Salomon van Ruysdael Naarden 1600/3 - 1670 Haarlem

Thomas Schwencke, The Hague,
His sale, The Hague, Rietmulder, 6 October 1767, lot 42;
Hendrik Verschuuring, The Hague,
His sale, The Hague, Rietmulder, 17 September 1770, lot 156;
Albert Levy, London,
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 3 May 1884, lot 31, as signed and dated 1660, to Agnew;
With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London;
Possibly Alfred (Charles) de Rothschild, Austrian, by 1884;
F.C. Stoop, Byfleet, Surrey, 1912,
By whom (anonymously) sold, London, Christie's, 12 July 1912, lot 86, to Muller, for 1.365 pounds;
With Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, 1912;
A.W.M. Mensing, Amsterdam, upon his death held in trust by the Estate, possibly 1912-1936;
Estate of A.W.M. Mensing, Amsterdam, until 1938,
By whose Estate sold, Amsterdam, Frederik Muller, 15 November 1938, lot 94, to J. Paul Getty for 5.100 florins;
J. Paul Getty, Sutton Place, Surrey;
Donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1954 (inv. no. 54.PA.4).

Amsterdam, Frederik Muller, Importants Tableaux Anciens, July - September 1912, no. 28 (as dated 1652);
The Hague, Het Landschap door Hollanders gezien, 16-20e eeuw, March - April 1922;
Copenhagen, Den Hollandske Udstiling i Kobenhaven, July - August 1922, no. 114 (both the above according to printed labels on the reverse);
The Hague, Pulchri Studio, Tentoonstelling Collectie Goudstikker, 4 -  30 November 1922, p. 21, no. 83;
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Balch Collection and Old Masters from Los Angeles Collections, assembled in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch, 26 March - 30 April 1944 (lent by Mr. Getty).

W. Stechow, Salomon van Ruysdael, Eine Einführung in seine Kunst. Mit kritischem Katalog der Gemälde, Berlin 1938, p. 92, no. 205;
K.E. Simon, 'Salomon van Ruysdael, Eine Einführung in seine Kunst. Mit kritischem Katalog der Gemälde, By W. Stechow', review in Burlington Magazine LXXXI, no. 446, May 1940, p. 168;
B.B. Fredericksen, Handbook of Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu 1965, p. 11;
B.B. Fredericksen, Catalogue of the Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu 1972, p. 88, no. 116;
W. Stechow, Salomon van Ruysdael. Eine Einführung in seine Kunst. Mit kritischem Katalog der Gemälde, Berlin 1975, second, revised and extended edition, p. 99, no. 205;
The J. Paul Getty Museum Guidebook, 4th edition, Malibu 1978, p. 52;
D. Jaffé, Summary Catalogue of European Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 1997, p. 114, reproduced.

This picture, and the view of Rhenen from along the banks of the Rhine by Van der Croos (lot  52 in the present sale), amply demonstrate the popularity of this city as a subject for depiction by Dutch landscape painters. The present view is likely to be at least in part a capriccio, with an imaginary foreground, although topographically accurate views do reveal a sparse upland extending on a gentle rise away to the north. Salomon van Ruysdael painted Rhenen on a few other occasions, but his contemporary Jan van Goyen painted more than 25 views of it, including one, dated 1663, which depicts the city from a similar angle and distance as the present work.¹

1. With Nathan, Zurich, 1972; see H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656..., vol. II, Katalog der Gemälde, Amsterdam 1973, p. 185, no. 380, reproduced.