Adriaen van de Velde

Collection Sir Herbert Cook; 

William Bateson (Lugt 2604A); 

His sale, London, Sotheby's, Important Drawings by Old Masters of the Italian, Dutch, Flemish, French and English Schools, 24 April 1929, lot 238;

The property of Murray Adams-Acton, Esq. ;

His sale and others, London, Sotheby's, Important Old Master Drawings, 27 March 1969, lot 93;

With Kunsthandel Gebroeders Douwes, Amsterdam;

Collection Professor Dr Drs Anton C.R. Dreesmann, Laren, inv. no B10;

His deceased sale, London, Christie's, The Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann Collection, part III, 11 April 2002 (QUINTEN-6673), lot 687, when acquired by Marianne Dreesmann;

Collection Mrs Marianne L. Dreesmann-van der Spek, Laren, inv. no B024;

Thence by inheritance to the present owners.

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Collection de Sir Herbert Cook; 

William Bateson (Lugt 2604A); 

Sa vente, Londres, Sotheby's, Important Drawings by Old Masters of the Italian, Dutch, Flemish, French and English Schools, 24 avril 1929, lot 238;

Collection Murray Adams-Acton, Esq.;

Sa vente, Londres, Sotheby's, Important Old Master Drawings, 27 mars 1969, lot 93;

Galerie Kunsthandel Gebroeders Douwes, Amsterdam;

Collection Professeur Dr Drs Anton C.R. Dreesmann, Laren, inv. no B10;

Sa vente après décès, Londres, Christie's, The Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann Collection, part III, 11 avril 2002 (QUINTEN-6673), lot 687, où acquis par Marianne Dreesmann;

Collection Mrs Marianne L. Dreesmann-van der Spek, Laren, inv. n° B024;

Par descendance aux propriétaires actuels.

South Bend (IN), The Snite Museum of Art, On loan from Holland: A Dutch Treat, 1982, n° 25.

Carol Rosenberg (ed.), Florianne M. Simons, On Loan from Holland, A Dutch Treat, Selections of XVII and XVIII Century Dutch Art from the Collection of Dr A.C.R. Dreesmann; A Bicentennial Celebration of Relations between the United States and the Netherlands, The Snite Museum of Art, South Bend (IN), 1982, no. 25, p. 63, reproduced p. 26.

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Carol Rosenberg (ed.), Florianne M. Simons, On Loan from Holland, A Dutch Treat, Selections of XVII and XVIII Century Dutch Art from the Collection of Dr A.C.R. Dreesmann; A Bicentennial Celebration of Relations between the United States and the Netherlands, The Snite Museum of Art, South Bend (IN), 1982, n° 25, p. 63, repr. p. 26.

Adriaen van de Velde is known primarily as a painter of landscapes with animals, although a number of important religious compositions also enrich his œuvre. His drawings in particular show a great variety and originality of technique, encompassing some of the grandest and most brilliant red chalk figure studies in all Dutch art, freely handled wash drawings, serene landscape compositions executed in black chalk and gray wash, and lively studies of cows and sheep, clearly made from life. 

As the beautifully selected and catalogued monographic exhibition on the artist, recently held at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the Dulwich Picture Gallery, so clearly demonstrated, throughout his brief career, Adriaen van de Velde used drawings in his creative process in an almost Italian way that was rather different from most of his Dutch contemporaries. He drew brilliantly, and apparently constantly. Though his surviving drawn œuvre is not particularly large, the numbers and variety of studies that he made for certain specific compositions make it very clear that he thought his painted works out as he went along, through drawings. There are rapid sketches in pen and ink, often with wash, superb red chalk studies of individual figures – often counterproofed, as in the present example, so that the figures could be reused in reverse in other paintings.

Another similar offset of the same figure is in a drawing in the British Museum, there 'Attributed to Adriaen van de Velde' (inv. no. 1990,1215.3).

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Si Adriaen van de Velde est tout particulièrement renommé pour ses tableaux de paysages, peuplés d’animaux, son œuvre compte également de nombreuses scènes religieuses. Ses dessins, en particulier, témoignent d’une grande variété et originalité dans les techniques qu’il emploie, hissant ses études de figures à la sanguine parmi les plus belles et les plus brillantes de l’art hollandais, réalisant des lavis au traitement fluide, composant des paysages sereins à la pierre noire et au lavis gris, ainsi que des études de vaches et de moutons, prises sur le vif.

Ainsi que l’a particulièrement bien illustré l’exposition monographique au Rijksmuseum à Amsterdam, et à la Dulwich Picture Gallery, tout au long de sa brève carrière Adriaen van de Velde a utilisé le dessin d’une manière proche de celle des artistes italiens, assez différente de celle de ses contemporains aux Pays-Bas. Il dessinait brillamment et, semble-t-il, constamment. Même si son œuvre dessiné ne constitue pas un corpus très large, le nombre et la variété des études préparatoires à certains de ses tableaux traduisent un long travail de réflexion, murît à travers ses dessins. Ses esquisses exécutées rapidement à la plume et encre, et souvent au lavis, ses superbes sanguines, études de figures individuelles – souvent pour des contre-épreuves, comme c’est le cas ici – sont réalisées de façon à pouvoir les réutiliser entre contrepoint dans ses tableaux. 

Une autre feuille, représentant la même figure est conservée au British Museum, comme Attribuée à Adriaen van de Velde (inv. n° 1990,1215.3).