JAN JOSEFSZ. VAN GOYEN | Three horsedrawn carts and other figures gathered before a wayside inn

With Bernard Houthakker, Amsterdam (see Exhibited; Dessins anciens, 1952, no. 30);
Hendrikus Egbertus ten Cate (1868-1955), Almelo;
with C.G. Boerner, Düsseldorf (Cat. 1964, no. 46, and Neue Lagerliste 42, February 1966, no. 23),
where purchased in 1966 by Peter Mertens, 
from whom acquired in 1970 by the parents of the present owners

Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Tentoonstelling van oude kunst uit het bezit van den internationalen handel: ingericht door de Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst in Nederland ter herdenking van haar 25-jarig bestaan (introduction by Bernard Houthakker, catalogue by S.J. Mak Van Waay and E. Pelinck), 1936, no. 181

D. Hannema, Catalogue of the H.E. ten Cate collection, Rotterdam 1955, p. 130, no. 226;
H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656, vol. I, Amsterdam 1972, pp. 80-81, no. 224, reproduced;
A.J. Elen, Missing Old Master Drawings from the Franz Koenigs Collection, The Hague 1989, p. 238, under no. 485

Hinged to mount at top. Backing strip from former mounting down left side of sheet. Minor losses and abrasions at the four corners. Some light wrinkles in the paper, top edge (from paper-making process). Sheet generally somewhat browned, with a few very light stains and some foxing, but chalk still extremely strong and fresh.
"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 large, brilliantly composed and superbly executed drawing belongs to a group of similarly conceived works by Van Goyen, showing substantial groups of figures gathered by wayside inns, or in village settings.  A number of these, including a fine sheet with which Hans-Ulrich Beck specifically compares the present work, are dated in the same year, 1651.¹  By this relatively late stage in his career, Van Goyen was a total master of the combination of black chalk and grey wash in which almost all of his mature drawings are executed.  Applying his sharpened, hard chalk to the paper with the subtlest of variations of pressure, he has here created a compositionally complex and densely worked, monochrome drawing that is also a superbly successful depiction of an immensely animated scene, full of flickering light, in which one can almost see the movements and hear the conversations of these lively peasants, drinkers and travellers.   As Beck noted (see Literature), a copy after this drawing is among the drawings from the Franz Koenigs Collection, held since the end of World War II at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow², and another is in Edinburgh.<sup>3

1.</sup>  Beck, op. cit., no. 211; sold New York, Sotheby's, 28 January 1998, lot 119
^2.  Five Centuries of European Drawings, the former collection of Franz Koenigs, exhib. cat., Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, 1995-6, no. 274, reproduced
^3.  Edinburgh, National Galleries of Scotland, inv. RSA 43; Beck, op. cit., vol. III, supplement, Doornspijk 1987, p. 59