Lot Essay
The present drawing is characteristic of the artist's mature style. Van Goyen's drawings fall into two main categories: the first are rapid sketches made on his travels about the Netherlands, such as the group sold from the Goldschmidt Collection, Christie's, New York, 1995, lots 220-49, illustrated, drawn circa 1650-1, which were later used as the basis for paintings or for more finished drawings; the second group, in which the present drawing falls, are worked up drawings which were drawn as finished works of art in their own right. They are invariably signed with his monogram and dated. They are larger than the sketches and were drawn in the studio. There are surviving 225 signed and dated drawings from this date, but comparatively few paintings in 1653.
There were two collectors with the name Warneck in Paris at the turn of the century: Mme. E. Warneck, whose sale was on 10 May 1905, in which there were seventeen drawings by van Goyen, and another collector, M. Warneck, possibly a member of the same family, who bought eight of the seventeen drawings by van Goyen at the sale, including the present drawing. We are grateful to Dr. Hans-Ulrich Beck, who has kindly confirmed the attribution on the basis of a photograph.
There were two collectors with the name Warneck in Paris at the turn of the century: Mme. E. Warneck, whose sale was on 10 May 1905, in which there were seventeen drawings by van Goyen, and another collector, M. Warneck, possibly a member of the same family, who bought eight of the seventeen drawings by van Goyen at the sale, including the present drawing. We are grateful to Dr. Hans-Ulrich Beck, who has kindly confirmed the attribution on the basis of a photograph.