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Lot 1
Jan van Kessel (Amsterdam 1641-1680)
A winter landscape with a faggot-gatherer
Closed14 November 2007
Price Realised
EUR 26,650
More Information
Specialist note
It was Wolgang Stechow who correctly observed that for the present composition, Jan van Kessel was influenced by his possible teacher Jan van de Capelle (Amsterdam 1626-1679) (loc. cit.). He particularly referred to van de Capelle's winter scenes of circa 1653 such as the paintings in the Mauritshuis, The Hague and in the Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna.
Alice Davies further adds that the present composition '... emulates the Mauritshuis painting especially in the description of the stormy sky, snow-laced and mottled trees, and crude thatched cottages. It varies from the prototype in the use of large-scale elements in the foreground, the glossing over of the middle distance, and the unremitting greyness. Certainly he also was reacting to the 'heroic' winter landscapes emerging from Ruisdael's studio in the mid-sixties' (loc. cit.).
Alice Davies further adds that the present composition '... emulates the Mauritshuis painting especially in the description of the stormy sky, snow-laced and mottled trees, and crude thatched cottages. It varies from the prototype in the use of large-scale elements in the foreground, the glossing over of the middle distance, and the unremitting greyness. Certainly he also was reacting to the 'heroic' winter landscapes emerging from Ruisdael's studio in the mid-sixties' (loc. cit.).