Jacob Cats

Sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby Mak van Waay, 2 May 1984, lot 22;
sale, Amsterdam, Christie's, 18 November 1985, lot 156;
Jacobus A. Klaver, Amsterdam 

L.A. Schwartz, 'The 'Thoughts' ('Gedagten') of Jacob Cats (1741-1799).  Inscriptions on the numbered drawings of a prolific eighteenth-century draughtsman.  An addition to the list of Jane Shoaf Turner (1990),' in Delineavit et Sculpsit, 31 (December 2007), p. 73

Window mounted on heavy Japan paper around all four edges. Some light foxing. Slightly thin in one or two places down left edge. Some slight discolouration along top edge, verso. Otherwise good, fresh and strong. Sold in a modern gilt frame.
"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."

Landscapes by Jacob Cats are by no means rare, but the large scale, highly atmospheric winter subject and exceptional quality of execution of this drawing mark it out as one of the artist's finest surviving works.  Only two roughly comparable drawings have appeared on the market in recent years: a winter landscape of 1791, sold in New York in 2001,¹ and the slightly later (1798) drawing, formerly in the collection of Otto Naumann.

Born in Altona, near Hamburg, at a young age Cats was brought by his parents to live in Amsterdam.  In early 1759, he found employment in the wall-decoration workshop of a certain Jan Hendrik Troost van Groenendoelen, and in May 1762 he set up his own business, producing, with considerable success, the painted wall-hangings that were so popular in Amsterdam interiors of the period.  Eventually, however, this fashion began to decline, and Cats then turned his hand to the production of highly finished landscape drawings and watercolours such as this, an art in which he became the leading figure in late-18th century Holland.²

The numbering on the reverse of this drawing, which is in Cats' own hand, is of particular interest.  As Jane Shoaf Turner has described,³ somewhere between a quarter and a third of Cats' known drawings bear such numbers, and these are predominantly small-scale studies or relatively free monochrome sketches such as this, rather than the artist's most elaborate and highly-finished works.  Turner suggests that the numbered drawings may have formed part of some kind of pattern-book, from which clients would select compositions and motifs to be worked up into finished drawings and watercolours.  In this case, a highly finished version of the same composition is also known, the same size as the present work, but much more precisely executed, and worked up in full colour.⁴  The two drawings differ in certain details such as the branches of the trees and the positioning of the background staffage, but are otherwise almost identical;  the standing figure that Cats originally drew here directly behind the sledge, but then erased, is also absent in the watercolour.  Cats' numbering system appears to be more or less chronological – a drawing in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, for example, which is, like the present work, dated 1795, bears the number: 667⁵ – and this allows an approximate dating of any numbered but undated studies.

 

1.  New York, Sotheby's, 23 January 2001, lot 166

2.  Sold, New York, Sotheby's, 25 January 2007, lot 68

3.  J.S. Turner, 'Jacob Cats and the Identification of a "Pseudo-Goll van Franckenstein" Numbering System', in Master Drawings, XXVIII, no. 3 (Autumn 1990), pp. 323-331.  See also Leslie A. Schwarz, op. cit., pp. 57-77

4.  Sold, Amsterdam, Christie's, 10 November 1997, lot 224

5.  Turner, op. cit., p. 327, fig. 10