18TH CENTURY FOLLOWER OF JAN VAN DER HEYDEN | A village landscape with peasants conversing on a path

With Van Diemen, Berlin, 1925;
Anita M. Baldwin;
By whose estate bequeathed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, 1951 (inv. no. 51.29.5);
Anonymous sale, Los Angeles, Sotheby's Parke Bernet, 7-9 November 1977, lot 149 (as Jan van der Heyden);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 15 December 1989, lot 243 (as Jan van der Heyden);
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie’s, 14 January 1993, lot 46 (as Jan van der Heyden);
There acquired.

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Balch Collection and Old Masters from Los Angeles Collections, 1944, no. 50.

Art News, vol. XXIX, no. 5, November 1930;
W.R. Valentiner, Dutch Paintings, More New Acquisitions, Los Angeles County Museum Bulletin, Vol. V, no. 2, Spring 1953, p. 7, reproduced fig. 5 (as Jan van der Heyden);
H. Wagner, Jan van der Heyden, Amsterdam 1971, p. 92, cat. no. 115, reproduced (as Jan van der Heyden).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is painted on a panel which has received some attention on the reverse. Although there are no reinforcements, a wax coating has been applied on the reverse to stabilize the wood. The surface has been restored. The varnish blocks identification of retouching under ultraviolet light, but close visual examination does reveal some weakness. The paint surface originally would have been quite smooth, but is now uneven. Much of this unevenness probably corresponds to restored paint losses. These retouches seem to be extensive and present throughout the picture, but there are no particular areas of concentration except possibly in the center of the group of trees on the left. The retouches seem to be well applied. It is not recommended that the painting be cleaned, as these would be removed and would need to be replaced.
"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."