Lot Essay
Jeroen Giltay has kindly confirmed the attribution after seeing the original and dates it to the early 1650s.
In De Tekeningen van Jacob van Ruisdael, Catalogus van Tekeningen van Jacob van Ruisdael, Oud Holland, 1980, XCIV, pp. 141-208, Giltay describes a large group of drawings dating from circa 1648-55, which are comparable in technique, handling and size to the present lot (Fondation Custodia, Institut Néerlandais, Paris, Windsor Castle, the Collection of the late Professor J.Q. van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam, The P. and N. de Boer Foundation, Amsterdam, the Kongelige Kobberstiksamlung, Copenhagen, the Kunsthalle, Bremen, the Hermitage, St. Petersburg and in the De Rothschild Collection, Louvre, Paris, Giltay, op.cit., catalogue nos. 93-4, 102-3, 12, 11, 63, 30, 66 and 87 respectively). The drawing in the De Rothschild Collection is the only one bearing a monogram, thus confirming the attribution of the group. Five others have been retouched by a later hand (Giltay, op.cit., p. 148). None of the drawings seem to have been used for a picture by Van Ruisdael, though two were the basis for pictures by followers of the artist
In De Tekeningen van Jacob van Ruisdael, Catalogus van Tekeningen van Jacob van Ruisdael, Oud Holland, 1980, XCIV, pp. 141-208, Giltay describes a large group of drawings dating from circa 1648-55, which are comparable in technique, handling and size to the present lot (Fondation Custodia, Institut Néerlandais, Paris, Windsor Castle, the Collection of the late Professor J.Q. van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam, The P. and N. de Boer Foundation, Amsterdam, the Kongelige Kobberstiksamlung, Copenhagen, the Kunsthalle, Bremen, the Hermitage, St. Petersburg and in the De Rothschild Collection, Louvre, Paris, Giltay, op.cit., catalogue nos. 93-4, 102-3, 12, 11, 63, 30, 66 and 87 respectively). The drawing in the De Rothschild Collection is the only one bearing a monogram, thus confirming the attribution of the group. Five others have been retouched by a later hand (Giltay, op.cit., p. 148). None of the drawings seem to have been used for a picture by Van Ruisdael, though two were the basis for pictures by followers of the artist