Attributed to Adam van Breen (circa 1585-1646)

Details

Attributed to Adam van Breen (circa 1585-1646)

Elegant skaters on a frozen river by a fortified castle, at dusk

the entablature above the sluice inscribed with the date 1601, oil on panel
48.5 x 82.3 cm

Provenance

S.G. Schidlowsky, St. Petersburg

Literature

James v. Schmidt, Gemälde alter Meister in Petersburger Privatbesitz, Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft, II, 1909, p. 187
C. Hofstede de Groot, Kritische Bemerkungen über einige Holländische Bilder auf der Petersburger Ausstellung von 1908, Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft, III, 1910, p. 118, as attributed to A. Verstralen
J.G. van Gelder and N.F. van Gelder-Schrijver, Adam van Breen, schilder, Oudheidkundig Jaarboek, I, 1932, p. 112 and p. 115, no. 12 (as erroneously dated 1607)
C.J. Welcker, Hendrick Avercamp 1585-1634 Bijgenaamd 'de Stomme van Campen' en Barent Avercamp 1612-1679 'Schilders tot Campen', 1933, p. 203, no. S 2, as H. Avercamp; 2nd ed., 1979, p. ..., no. S..., as

Exhibited

St. Petersburg, 1908, no. 423, as H. Avercamp

Lot Essay

The date of the entablature may not be intended as the date of execution of the picture, although Welcker considered it to be such. She considered it to be an early work by Avercamp and drew attention to affinities with the style of Adam van Breen, following Van Gelder and Van Gelder-Schrijver, who had earlier pointed out that a similar windmill as in the present lot appeared in the picture by Van Breen of 1611, formerly in the Beets collection (op. cit., no. 1, fig. 1)

See colour illustration

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