As pointed out by H.U. Beck (loc.cit.), Frans de Hulst is a typical representative of the Haarlem School of landscape painting, during the time when Salomon van Ruysdael and Jan van Goyen were the dominant figures in the 1630's and 1640's. De Hulst lived his whole life in Haarlem; his early works are the well known 'Van Goyenesque' dune landscapes. Following Van Goyen's example, buildings become a more dominant feature in his oeuvre after 1645; these are mostly castles, bastions and walled towns on rivers. As with so many other themes in De Hulst's paintings, the view of the Valkhof must have been inspired by Jan van Goyen, who painted his first view of the town as early as 1633. He reworked it time and again until the end of his life for dated views are recorded until 1654 (see Beck, op.cit., nos. 342-370). Untill recently, no drawn views by Van Goyen were known. However a black chalk drawing inscribed 'Valck Hof tot nimmegen' will be offered in the Old Master Drawings sale in these rooms, 13 November 1995, which Beck dates to circa 1633. At least eight versions of this view by De Hulst are known. Of these, two are fully signed (like the present lot; they are in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Beck, op.cit., no. 528 and in the Museum Boymans van Beuningen; Beck, op.cit., no. 538); three bear Van Goyen's signature and the dates 1646, 1648 and 1654 (Bashanger; Sale, Sotheby's London, 13 December 1978, lot 5, with ill. and Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit; and in the J. Cremer collection, Dusseldorf); while two are unsigned (private collection, the Netherlands, 1939 and Van de Mortel collection, Bois-le-Duc; photographs in the R.K.D., The Hague)

Sold with a photo certificate by Dr Walther Bernt, dated 18 November 1967

See colour illustration