Lot 227
  • 227

Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
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Description

  • Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael
  • A view of Harderwijk, in Gelderland
  • Black chalk and grey wash, within black ink framing lines;
    inscribed/bears inscription in black chalk, verso, top left (partially obscured): De kerk te Harderwyk / van 't Bel(?)straat, and bears inscription in black lead, Vue de Hardewijk par J. Ruysdaël / au dessus des toits des Maisons on voit les tours de l'Eglise and numbering and paraphe (Calando): 1692  

Provenance

Neville D. Goldsmid (1814-1875), The Hague (L.1962), sale of his collection, Paris, Clément, 27 April 1876, lot 147 (2 drawings by Ruisdael 31fr., to Calando);
Emile Calando, père, Paris (L.837),
by inheritance to his son, Emile Calando, fils, Paris (L.426b)

Condition

Overall condition very good and fresh. Hinged at the top to old backing (possibly that of E. Calando). Remains of further old hinges adhering to the reverse, in both bottom corners and at left edge. Two very minor thin spots in the paper, both left corners. A little very slight surface dirt and discolouration of the paper, but general condition very good. 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

This extremely well preserved, newly discovered drawing adds significantly to our understanding of the draughtsmanship of one of the most important and influential masters of 17th-century Dutch landscape, Jacob van Ruisdael.  The number of surviving drawings by Ruisdael is not great – just 130 or so sheets – and this is only the second major, previously unknown drawing to appear on the market in the last three decades.1  Furthermore, townscapes such as this form only a tiny part of the artist’s surviving oeuvre, and the location depicted is not one that is known from any of his other works, increasing still further the significance of this highly atmospheric drawing. 

As drs. Laurens Schoemaker of the RKD, The Hague, has kindly confirmed, the inscription on the verso identifying this as a view of Harderwijk, a harbour town in the Dutch province of Gelderland, is surely correct.  The artist made the drawing from a spot in the Burgtstraat, looking towards the Grote Kerk, which was built in the 14th and 15th centuries and was known before the Reformation as the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk.  Just behind (and in stark contrast to) the Burgtstraat’s low, rather ramshackle rooftops, the church’s monumental, square transept tower soars upwards – beyond, even, the top of the sheet.  Slightly further away we see, in side view, the nave of the church, with its delicate lantern tower on the crossing and small staircase tower nestling against the south transept.  The more distant parts of the church as seen here remain unchanged today but the transept tower collapsed in 1797, taking a good part of the nave with it.  The appearance of the church prior to collapse, drawn from a rather similar viewpoint to Ruisdael’s, is, however, recorded in a watercolour by Abraham de Haen II, in a Dutch private collection.

True townscapes like this, with hardly any vegetation, are extremely rare among Ruisdael’s surviving drawings. In fact, the only truly similar drawing is a view of The Gasthuisstraat behind the Grote Kerk, Alkmaar, in the British Museum, which Seymour Slive dates circa 1655,2 although the handling of the buildings and the light in the later drawings of the Blauwbrug over the River Amstel, Amsterdam (Paris, Ecole Nationale Supérieur des Beaux-Arts)3 and the View of the Inner Court behind the Handboogdoelen on the Singel, Amsterdam (Hamburg, Kunsthalle)4 are also rather comparable. The dating of Ruisdael’s drawings is, however, notoriously difficult, as only six of his early drawings (from 1646, 1648 and 1649) are actually dated and very few others can be dated on the basis of circumstantial evidence.  All the same, the handling seen here seems most comparable with sheets that are generally dated to the 1650s. 

Despite the unusual subject-matter, this splendid drawing encapsulates Ruisdael’s genius as a landscape draughtsman: the composition is dynamic and unorthodox, yet also very harmonious, the details, brilliantly drawn in grey wash with the point of the brush, are equally energetic, and the mastery of light and shade is total.  And all these qualities are all the more apparent because of the drawing’s outstandingly good state of preservation. 

We are grateful to Jeroen Giltay, who has kindly endorsed the attribution on the basis of a digital image.

1.  The other was the impressive, large drawing from the late 1640s, discovered in 2012 and sold, London, Sotheby’s, 7 July 2012, lot 93.

2.  Inv. no. 1895,0915.1296; S. Slive, Jacob van Ruisdael. A complete catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings and Etchings, New Haven/London 2001, no. D79

3.  Inv. no. M 1.945; Slive, op. cit., no. D102

4.  Inv. no. 22467; Slive, op. cit., no. D72