0003
Jan van Goyen
(Leiden 1596 - 1656 Den Haag)
„Barn and Farmhouse under an Oak Tree“
1640s
oil on panel
55 x 62 cm
Provenance
A. Sargent;
Christie's, London, 20 February 1920, lot 53;
Agnews, London;
Galerie St. Lucas, Vienna, c. 1935;
art dealer D. Katz, Dieren;
Johan Bierens de Haan & Stine Dudok de Wit;
Jonkheer N. J. Westpalm van Hoorn van Burgh;
Galerie St. Lucas, Vienna 1976/77;
collection Erna Weidinger (1923–2021)
Exhibition
1936 Nijmegen, Exhibition of 16th and 17th century Dutch, Flemish and Italian paintings, Fa. D. Katz, no. 23;
1937 Dieren, Exhibition of important 16th and 17th century Dutch paintings, Fa. D. Katz, no. 26;
1938 Amsterdam, Exhibition of 16th and 17th century Dutch, Flemish and Italian paintings, Fa. D. Katz, no. 27;
Winter 1976/77, Vienna, Galerie St. Lucas, old master paintings, No. 4
Literature
C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, vol. VIII, Esslingen 1928, p. 306, no. 494a;
Henri van de Waal, Jan van Goyen, Amsterdam 1941, pp. 40-41 (b/w ill.);
Hans-Ulrich Beck, Jan van Goyen, vol. II, Catalogue of Paintings, Amsterdam 1973, p. 501, cat. no. 1149 (b/w ill.; a signature and dating mentioned in the catalogue raisonné proved not to be contemporary during a restoration in the 1970s and were therefore removed.)
Estimate: € 80.000 - 150.000
Result: € 125.440 (incl. fees)
Auction is closed.
A mighty oak tree depicted in the foreground on the right overlooks the rural idyll: an open wagon barn in front of a farmstead, a wide path with deep wagon tracks curving in front of it, and the group of figures lingering in the shade of the tree.
Such spectacular, gnarled oaks in the foreground are found frequently in Jan van Goyen's work, especially in the 1640s, for example in the "Landscape with Two Oak Trees" from 1641 (Beck 1973, p. 499, no. 1144). The motif of a thatched barn in the dunes was also a popular subject already in the 1630s, for example in a painting by Goyen now in the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg (Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, inv. no. 806).
Along with Salomon van Ruysdael (c. 1601 - 1670), Jan van Goyen is regarded as the most important representative of the so-called "tonal landscape painting" of the 17th century. With his extremely skilful use of alternating light and shade in a sparing palette of colours, he became formative for Dutch landscape painting.
Even in the abundance of outstanding works by contemporaries and painters influenced by him, van Goyen's paintings are unmistakable. It is remarkable how even in later times his work found a revival in Impressionism and the highest reverence among later artists. Vincent van Gogh, for example, expressed his admiration for the painter in a letter to his brother Theo: "How good is feels to think of people like van Goyen!"