0023
Jacob van Ruisdael
(Haarlem 1628/29 - 1682 Amsterdam)
„Storm on the seashore“
oil on canvas
50.5 x 66 cm
Monogrammed lower left: JvR
Wax seal on reverse: Königliche Museen Berlin
Provenance
Jan Bleuland, Utrecht, by1833;
Utrecht (Lamme), 6 May 1839;
Guillaume Thierry Arnaud Marie Baron van Brienen van de Grootelindt, Amsterdam, by 1860;
Paris, Le Roy, 8 May 1865, no. 35;
Suermondt collection, Aachen, from which it went to the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum Berlin in 1874;
exchanged by the Museum in 1924 with the dealer van Diemen, Berlin;
Private collection, Frankfurt by 1928;
K.A. Volz, The Hague;
August Wilhelm Volz, The Hague;
Étienne Nicolas, Paris;
Sotheby's London, 27 June 1962, lot 30;
Alfred Brod, London 1963;
Sotheby's London, 14 December 1977, lot 22;
Galerie St. Lucas, Vienna 1978/79;
collection Erna Weidinger (1923–2021)
Exhibition
1873 Brussels, Société Néerlandais de Bienfaisance à Bruxelles, Exposition de tableaux et dessins d'anciens maitres, no. 30;
1873 Brussels, Musée Royale des Beaux-Arts, Le Catalogue d'une collection [B. Suermondt] de tableaux et dessins anciens et modernes, no. 153;
1936/37 The Hague, The Mauritshuis, Oude Kunst Haagsch bezit, cat. no. 168;
1963 London, Alfred Brod, 9 - 30 May, no. 17;
Winter 1978/79 Vienna, Galerie St. Lucas, old master paintings, no. 19
Literature
W. Bürger, Nouvelles études sur la Galerie Suermondt: XIII. Les Ruisdael, in: Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1869, pp. 182-186 (etching by L. Flameng)
Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, 4, 1869, pp. 241-243;
F. C. Willis, Die niederländische Marinemalerei, Leipzig 1911, p. 63;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch painters of the seventeenth century, vol. IV, London 1912, pp. 291-2, no. 942, and p. 304, no. 978;
Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, Berlin, catalogue, 1921, no. 885B;
Jakob Rosenberg, Jacob van Ruisdael, Berlin 1928, no. 582;
Gerardus Arnulf Maria Janssen, Das Haus Herengracht 182 zu Amsterdam und seine Sammlung von Gemälden Niederländischer Maler des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts, diss., Munich 1988, pp. 117-118;
Seymour Slive, Jacob van Ruisdael, A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings and Etchings, New Haven & London 2001, p. 463, cat. no. 654 (b/w-ill.)
Estimate: € 150.000 - 300.000
Result: € 96.000 (incl. fees)
Auction is closed.
A report written as early as 1865 by the respected Dutch art connoisseur Carl Vosmaer on the auction of the van Brienen Collection emphasizes the outstanding quality of the present seascape: “Another selected jewel is Jacob van Ruisdael’s marine. The Louvre and the Hague Museum each have a copy of the few he painted (-), one looks in vain for a piece among the Dutch marine painters that is as powerful and beautiful as this sea by the landscape artist." (Janssen 1988, p. 117)
The nephew of Salomon von Ruysdaels (1600-1670) is primarily known for his powerful forest and dune landscapes, which stand out through a high-contrast use of light and the differentiated rendering of natural forms. He painted only a handful of seascapes, about twenty-five are known, but these are among his finest works. The particularly precise observations of nature culminate in the depiction of the turbulent sea, the spray arising on the waves and the dark play of colours in the stormy water.
Above the waterline, storm clouds pile up in dramatic shades while waves break on the spar-covered sandbank in the foreground. From the finely tuned interplay of sky, water and the boats drifting on it, Jacob von Ruisdael creates a thrilling impression of the natural spectacle.
The composition of this outstanding seascape was formative for subsequent generations of artists and was repeated several times; for example, a repetition is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Strasbourg. (Inv. No. MBA 571)