The Buitenhof, The Hague, seen from the Lange Vijverberg

Ten Compe was a highly respected, and correspondingly well-paid, artist in his own time (see also lot 1221). He studied with Dirk Dalens III and was trained as a painter of room decorations. After his apprenticeship he specialised in cityscapes following his seventeenth-century predecessors Jan van der Heyden and Gerrit Berckheyde. As listed by C. Dumas (Haagse Stadsgezichten 1550-1800 Topografische schilderijen van het Haags Historisch Museum, Zwolle, 1991, pp. 40-1), Ten Compe painted at least forty pictures of The Hague, almost all dating from the 1740s and 1750s, of which roughly twenty have survived. They are characterised by a balanced composition, defined by an elegant play of light, with a cool and bright palette and little staffage, conveying a characteristically tranquil atmoshpere.

Ten Compe painted views of the Hofvijver and the surrounding buildings (Buitenhof, Stadhouderlijk kwartier) on several occasions, for example those listed by Dumas (op. cit., nos. 8, 9 and 14). Dumas notes that the present lot may have had a pendant, probably the view of the Buitenhof seen from the Mauritstower (see under provenance: in the Rietmulder sale of 1771, lots 51-62 were all views of The Hague, all on panel, all of the same dimensions and according to the sales catalogue all twelve were painted under the supervision of the famous painter J[acob] de Wit, all of them with very detailed rendering [Deze 12 Stukken of Gezigten van 's Hage (...) zijn onder directie van de vermaarde Konst Schilder J. de Wit geschildert, en alle zeer uitvoerig uitgewerkt]).