Govert Dircksz. Camphuysen

Pieter Cornelis, Baron van Leyden and Heer van Vlaardingen (1717–1788), Leiden;

By descent to his son, Diderick, Baron van Leyden and Heer van Vlardingen (1744–1810), Huis met de Hoofden, Amsterdam;

By whom sold, with the rest of his father's painting collection, to a consortium formed by Louis-Bernard Coclers (1741–1817), Alexander Joseph Paillet (1743–1814) and A. de Lespinasse de Langeac;

Their sale, Paris, Paillet-Delaroche, 7 November 1804, lot 14 (as Dirck Raphaelsz. Camphuysen), for 475 francs;

Where probably acquired by Hypolite Delaroche, on behalf of Lucien Bonaparte, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano (1775–1840), Paris and Canino;

With Alexandre Joseph Paillet, Paris;

His posthumous sale, Paris, Paillet-Chariot, 2 June 1814, lot 3 (as 'Camphuysen'), for 1,030 francs, to Charles Paillet or Antoine de Sauzay;

Adolphe Schloss (1842–1910), Paris;

Confiscated by the German occupation forces from the Schloss Collection at Château de Chambon, in April 1943;

Restituted to the heirs of Adolphe Schloss from the Musée du Louvre, Paris, in 1945;

By whom sold, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 5 December 1951, lot 8 (as Govert Dircksz. Camphuysen);

Where acquired by René Küss (1913–2006), Paris;

By whose Estate sold ('The Property of the late Professor René Küss'), London, Christie's, 8 December 2006 (as Govert Dircksz. Camphuysen), lot 146, for £57,600;

With Lawrence Steigrad, New York, by 2008;

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 22 May 2018, lot 71 (as Govaert Dircksz. Camphuysen), for $68,750;

Where acquired.

A. von Wurzbach, Niederländisches Künstler-Lexikon, Vienna and Leipzig 1906, vol. I, p. 240.

Camphuysen is best known for paintings reminiscent of the work of Paulus Potter (1625–1654), of whom he was a contemporary, as well as landscapes influenced by Aert van der Neer (1603–1677). The present panel, however, is one of a small group of tavern and barn scenes that recall the style of Isack van Ostade (1621–1649). Within Camphuysen's œuvre, it compares closely with Amorous peasants in a barn, today in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels.¹ In old catalogues, the Brussels picture is recorded as having been dated 1650, though this date is now illegible. If that date is correct, the present painting may have been executed during the same period.

Note on Provenance

In the eighteenth century, this painting belonged to Pieter Cornelis, Baron van Leyden and Heer van Vlaardingen: an acclaimed collector, whose collection of Dutch prints forms the basis of the holdings at the Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam.² Upon Pieter's death, the collection was bequeathed to his son, Diderick, who shared his father's penchant for art, as well as his acquisitive nature. As attested by the 1804 sale of the family collection (see Provenance), among other masterpieces, the Van Leydens had owned The Concert by Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, in 1990,³ the Portrait of Jacob III de Gheyn by Rembrandt (1606–1669), now in the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London,⁴ and A woman drinking with two men by Pieter de Hooch (1629–after 1684), which hangs today in the National Gallery, London.⁵

One of the copies of the Van Leyden sale catalogue records that this picture was bought by the dealer Hypolite Delaroche on behalf of Lucien Bonaparte: 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano and the younger brother of Napoleon (1769–1821).⁶ Lucien limited the number of paintings in his collection and chose each work with care; his best-known pictures include The Lady with a Fan by Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), now in the Wallace Collection, London,⁷ An Allegory of Prudence by Titian (c. 1485/90–1576), today in the National Gallery,⁸ and Bronzino's Portrait of a young man in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.⁹ However, the present painting's next recorded owner is Alexandre Joseph Paillet, who had been one of the dealers to manage the sale of the Van Leyden collection in 1804 (see Provenance). Paillet must have bought this picture back from Bonaparte, therefore, or alternatively, the report of Lucien's purchase may have been incorrect.

¹ Inv. no. 2656; oil on panel, 66 x 55.5 cm.; https://fine-arts-museum.be/fr/la-collection/govert-dircksz-camphuijsen-galanterie-rustique?artist=camphuijsen-govert-dircksz.

² J.W. Niemeijer, 'Baron van Leyden, Founder of the Amsterdam Print Collection', P. Wardle (trans.), in Apollo, vol. CXVII, no. 256, June 1983, pp. 461–68.

³ Object no. P21W27; oil on canvas, 72.5 x 64.7 cm.; https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/10966.

⁴ Accession no. DPG099; oil on panel, 29.9 x 24.9 cm.; https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore/explore-the-collection/jacob-iii-de-gheyn/.

⁵ Inv. no. NG834; oil on canvas, 73.7 x 64.6 cm.; https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pieter-de-hooch-a-woman-drinking-with-two-men.

⁶ This information is provided by the Getty Provenance Index.

⁷ Inv. no. P88; oil on canvas, 95 x 70 cm.; https://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMP/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=64963&viewType=detailView.

⁸ Inv. no. NG6376; oil on canvas, 75.5 x 68.4 cm.; https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-an-allegory-of-prudence.

⁹ Object no. 29.100.16; oil on panel, 95.6 x 74.9 cm.; https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435802.