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Lot Essay
As van Strij's inscription on the verso indicates, this drawing was made after a painting by Herman Saftleven (1609-1685) dated 1664 (sold at Sotheby's, New York, 28 May 1999, part of lot 129 (one of a pair). According to the inscriptions 'Roelofseck' on both painting and drawing, the place represented might be the town of Rolandseck on the Rhine, south of Bonn. Saftleven is known to have travelled to the Rhine valley in 1663, and he could have based this painting, made only a year later, on this trip.
Van Strij was one of many Dutch artists that drew inspiration from their 17th Century predecessors, often in direct copies like the present one. These highly finished drawings were intended for sale to Dutch collectors who often had a great appreciation for the Dutch Golden Age. Besides copies after Saftleven, van Strij made drawings after works by Gerard ter Borch II (1617-1681), Jan Both (1618/22-1652) and maybe most importantly after Albert Cuyp (1620-1691), whose drawings had a particularly strong influence on van Strij's style.
Van Strij was one of many Dutch artists that drew inspiration from their 17th Century predecessors, often in direct copies like the present one. These highly finished drawings were intended for sale to Dutch collectors who often had a great appreciation for the Dutch Golden Age. Besides copies after Saftleven, van Strij made drawings after works by Gerard ter Borch II (1617-1681), Jan Both (1618/22-1652) and maybe most importantly after Albert Cuyp (1620-1691), whose drawings had a particularly strong influence on van Strij's style.