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Landscape with Goats

Adam Pijnacker (Dutch, 1622–1673)
about 1660

Medium/Technique Oil on canvas
Dimensions 96.9 x 84.5 cm (38 1/8 x 33 1/4 in.)
Credit Line Bequest of Mrs. Jasper Whiting
Accession Number65.615
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Although Pijnacker’s paintings exhibit the characteristics of Dutch Italianate landscapes, there are no known documents that confirm he ever visited in Italy. Instead, he may have developed his luminous compositions infused with a golden-colored light from the works of artists like Jan Both. Though undated, this painting was assuredly executed around 1660, about the time the artist moved from Schiedam to Amsterdam. Pijnacker’s paintings of this period were executed on a larger scale than his earlier works and—as is evident in this painting—often feature giant cabbage leaves in the foreground, distant mountain views, and prominently-placed birch trees.

InscriptionsLower center: APynacker (A and P Joined)
ProvenancePossibly Pierre Louis Paul Randon de Boisset (b. 1708 - d. 1776), Paris; February 3, 1777, possibly posthumous Randon de Boisset sale, Pierre Remy, Paris, lot 103 [see note 1]. 1809, possibly Pierre Grand-Pré, Paris; February 16-24, 1809, possibly Grand-Pré sale, Paris, lot 95a, to Alexandre-Joseph Paillet (b. 1743 - d. 1814), Paris. With James McClure and Son, Glasgow [see note 2]. Thos. Agnew and Sons, London [see note 3]. By 1949, Marion Schlesinger (Mrs. Jasper) Whiting (b. 1880 - d. 1965), Boston; 1965, bequest of Mrs. Jasper Whiting to the MFA. (Accession Date: May 20, 1965)

NOTES:
[1] On the early provenance of the painting, see Laurie B. Harwood, "Adam Pynacker (c. 1620 - 1673)" (Doornspijk, 1988), pp. 111-112, cat. no. B4. [2] A label on the reverse of the painting, now partially obliterated, reads "James McClure & Son / ...to her majesty / carvers, gilders, printsellers / 90, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow." James McClure is known to have been active in the second half of the nineteenth century. [3] On the reverse of the stretcher is a label from Agnew and the remains of an old, English language label that is largely illegible.