Dirk Valkenburg Amsterdam 1675 - 1721

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Description

Dirk Valkenburg
portrait of a young gentleman, half length, wearing a brown jacket and red cloak, holding a book, a classical landscape beyond;portrait of a young lady, half length, wearing a blue dress and crimson cloak, holding a dog, a classical landscape beyond
both signed and dated centre left: Dk: Valkenburg / Fecit / 1714
a pair, both oil on canvas, oval

Provenance

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 9 March 1966, lot 61, for £360 to H. Sabin.

Catalogue Note

Although best known as a painter of game pieces in the tradition of his master Jan Weenix, Valkenburg also worked as a portrait painter, drawing on his initial training under Michiel van Musscher. The present pair of portraits, dated 1714, were almost certainly painted in Amsterdam following the artist's return from Surinam in 1707. The influence of Jan Weenix is clearly visible in the treatment of the classical landscape backdrops, whilst the pose of the lady recurs in another oval portrait by Valkenburg representing Petronelle Merens, today in the Westfries Museum, Hoorn.