DRAWINGS OF ARCHITECTURE AND ORNANMENT FROM THE COLLECTION OF LODEWIJK HOUTHAKKER
Lodewijk Houthakker in the introduction of his catalogue writes that his taste for architecture was formed by his upbringing in Amsterdam which, guided by his learned father Bernard, he came to know intimately. His interest was deepened by a course on ornamental art taught by Willem Vogelsang, Emeritus Professor of Art History in Utrecht. This theoretical knowledge was strengthened by the viewing of early architectural books in the sale of the collection of Penard y Fernandez at the Hotel Drouot. Mr Houthakker began to collect drawings in this field despite his father's advice that there were not enough collector's in this field, although he himself had put together a small, but distinguished group of architectural studies. For over 30 years Lodewijk Houthakker has been building up one of the finest collections of architectural drawings in private hands. The sale illustrates the diversity of this. There are designs for fountains (lots 4 and 15), ships (lots 18 and 89), metalwork (lots 17 and 87), elaborate temporary structures erected for specific occasions (lots 25 and 86) and for unrealized projects which are recorded only through a few surviving studies (lots 95 and 106). The numerous exhibitions of his drawings and the publication of the catalogue of his collection has led to greater interest in the previously neglected field of architectural drawings. Mr Houthakker's fascination with architecture has found a practical outlet in the restoration of his house on the Heerengracht in Amsterdam
The following entries are indebted to the catalogue of the collection by Peter Fuhring, Design into Art, Drawings for Architecture and Ornament, London, 1989 (referred to as P. Fuhring, with the appropriate number)
ITALY
North Italian School, late 16th Century
Painted Reliefs for Pilasters with playing Putti and Women feeding and Chastising Infants
Details
North Italian School, late 16th Century
Painted Reliefs for Pilasters with playing Putti and Women feeding and Chastising Infants
with inscription '3', pen and brown ink, brown wash, outlines incised
x in. (221 x 91 mm.)
Painted Reliefs for Pilasters with playing Putti and Women feeding and Chastising Infants
with inscription '3', pen and brown ink, brown wash, outlines incised
x in. (221 x 91 mm.)
Provenance
G. Vallardi (L. 1223), numbered F 289
Literature
P. Fuhring, no. 112 (as German School, late 16th Century)