting from the 16th to the 18th centuries in Danish collections, Leigh-on-Sea 1960, p. 22, cat. no. 15, reproduced;

W. Schulz, Herman Saftleven. 1609–1685, Berlin and New York 1982, p. 123, cat. no. 11.

During his lifetime, Herman Saftleven was one of Holland's best-known artists. His father and his elder brother Cornelis probably trained him in his home town of Rotterdam before Saftlevens move to Utrecht around 1632. In the following year, he collaborated with Cornelis on paintings of rustic barn interiors. This subject later became his specialty, as exemplified by the present painting, where a quiet interior bathed in golden afternoon light is transformed into a poetic moment of tranquility.

1 For an article about TEFAF, Maastricht 2009, in which the present painting is mentioned, please visit: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/arts/21iht-melik21.html