Jan van Kessel
A view of Gorinchem from the southwest
Property from the Collection of David and Louise Carter
Jan van Kessel
Amsterdam 1641-1680
A view of Gorinchem from the southwest
oil on canvas
canvas: 21 by 25 5/8 in.; 53.3 by 65 cm.
framed: 26 1/2 by 31 1/4 in.; 67.3 by 79.3 cm.
The canvas has a wax lining and is stable. There is a small craqueleure pattern throughout but it is not particularly bothersome. The surface has been flattened slightly in the relining but there are still vivid details and subtle layers of paint on display in the foliage and cityscape. Under ultraviolet light a few pinpoint restorations in the sky are visible, though very few if any in the foreground. There is an old tear in the canvas which has been repaired and retouched lower left, about three inches high. Otherwise the painting is in very good condition with little restoration visible. Offered in a painted wood frame.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.
His sale, Amsterdam, R.W.P. de Vries, 28 August 1820, lot 36 (as Eeckhout);
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Muller, 25-6 November 1913, lot 353 (as Joris van der Haagen);
August Janssen (d. 1918), Amsterdam;
With J. Goudstikker, Amsterdam, by November 1919 (inv. no. 1557) and until at least 1922;
Mrs. A. Janssen;
By whom sold, New York, Sotheby's Parke Bernet, 12 January 1979, lot 90:
There acquired.
Dessins de paysagistes Hollandais du XVIIe siècle de la collection particulière conservée à l'Institut Néerlandais de Paris, exhibition catalogue, Brussels, Rotterdam and Paris 1968-69, under cat. no. 48, p. 53;
A. W. F. M. Meij (ed.), Dessins flamands et hollandais du dix-septième siècle: Collections Musées de Belgique (exhibition catalogue), Paris 1974, under cat. no. 34, p. 50;
A. Davies, Jan van Kessel 1641-1680, Doornspijk 1992, cat. no. 18, pl. III and 18, pp. 126-28, reproduced.
Amsterdam, Goudestikker, 14 December 1919 - 4 January 1920, no. 34;
Copenhagen, Goudestikker, 1922, no. 64;
Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton Art Museum, In Celebration: Works of Art from the Collections of Princeton Alumni and Friends of the Art Museum, 22 February - 8 June 1997, no. 165.
In this remarkably elegant view, Gorinchem is seen from the south-west looking across the Merwede River, through a row of striking elm trees, the sun warm just starting to lower. One can make out a number of the city's distinct buildings including, from the left, the chapel of the St. Agnes convent, the Reformed Church (called the Groote Kerk), the clock tower of the old town hall, the tower of the St. George Civic Guard Company, and the custom house on the far right.
Though the painting has been attributed correctly to Jan van Kessel since it was in the Janssen collection in the early 20th century (see Provenance), it was previously connected to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, presumably because of a drawing signed and dated by the artist of the same view, now in the Lugt Collection, Paris (inv. no. 93).1 Though the Eeckhout drawing and the Carter painting share a similar view, the exact vantage point is slightly further left in the painting than in the drawing and details such as the shrubs in the foreground differ.
A lost sketch of the west city wall of Gorinchem by the artist, in black chalk and gray wash, is described in an 1802 sale.2
1. https://www.pubhist.com/w9152
2. Amsterdam, Achtienhoven, 6 September 1802, no. D.41 "Gezigt langs de Vestmuur naar een der Stads Poorten te Gorinchem, verder de Kerktoren en verscheide Gebouwen; zonagtig met rood kryt en O.I. ink, door J.v. Kessel." See A. Davies, op. cit., pp. 128-9.