Jan Josefsz. van Goyen

Acquired from Ireland;
With D. A. Hoogendijk, Amsterdam c. 1929
In the Clemens collection, Cologne (according to an old Witt Library mount);
Dr. J. Moll van Charante, Voorschoten, (from 1929, according to the 1981 sale catalogue);
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 30 November 1981, lot 33;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 18 January 1984, lot 152;
With Robert Noortman, Maastricht, from whom acquired by the parents of the present owners.

Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Tentoonstelling van Oude Kunst, 1929, no. 50

Beeld. Kunst, 1930, vol. XVII, no. 19, reproduced;
H-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656, vol. II,  Katalog der Gemälde, Amsterdam 1973, p. 371, no. 828,  reproduced;
H-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656, vol. III,  Ergänzungen..., Doornspijk 1987, p. 240, no. 828.

The painting is more pink in colour and warmer in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The single oak panel is flat and stable and has been bevelled on all four margins. The paint surface appears to be in very good condition, with no major losses visible to the naked eye. A beautiful thick impasto is still intact, particularly in the clouds, the figures, and the crests of the waves. The paint surface on the lower half of the painting may at first seem a little thin in places, but this is due to van Goyen's sketchy technique rather than wear. There is a horizontal surface split at the right edge measuring approximately 20 cm. Examination under Ultraviolet light reveals a few small spot retouchings to the sky. The aforementioned repairs have all been carried out sensitively and do not interfere with the vivid energy of the original brushwork. The painting is sold in a decorative plaster moulded frame, with a few knocks and scratches.
"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."

This is an intensely tonal picture painted, with the exception of the blue sky upper right and tiny touches of colour in the clothing of the fishermen and sailors, in tones of brown and grey enlivened with cream.  Painted, like all his works, with great rapidity, Van Goyen captures the shallow brackish brown estuarine water, thrown up into a short chop by the brisk breeze blowing a squall in from the left.  Relying on the grey-brown ground to underly the overall tone, Van Goyen uses translucent thinned brown paint applied broadly almost as a wash overlayed with brushwork in a darker brown and creamy white to delineate the constantly moving jumbled sea, while in the sky he uses thicker grey and creamy paint to express the seemingly greater solidity of the clouds.  the handling of the sea speaks for a dating in the 1640s, while the more vigorous brushwork in the clouds points to a date in the latter part of that decade.

Beck (see Literature) suggests that the castle on the horizon in the centre is Slot Loevestein.  If this is correct, the scene depicted - or more accurately revived in the memory of the artist - is near the confluence of the Maas and the Waal, branches of the Rhine, both of which were much wider than today; the church to the right may be the Sint Maartenskerk at Zaltbommel, whose spire was truncated by a fire in 1538; and the kaag in the foreground is running upstream before a prevailing westerly breeze with the broadening estuary of the combined rivers opening up to the left.