A river landscape with a walled town

Details

JAN JOSEFSZ. VAN GOYEN (LEIDEN 1596-1656 THE HAGUE)
A river landscape with a walled town
signed and dated 'VGOYEN 1643' ('VG' linked, lower left)
oil on panel
17 x 25 ½ in. (43.2 x 64.8 cm.)

Provenance

Edward Bok (1863-1930), Philadelphia.
with Anthony A.P. Stuempfig, Philadelphia, where acquired by the present owner in 1990.

Literature

H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen, 1596-1656, III, Doornspijk, 1987, p. 232, no. 749A, illustrated.
P.C. Sutton, The Martin and Kathleen Feldstein Collection, privately published, 2020, pp. 26-27, no. 5, illustrated.

Exhibited

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Prized Possessions: European Paintings from Private Collections of Friends of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 17 June-16 August 1992, no. 67.

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Lot Essay

This composition of a derelict building and six-sided tower before a crumbling wall along a river appears to have been a favored motif for van Goyen in the early 1640s. Another version of this composition, dating to a year earlier and with changes to the figures, boats and tower in the left background is known (sold Christie’s, Amsterdam, 2 December 1987, lot 301; see Beck, op. cit., II, p. 231, no. 739). A third variant, also apparently dated 1642 but with further changes to the architecture, was last recorded on the Swiss art market in 1986 (see Beck, op. cit., II, p. 335, no. 743; III, p. 231, no. 743).

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