Salomon van Ruysdael

Helen Venetia Vincent, 1st Viscountess D'Abernon (1866–1954), Stoke d’Arbernon, Surrey;

By whose Executors sold, London, Christie's, 18 March 1955, lot 49, for 2,300 guineas, to Slatter;

With Eugene Slatter, London, 1955;

From whom probably acquired, like other Old Masters, by Albert Ehrman (1890–1969), London;

Thence by descent.

The following condition report is provided by Simon Folkes who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Salomon van Ruisdael: A River Estuary Oil on panel. 14 ¼ x 12 ¾ in. 36.2 x 32.5 cm. Support The painting is on a flat oak panel with no additions on the back. However there are narrow wooden battens glued to each of the four sides, presumably to enable as much of the original paint surface as possible to be visible when the painting is in its frame. Paint layers There are no damages of any significance apart from three small losses in the water towards the bottom of the painting and a short line of paint losses along an old split in the panel running up from the bottom edge near the lower right corner. A series of fine vertical lines of abrasion run down from the sky into the water, most noticeably between the sailing boat and the windmill on the right hand side and there are one or two tiny losses and stains in the sky and clouds above. Otherwise the condition of the paint layers is exceptionally good. As the frame opening is bigger than the original painting, the four battens that have been glued to the sides of the panel have all been coloured in to extend Ruysdael's art work to the border with the frame. This is most noticeable down each of the two sides. Varnish coating The painting is covered in a thin and transparent varnish.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

In the years around 1650, Ruysdael painted a small number of small-scale upright river and estuary scenes in calm weather that count among his finest achievements. Like the present outstanding example, they are of relatively simple composition, with a few small vessels and distant land. They are painted rapidly, with details of boats, clouds and the horizon line painted wet-in-wet, with no hesitation or revision. They are works of restraint and great subtlety, and of a uniformly gentle and tranquil mood. None of them is dated, but they can be reliably assigned to circa 1650 by comparison with generally larger-scale horizontal compositions painted in a similar way, some of which bear dates.

Note on Provenance
Lady Helen Vincent, Viscountess D'Abernon, was a renowned society beauty and diarist, who was associated with The Souls, and believed to have been the model for the characters of Lady Thisbe Crowborough in Max Beerbohm's story Hilary Maltby and Stephen Braxton in Seven Men (1919) and for Lady Irene Silvester in Maurice Baring's story A Luncheon Party (1925). She sat to John Singer Sargent in 1904 during a protracted visit to Venice, and the resulting portrait, now in Birmingham, Alabama, is an extremely convincing testament to her remarkable beauty.