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Mill on a River
Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée) (French (active in Rome), 1600–1682)
1631 (?)
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
61.6 x 84.5 cm (24 1/4 x 33 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Seth K. Sweetser Fund
Accession Number44.72
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Claude Gellée, born in the French province of Lorraine, was one of many artists from the north of Europe who went to Italy in the first half of the seventeenth century. Claude became famous throughout Europe for his mastery of atmospheric effects of light. This landscape includes an artist seated at left, drawing a boy milking a goat. Such picturesque views were admired by many artists of the next generation, including Dutch and Flemish painters.
InscriptionsLower left, on fallen pediment: CIA [...] E IV 163(?)
ProvenancePossibly Fréderic-Maurice de la tour d'Auvergne (b. about 1605 - d. 1652), Duc de Bouillon, Sedan, France (?) [see note 1]. 1826, Woodburn (dealer), London; March 25, 1826, sale, Woodburn, London, lot 71, not sold (?) [see note 2]. Until 1845, Thomas Wright, Upton Hall, Newark, England; June 7, 1845, Wright sale, Christie's, London, lot 44, to Moore for Wynn Ellis (b. 1790 - d. 1875), London; June 17, 1876, Ellis sale, Christie's, London, lot 4, to Portington. 1943, Sir Berkeley Sheffield, 6th Bt. (b. 1876 - d. 1946), Normanby Park, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire; July 16, 1943, Sheffield sale, Christie's, London, lot 40 [see note 3], to Sandor. By 1944, Koetser Gallery, London and New York; 1944, sold by Koetser to the MFA for $6000. (Accession Date: March 9, 1944)
NOTES:
[1] John Smith, "A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters," part 8 (London, 1837), pp. 378-379, no. 409: "stated to have formerly adorned the country mansion of the Count de Bouillon." W. G. Constable, "The Early Work of Claude Lorrain," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1945, p. 308, suggests that this refers to the Duc de Bouillon, "one of Claude's most important patrons." However, the earlier Woodburn sale catalogue (1826) makes no mention of its ownership by the duc de Bouillon. [2] The outcome of the sale in 1826 is not known. In 1837, Smith (as above, n. 1) states that the painting was with Woodburn. [3] Sold as a work by C. van Everdingen.
NOTES:
[1] John Smith, "A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters," part 8 (London, 1837), pp. 378-379, no. 409: "stated to have formerly adorned the country mansion of the Count de Bouillon." W. G. Constable, "The Early Work of Claude Lorrain," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1945, p. 308, suggests that this refers to the Duc de Bouillon, "one of Claude's most important patrons." However, the earlier Woodburn sale catalogue (1826) makes no mention of its ownership by the duc de Bouillon. [2] The outcome of the sale in 1826 is not known. In 1837, Smith (as above, n. 1) states that the painting was with Woodburn. [3] Sold as a work by C. van Everdingen.