Anthonie Jansz. van der Croos

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 8 December 1976, lot 36;

Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Christie's, 11 December 1986, lot 61;

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 27 March 1987, lot 78;

Where acquired.

This picturesque river landscape is as much a study of the atmospheric play of light on water as a depiction of fisherman casting their nets. Anthonie Jansz. van der Croos executed this mature work in 1650, by when he used a limited tonal palette to depict his Dutch homeland. The shoreline's elegant diagonal draws the viewer's eye back in space: along the river bank, past a small village, across a bridge, and finally to a distant windmill.