Lot 175
  • 175

Salomon van Ruysdael

Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
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Description

  • Salomon van Ruysdael
  • Winter Landscape with a Boy on skates pushing a Sled
  • signed and dated lower centre on the sled: S.V.RUISDAEL/ 1627
  • oil on oak panel

Provenance

Mrs. Hugh Gurney and Peter H. Gurney Esq., Shackenhurst, Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire;
Their sale, London, Sotheby's, 10 December 1925, lot 117;
With P.de Boer, Amsterdam 1928.
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 7 June 1929, lot 31, to Agnew for £300 (as dated 1629);
With Thomas Agnew, London;
Private Collection, London.

Exhibited

Amsterdam, Goudstikker, Holländische Winterlandschappen, 1932, no. 81 (as dated 1629).

Literature

W. Stechow, Salomon van Ruysdael, Berlin 1975, p. 68, cat. no. 3, reproduced plate 2;
J. Loughman in J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, London 1996, vol. 27, p. 455.

Condition

The flat, stable support consists of a single horizontal panel, cradled to the reverse. The paint surface is clean, secure, and in good condition, under a glossy varnish. The detail of the work is well-preserved. No major damages to the work are apparent. Inspection under UV light reveals scattered retouchings to the painting, particularly to the sky and ice, but with many of the figures seeming to remain untouched. Offered in a black, modern, nothern-style frame in good condition, with a few minor knocks.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Ruysdaels from the 1620s are exceedingly rare: Stechow lists only twenty, and this painting is one of the very earliest of these. Although when with Goudstikker in 1932 the date was read incorrectly as 1629, Stechow rightly corrected this to 1627, thus placing it chronologically alongside two other winter, and two summer landscapes.1 All three winter landscapes are built along very similar lines, although the present example and Stechow no. 2, in the Dienst voor 's Rijks Verspreide Kunstvoorwerpen, The Hague (inv.nr.  NK 3073) are exceptionally so, being of the same view albeit with different staffage and no. 2 being cropped at the right by a few centimetres and at the left rather more significantly, finishing just to the left of the beacon. Stechow does record two even earlier works, both dated 1626, although neither are on a winter theme. Along with Stechow nos. 1 and 2, this can thus be considered Ruysdael's earliest winter landscape.2

The breadth of influences in Haarlem in the mid 1620s are all present here, the composition and execution recalling the landscapes of, in particular, Esaias van de Velde and Pieter Molijn. Only a year or two later however Ruysdael would settle into the 'tonal' style that characterised his work, as well as that of his Haarlem counterparts, into and all the way through the 1630s. He had moved to Haarlem earlier in the decade and entered the Guild of St. Luke there in 1623 as 'Salomon de Gooyer'. Following the example of his eldest brother he soon changed his surname to Ruysdael, from the castle of Ruijschdaal in Gooiland, which may once have been a family possession.

1. Stechow, op. cit., p. 68, nos. 1 & 2, the former reproduced plate 2.
2. No other earlier work has come to light since Stechow's publication.