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Throughout his career, Jan van Goyen painted river scenes, a subject first developed by his teacher, Esaias van de Velde. Van Goyen based these works on chalk drawings done on the spot during his travels throughout the country. In contrast to the more meticulous and colorful landscapes of his Dutch and Flemish predecessors, he used a limited palette of rapidly applied, muted colors to achieve great atmospheric effects. In this scene of a ferryboat transporting passengers and cattle, he carefully captured the reflections in the water (masterfully achieved by applying thin glazes over the panel’s warm ground) and contrasted the verdant trees against the lighter sky.
River Landscape with Peasants in a Ferryboat
Jan Josephsz. van Goyen (Dutch, 1596–1656)
1648
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
54 x 73.7 cm (21 1/4 x 29 in.)
Framed: 79.1 x 98.4 x 7.6 cm (31 1/8 x 38 3/4 x 3 in.)
Framed: 79.1 x 98.4 x 7.6 cm (31 1/8 x 38 3/4 x 3 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession Number2017.4185
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Throughout his career, Jan van Goyen painted river scenes, a subject first developed by his teacher, Esaias van de Velde. Van Goyen based these works on chalk drawings done on the spot during his travels throughout the country. In contrast to the more meticulous and colorful landscapes of his Dutch and Flemish predecessors, he used a limited palette of rapidly applied, muted colors to achieve great atmospheric effects. In this scene of a ferryboat transporting passengers and cattle, he carefully captured the reflections in the water (masterfully achieved by applying thin glazes over the panel’s warm ground) and contrasted the verdant trees against the lighter sky.
Signed
signed and dated lower left on the ferry: VG 1648 (VG in ligature)
ProvenanceBy 1900, William McKay, Esq., London [see note 1]. 1900, Colnaghi and Co., London; by 1914, sold by Colnaghi to James Simon (b. 1851 - d. 1932), Berlin [see note 2]. By 1927, Charles Albert de Burlet (dealer; b. 1882 - d. 1956), Berlin [see note 3]. By 1952, Dr. Hans Wetzlar (b. 1894 - d. 1970), Amsterdam [see note 4]; June 9, 1977, posthumous Wetzlar sale, Sotheby Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, lot 64, sold to Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam. Private collection, Great Britain. January 12, 1994, anonymous ("various properties") sale, Christie's, New York, lot 23, sold to Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, Marblehead, MA; 2017, gift of Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 14, 2017)
NOTES:
[1] Lent to the Burlington Fine Arts Club, "Exhibition of Pictures by Old Masters" (1900), cat. no. 39, as "Landscape."
[2] Simon lent the painting to the "Ausstellung von Werken alter Kunst aus dem Privatbesitz von Mitgliedern des Kaiser Friedrich-Museums-Vereins" (Akademie der Künste, Berlin, May, 1914), cat. no. 46.
[3] Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. 3 (London, 1927), p. 132, cat. no. 514.
[4] M. J. Friedländer, Collection Dr. H. Wetzlar, Amsterdam (Amsterdam, 1952), p. 13, cat. no. 37.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
According to Hans-Ulrich Beck, Jan van Goyen, 1596-1656, vol. 2 (Amsterdam, 1973), pp. 278-279, cat. no. 614, this painting passed through the hands of Karl Haberstock, who was active as a dealer in Nazi Germany. There is no indication that the painting was handled by Haberstock either during the Nazi period or in the years beforehand. There is, however, a photograph of the painting in the Haberstock archive, which may have led Beck to conclude that he handled it. Many thanks to Horst Kessler for his assistance with this research.
NOTES:
[1] Lent to the Burlington Fine Arts Club, "Exhibition of Pictures by Old Masters" (1900), cat. no. 39, as "Landscape."
[2] Simon lent the painting to the "Ausstellung von Werken alter Kunst aus dem Privatbesitz von Mitgliedern des Kaiser Friedrich-Museums-Vereins" (Akademie der Künste, Berlin, May, 1914), cat. no. 46.
[3] Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. 3 (London, 1927), p. 132, cat. no. 514.
[4] M. J. Friedländer, Collection Dr. H. Wetzlar, Amsterdam (Amsterdam, 1952), p. 13, cat. no. 37.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
According to Hans-Ulrich Beck, Jan van Goyen, 1596-1656, vol. 2 (Amsterdam, 1973), pp. 278-279, cat. no. 614, this painting passed through the hands of Karl Haberstock, who was active as a dealer in Nazi Germany. There is no indication that the painting was handled by Haberstock either during the Nazi period or in the years beforehand. There is, however, a photograph of the painting in the Haberstock archive, which may have led Beck to conclude that he handled it. Many thanks to Horst Kessler for his assistance with this research.