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Lot Essay
In this relatively early and lively panel, Jan van Goyen has captured the animated atmosphere of a village fair, or dorpskermis, without relying on vibrant colour for narrative effect. The result has been achieved in large part through the artist’s spontaneous handling of paint and his lively characterisation of the figures, using fluid, sketchy brushstrokes. In more thinly executed areas, the yellow ground has been left to show through, imparting a warmer tonality that contrasts with the artist’s otherwise virtually monochromatic palette.
The subject of the village kermis had been popular in northern European painting for some time, but van Goyen approached the theme primarily in his drawings, and a striking comparison to the present composition can be found in a drawing at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (fig. 1; inv. no. RP-T-1931-175).1 Also signed and dated 1625, the drawing almost describes the present scene as viewed from the other side, with various motifs in common; the singing musician atop the barrel, a mother and baby looking up at him, a tavern sign with a swan swinging above, a couple dancing in the foreground, and figures dancing around a maypole behind amongst a crowd of villagers. Both works exhibit the sense of lively narrative and anecdotal detail that characterise van Goyen’s paintings and drawings up until the late 1620s, when his manner transitioned towards tonal, pared-down dune landscapes, marines and river scenes.
1 See H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656. Ein Oeuvreverzeichnis, Amsterdam, 1973, I, p. 200, no. 53, illustrated.
The subject of the village kermis had been popular in northern European painting for some time, but van Goyen approached the theme primarily in his drawings, and a striking comparison to the present composition can be found in a drawing at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (fig. 1; inv. no. RP-T-1931-175).1 Also signed and dated 1625, the drawing almost describes the present scene as viewed from the other side, with various motifs in common; the singing musician atop the barrel, a mother and baby looking up at him, a tavern sign with a swan swinging above, a couple dancing in the foreground, and figures dancing around a maypole behind amongst a crowd of villagers. Both works exhibit the sense of lively narrative and anecdotal detail that characterise van Goyen’s paintings and drawings up until the late 1620s, when his manner transitioned towards tonal, pared-down dune landscapes, marines and river scenes.
1 See H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656. Ein Oeuvreverzeichnis, Amsterdam, 1973, I, p. 200, no. 53, illustrated.