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Lot Essay
Formerly attributed to Pieter Dircksz. van Santvoort (circa 1604/5-1635) the present picture appears to be by the same hand as the Landscape with Hermits, in the Bredius Museum, The Hague (inv. no. 210-1946). The latter is signed 'C.WIERINGE' and is traditionally thought to be by Cornelis Claesz. van Wieringen who is generally known for his seascapes which were much influenced by the example of Hendrick Vroom. George Keyes in an article on the artist, convincingly argued that marine painting formed only one aspect of van Wieringen's much broader artistic interests. Indeed Keyes maintains that it is rather in his rare panoramic landscape drawings that van Wieringen expressed both his own originality and his debt to Goltzius (G.S. Keyes, Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen, Oude Holland, 1979, 93, no. 1, pp. 1-46.)
Van Wieringen's contemporaries certainly esteemed his landscape work, as Claes Jansz. Visscher produced in 1613 a series of fourteen etchings after his drawings. Keyes notes that 'the drawings reproduced by Visscher shatter the conventional understanding of van Wieringern's art', and that 'Van Wieringen's wide-ranging interests are all the more astonishing because not one marine subject is included in the entire series' (G.S. Keyes, op. cit., pp. 9-10). All the aspects Keyes discovers in the drawings such as the 'strong imaginary flavour, vivacity and candour, fluctuating light effect and restless movement of the sea, sky and undulating land', seem equally applicable to both the Bredius landscape and the present work.
In the absence of other known paintings by the artist Keyes shied away from attributing the Bredius picture to Cornelis Claesz. van Wieringen and attributed it instead to his son Claes (Keyes ibid., p. 2, no. 8). Claes was listed in the Haarlem Guild in 1636, but died young. As no fully signed paintings by Claes are known, this attribution remains equally problematic. The most recent publication of the Bredius picture in the Bredius Museum catalogue, 1990, no. 188, continues to uphold the attribution to the father while citing Keyes' opinion regarding a possible attribution to the son.
Van Wieringen's contemporaries certainly esteemed his landscape work, as Claes Jansz. Visscher produced in 1613 a series of fourteen etchings after his drawings. Keyes notes that 'the drawings reproduced by Visscher shatter the conventional understanding of van Wieringern's art', and that 'Van Wieringen's wide-ranging interests are all the more astonishing because not one marine subject is included in the entire series' (G.S. Keyes, op. cit., pp. 9-10). All the aspects Keyes discovers in the drawings such as the 'strong imaginary flavour, vivacity and candour, fluctuating light effect and restless movement of the sea, sky and undulating land', seem equally applicable to both the Bredius landscape and the present work.
In the absence of other known paintings by the artist Keyes shied away from attributing the Bredius picture to Cornelis Claesz. van Wieringen and attributed it instead to his son Claes (Keyes ibid., p. 2, no. 8). Claes was listed in the Haarlem Guild in 1636, but died young. As no fully signed paintings by Claes are known, this attribution remains equally problematic. The most recent publication of the Bredius picture in the Bredius Museum catalogue, 1990, no. 188, continues to uphold the attribution to the father while citing Keyes' opinion regarding a possible attribution to the son.