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Lot Essay
Peter Schatborn has kindly confirmed the attribution on the basis of photographs, suggesting that these may be early works by the artist. Mr Schatborn draws a comparison with van de Velde's drawing, likewise with brown and blue washes, of a Landscape with ruins and a monumental gateway in the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, which was made in preparation for the title page to a series of etchings entitled Amenissimae aliquot regiunculae... published in 1616 (G. Luitjen and A.W.F.M. Meij, From Pisanello to Cézanne, exhib. cat., New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, and elsewhere, 1990-1991, no. 27).
The proportions and subject matter of this pair of drawings are comparable to several of van de Velde's series of landscape etchings, for example the Landscapes with ruins published in 1615 (Holl. 178-195). With a some notable exceptions, such as the drawing in Rotterdam mentioned above, there are few direct connections between van de Velde's drawings and etchings, leading Ger Luijten to suggest that his etching technique enabled him to 'draw' directly with the needle on the etching ground (G. Luitjen and A.W.F.M. Meij, op. cit., p. 85).
Van de Velde was apprenticed to Jacob Matham in Haarlem in 1613, was registered as a master in 1614, and became closely associated with the leading artists of the town such as Goltzius and Buytewech. The latter became a close friend, and his influence can surely be seen in drawings such as the present sheet. The surviving body of perhaps 100 drawings is dwarfed by the nearly 500 etchings made by van de Velde, initially after his own designs, but more often in his maturity after artists 178-195). With some notable exceptions, such as the drawing in Rotterdam mentioned above, there are few direct connections between van de Velde's drawings and etchings, leading Ger Luijten to sugest that his etching technique enabled him to 'draw' directly with the needle on the etching ground (G. Luitjen and A.W.F.M. Meij, op. cit., p. 85). Van de Velde was apprenticed to Jacob Matham in Haarlem in 1613, was registered as a master in 1614, and became closely associated with the leading artists of the town such as Goltzius and Buytewech. The latter became a close firend, and his influence can surely be seen in drawings such as the present sheet. The surviving body of perhaps 100 drawings is dwarfed by the nearly 500 etchings made by van de Velde, initially after his own desins but more often in his maturity after artists such as Buytewech, Molijn and Saenredam.
This pair of drawings is on a French 18th Century mount of extremely similar type to that belonging to a pair of figure studies by Jan Brueghel I sold in these Rooms, 6 July 2004, lot 163, which were likewise mounted one above the other. The mount for the latter pair was marked with the mounter's mark for J.-B. Glomy (L. 1119). This French provenance suggests that the drawing may have been bought by John, 3rd Duke of Dorset, when Ambassador in Paris from 1783 to 1789. Alternatively, it may have been bought by Charles Whitworth, subsequently 1st Earl Whitworth, who was a member of the Duke of Dorset's embassy, was himself later Ambassador in Paris from 1802 to 1803, and who married Arabella, the Duke's widow.
The proportions and subject matter of this pair of drawings are comparable to several of van de Velde's series of landscape etchings, for example the Landscapes with ruins published in 1615 (Holl. 178-195). With a some notable exceptions, such as the drawing in Rotterdam mentioned above, there are few direct connections between van de Velde's drawings and etchings, leading Ger Luijten to suggest that his etching technique enabled him to 'draw' directly with the needle on the etching ground (G. Luitjen and A.W.F.M. Meij, op. cit., p. 85).
Van de Velde was apprenticed to Jacob Matham in Haarlem in 1613, was registered as a master in 1614, and became closely associated with the leading artists of the town such as Goltzius and Buytewech. The latter became a close friend, and his influence can surely be seen in drawings such as the present sheet. The surviving body of perhaps 100 drawings is dwarfed by the nearly 500 etchings made by van de Velde, initially after his own designs, but more often in his maturity after artists 178-195). With some notable exceptions, such as the drawing in Rotterdam mentioned above, there are few direct connections between van de Velde's drawings and etchings, leading Ger Luijten to sugest that his etching technique enabled him to 'draw' directly with the needle on the etching ground (G. Luitjen and A.W.F.M. Meij, op. cit., p. 85). Van de Velde was apprenticed to Jacob Matham in Haarlem in 1613, was registered as a master in 1614, and became closely associated with the leading artists of the town such as Goltzius and Buytewech. The latter became a close firend, and his influence can surely be seen in drawings such as the present sheet. The surviving body of perhaps 100 drawings is dwarfed by the nearly 500 etchings made by van de Velde, initially after his own desins but more often in his maturity after artists such as Buytewech, Molijn and Saenredam.
This pair of drawings is on a French 18th Century mount of extremely similar type to that belonging to a pair of figure studies by Jan Brueghel I sold in these Rooms, 6 July 2004, lot 163, which were likewise mounted one above the other. The mount for the latter pair was marked with the mounter's mark for J.-B. Glomy (L. 1119). This French provenance suggests that the drawing may have been bought by John, 3rd Duke of Dorset, when Ambassador in Paris from 1783 to 1789. Alternatively, it may have been bought by Charles Whitworth, subsequently 1st Earl Whitworth, who was a member of the Duke of Dorset's embassy, was himself later Ambassador in Paris from 1802 to 1803, and who married Arabella, the Duke's widow.