18TH CENTURY FOLLOWER OF JAN VAN DER HEYDEN | A capriccio view of the Oude Delft and the Gemeenlandshuis

Engraved by Boulard Fils.

Baron E. de Beurnonville, Paris;
His sale, Paris, Pillet, 9 May 1881, lot 316, for 14,100 Francs to Sedelmeyer;
With Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris, 1898, no. 57;
M. Martin Rikoff, Paris;
His sale, Paris, Lair-Dubreuil, 4 December 1907, lot 9, for 30,000 Francs to Muller;
With Frederick Muller & Co., Amsterdam;
With Mark Ascher, London, before 1970;
Harold Samuel, Wych Cross;
His widow, Lady Samuel, Wych Cross;
By whose Estate sold, London, Sotheby's, 22 April 2009, lot 22, for £97,250;
Where purchased by Baron van Dedem (all of the above as by Jan van der Heyden).

Paris, Sedelmeyer Gallery, 300 Paintings by Old Masters, 1898, no. 57.

T. von Frimmel, Blätter für Gemäldekunde, 2, Vienna 1908, p. 69;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné…, vol. VIII, London 1927, p. 346, cat. no. 56 (as with figures by Adriaen van de Velde);
H. Wagner, Jan van der Heyden, Amsterdam 1971, p. 74, cat. no. 34, reproduced p. 134;
P. Sutton, Dutch and Flemish Seventeenth-Century paintings. The Harold Samuel Collection, Cambridge 1992, pp. 83–84 (all of the above as by Jan van der Heyden).

The panel is cradled, flat and stable. The paint surface is fairly clean and the varnish is slightly discoloured. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals an extensive and very successful campaign of retouching throughout, consisting of fine lines throughout the foreground to disguise the appearance of craquelure, some larger areas of retouching in the sky lower centre and upper right, the largest of which measures approx. 2 x 7 cm., a vertical line of retouching to a scratch in the buildings centre right measuring approx. 9 cm. long, along with a number of small spot retouchings scattered throughout including along the upper and left margins. The painting's appearance to the naked eye however is very fresh and uncompromised and is ready to hang.
"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 painting was long considered to be an unsigned work by Jan van der Heyden, and widely published as such, until a recent cleaning showed it to be substantially later, and revealed an original date: 1789. As the pioneer of Dutch seventeenth-century cityscape painting, a genre that was immensely popular in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Van der Heyden exerted a strong influence over subsequent architectural painters, who imitated his technique. One strong candidate for this painting is Hermanus Petrus Schouten (Amsterdam 1747–1822 Haarlem).