Philips Koninck Amsterdam 1619 - 1688

Sir Michael Seymour G.C.B.;
His sale, London, Sotheby's, 7 June 1967, lot 101 (as 'Mieris') where acquired by Daan Cevat.

Leiden, Stedelijk Museum de Lakenhal, Rondom Rembrandt, 11 April-16 June 1968, p. 15, no. 21, reproduced (on loan from Daan Cevat).

W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schuler, Landau/Pfalz 1983 and later, vol. II, no. 1025, reproduced p. 1575.

The actual painting is darker in tone and has less contrast than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas has a firm relining. Due to the relining the paint surface is somewhat flattened. Otherwise the paint surface is in good condition, onlt one tiny retouching can be seen lower centre. Although inspection under UV-light is somewhat impeded by the varnish layer, it reveals minor spots of retouching and strengthening of the figure and lower centre. Offered in a plain wood frame, in good condition. (JD)
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

When discovered by Daan Cevat at a Sotheby's sale in 1967, much less was known than today about Koninck's career beyond his famed activities as a painter of sweeping Dutch panoramas.  Other than in his portraits, the figures in his paintings show a marked angularity, and, in a many reminiscent of Jan Steen, a taste for theatrical caricature.  This can be seen in his Feast of Bacchus in the Museum Bredius in the Hague, in which the classical theme is clearly being represented by inebriated Rhetoricians.¹  This laughing fellow, making a theatrical gesture holding his ear for the benefit of the painter, is painted with the same marked angularity.  Such characters - inmates of taverns, for example - are rarely found in Koninck's paintings, but are much more often seen in his drawings, in which the yet more pronounced angularity revealed by his swift strokes of the reed pen betrays the influence of Adriaen Brouwer.

There would seem to be little evidence for Sumowski's late dating on the basis of a comparison with the rather different Young Woman in Koninck's 1671 painting in St. Petersburg, whereas the Merry Peasant of 1656 formerly in the L.D. van Hengel collection in Arnhem, seems to provide a more convincing comparison, although it may well date from earlier still, to the 1640s.^.2 

1.  See Sumowski under Literature, p. 1540, no. 1018, reproduced p. 1568.
2.  Idem, p. 1541, no. 1026, reproduced p. 1576, & p. 1540, no. 1019, reproduced p. 1569.