Jan Josefsz. van Goyen

Probably anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Van der Schley, Roos, and De Vries, 25 August 1817, lot 28;

Probably where acquired by Samuel Woodburn (1783–1853), London, for 87 florins;

Mrs. Williams, London;

By whose Executors sold ('Sold by Order of the Executors of Mrs. Williams, deceased, late of 5 Albert Hall Mansions, S.W.'), Christie's, 10 December 1910, lot 122;

Where acquired by Dowdeswell & Dowdeswell, London, for £441;

Berthold Richter, Berlin;

Josef Berthold Block (1863–1943), Berlin, by 1913;

Dr. Alfred Gold, Berlin, 1928;

Baron Heinrich van Thyssen-Bornemisza (1875–1947), Collection Schloss Rohoncz, by 1930 and until at least 1937;

Karl Eric Maison (1900–1971), London, 1949;

With Matthiesen Gallery, London, circa 1954;

Anonymous sale, Zurich, Koller, 12 November 1982, lot 2;

Anonymous sale ('Property of a Private Collector'), New York, Sotheby's, 17 January 1985, lot 108;

Where acquired by a private collector, New York;

With Otto Naumann, New York, by 1995;

From whom acquired.

Munich, Neue Pinakothek, Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz, 1930, no. 129 (lent by Baron Heinrich van Thyssen-Bornemisza);

Portland, Portland Art Museum, on long-term loan, circa 1980 (inv. no. L.80.15.8; according to a label on the reverse).

C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. VIII, London 1927, p. 53, no. 172;

R. Heinemann, Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz, exh. cat., Munich 1930, p. 39, no. 129;

R. Heinemann, Stiftung Sammlung Schloss Rohoncz, Lugano 1937, vol. I, pp. 61–62, no. 162;

H. Ulrich-Beck, Jan van Goyen, Amsterdam 1973, vol. II, p. 174, no. 357, reproduced;

Inaugural Exhibition of Old Master Paintings, exh. cat., New York 1995, n.p., reproduced.

Painted by Jan Josefsz. van Goyen in 1646, this signed and dated panel depicts the city of Nijmegen, with the imposing Valkhof castle looming at right. Using a remarkably restrained color palette, Van Goyen differentiates between the rippling water that reflects the fortifications, clouds, and boats; the cottony cumulus clouds; and the Valkhof’s slightly crumbling masonry. The painter’s tonal restraint enhances the sense of atmospheric perspective, as the distant elements on the horizon dissolve into soft green hues. While the scene conveys a sense of geographic accuracy, it also reveals Van Goyen’s fascination with both the picturesque and the Netherlands’ architectural heritage.

The present work belongs to Van Goyen’s later series of Nijmegen views that focus on the monumental fortress originally built under Charlemagne atop ancient Roman ruins along the banks of the river Waal. Demolished in 1796, the Valkhof formed a popular subject for Dutch artists. Van Goyen himself painted the view several times between 1633 and the late 1640s, including in a large 1641 canvas now in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (inv. no. C.XVI.6). Other notable interpretations include works by Albert Cuyp and the slightly younger Salomon van Ruysdael, whose 1652 rendition on panel sold at Sotheby’s, New York, in May 2025, for $2,978,000.¹

¹ https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2025/elegance-wonder-masterpieces-from-the-collection-of-jordan-and-thomas-a-saunders-iii/river-view-of-the-valkhof-at-nijmegen