Barend Avercamp, Schaatsers en kolfspelers buiten de stadsmuren van Kampen. Ca. 1655
Schaatsers en kolfspelers buiten de stadsmuren van Kampen uit ca. 1655 door Barent Avercamp (1612/13-1679).
Barent was de neef van Hendrick Avercamp en minder bekend. Hij leerde het schilderen van zijn oom en nam in zijn werk ook geregeld details van hem over. Daarom heeft het tot 1920 geduurd voordat echt duidelijk werd dat er twee schilders met de naam Avercamp zijn geweest.
Notes
The painting can be compared with two drawings, also supposed to represent Kampen, by Esaias van de Velde (Amsterdam 1587 – 1630 The Hague). The similarities between these two drawings and the present painting are too striking to be a coincidence. Especially the position of the boat on the bank of the drawing in the Victoria & Albert Museum is, besides the resemblance in architecture, remarkable.When carefully comparing the drawing to a print by Abraham Rademaker from the city of Ysselstein, we can conclude that the two drawings by Van de Velde must have been inspired by the city defences of Ysselstein. It is known that Esaias van de Velde used his imagination when depicting existing architecture, but that he nonetheless usually represented this architecture clearly enough to be identified. Additionally, we know for a fact that Esaias has been to Ysselstein, proven by a winter landscape depicting the covered lock and the Ysselpoort of Ysselstein behind it. There is no evidence that Barent Avercamp also has travelled himself to Ysselstein.
When comparing the painting by Barent and the drawings by Van de Velde, the copied details strongly suggest that Barent must have known, seen and studied the drawing of 1621 meticulously and that it was used as an example for his painting.We presume that Hendrick Avercamp spent his apprenticeship in Amsterdam with the Antwerp master Gillis van Coninxloo (1544-1607) at the same time as Esaias van de Velde and Hercules Seghers studied with van Coninxloo. It is thus probably through Hendrick that Barent knew the drawings by Esaias van de Velde.
In 1936 this painting was with Walter Paech, art dealer and restorer in Amsterdam. After comparing two photographs in the documentation of the RKD - Netherlands Institute of Art History and tracing the provenance of this painting, we have concluded that during restoration Paech must have painted over several elements of the composition: the two most evident elements are the top of one the towers, and the man doing his needs under the city wall.
The painting is accompanied by a letter confirming that the descendants of the late Bernhard Albert Mayer of Mainz have transferred all rights, title, or interest in and to the painting.
Olieverf op paneel. 58 x 89 cm. Signed l.l. on the sledge
Provenance
Dr Hülsmann, Wiesbaden, 1907; Reg. Rat Schippers, Wiesbaden;
Bernhard Albert Mayer, Mainz, until 1934;
sale Gemäldesammlung Kom.-Rat Bernhard Albert Mayer, Mainz, Werke niederländischer Meister des 17. Jahrhunderts, Paul Graupe, Berlin, 25 June 1934, lot 2; Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, August-September 1934;
Galerie Moos, Geneva, Collections Jan W. Vos Amsterdam, H. Schauwecker Bruxelles, 7 December 1935, lot 4, ill. at plate 2;
Kunsthandel W. Paech, Amsterdam, 1936, no.1; H. Schrijver Jr., Castellaras, France, 1976; sale, Old Master Paintings, Sotheby’s, London, 3 July 1997, as ‘Property from a European Private Collection’, lot 30, ill; Johnny van Haeften Ltd, London, in December 1997 and Newhouse Galleries Inc., New York, 1997/98; Exhibited at TEFAF 1998, where purchased by an important Dutch collector, on behalf of the Foundation Oikonomos Beheer in The Netherlands
Literature
Welcker, C.J. 'Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1645) & Barent Avercamp (1612-1679) Schilders tot Campen', revised edition, 1979, pp. 333-334, nos. B.A. S 17 and B.A.S 21.1; A. Blankert, D. Hensbroek-vd Poel et al, 'Hendrick Avercamp, Barent Avercamp, Frozen Silence: Paintings from Museums and Private Collections', Amsterdam, 1982
Exhibitions
K. & V. Waterman, Provinciehuis, Zwolle, 'Hendrick Avercamp, Barent Avercamp, Frozen Silence: Paintings from Museums and Private Collections', 1982, no. 18, p.120, ill. p. 121; Johnny Van Haeften Ltd, London, December 1997, no. 4, illustrated in colour.
For sale
• Douwes Fine Art
• Tefaf 2017, € 760.000 (Douwes Fine Art). Source: Anna Koldeweij
Download
Afbeelding in lijst (jpg, 1,97 MB)
Groepje spelers (detail) (jpg, 2,28 MB)
Groepje spelers (ingezoomed detail) (jpg, 2,20 MB)