An Estuary
Jan van Goyen (Leyden 1596 - The Hague 1656)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1655 (initialed and dated)
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
479 x 791 mm (18 7/8 x 31 1/8 in)
Place of origin
Holland
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246496
Caption
This picture exemplifies the ‘tonal school’ of painting that developed in the second quarter of the seventeenth century as a distinctively Dutch form of landscape composition. Characterised by an extremely thin application of paint and a near-absence of colour or striking incidents, its sheer simplicity is presented as a demonstration of great skill.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, An Estuary by Jan van Goyen (Leyden 1596 – The Hague 1656), signed and dated, on boat at left: "VG 1655". A view looking towards the sea with two laden sailing vessels on the right and fishermen drawing in nets in the foreground; beyond them is a tower and further back in the centre a small island with buildings or a fort; a cloudy sky.
Provenance
H.M. Clark, who bought it at a sale at Robinson and Fisher, around 1921; with Otto Gutekunst; date of acquisition by Mrs Greville unrecorded; The bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943. This item found on the record for Polesden Lacey pictures, drawings etc., stored in the cellar, page 168.
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, The McEwan Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
VG 1655 (signed and dated)
Makers and roles
Jan van Goyen (Leyden 1596 - The Hague 1656), artist
References
Howard 2010 Jeremy Howard, “A Masterly Old Master Dealer of the Gilded Age: Otto Gutekunst and Colnaghi,” in Colnaghi Established 1760: The History, ed. Jeremy Howard, London, 2010