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TITLE:
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Pastoral Scene with Riverside Fort
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WORK DATE:
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1656
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CATEGORY:
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Works on Paper (Drawings, Watercolors etc.)
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MATERIALS:
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Pen and grey ink and black chalk with grey wash
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MARKINGS:
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Inscribed u.r., Berghem f / 1656
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SIZE:
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h: 14.8 x w: 19.2 cm / h: 5.8 x w: 7.6 in
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STYLE:
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Old Masters
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PRICE*:
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Contact Gallery for Price
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DESCRIPTION:
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This drawing is a fine example of Berchem’s Italianate landscapes. The simplicity and gracefulness of the subject matter, a herd of cows with figures along a riverside, is a characteristic feature of this genre. Berchem began his career at the age of fourteen under the direction of his father Pieter Claesz, a well-known still-life painter. After studying with Cornelis van Poelenburgh and Jan van Goyen, he adopted a classicizing manner and was one of the second generation of Northern Italianates. During the mid-seventeenth century he became one of the most popular Dutch artists working in this style. He may have actually visited Italy in the 1640s and 1650s, although there is little documentary evidence to that effect.
The present drawing does not feature any Italian motifs, such as columns or ruins, but suggests an idyllic setting that could be Mediterranean. The warm sun-light enhanced by the applied wash and the delicate birds in the sky contribute to give an atmospheric depth to the picture. The intensity of the wash is the only tool that Berchem used in order to contrast the foreground from the background. Compared with other sheets of the same date such as Cows Crossing a Ford with a Couple and a Dog in the Getty Museum, Los Angeles (1), this drawing shows a more balanced compositional approach.
Berchem had numerous pupils and his influence on eighteenth century English and French landscape painters was considerable, Gainsborough and Watteau being among the artists who admired his work.
1) Inv. no. 2004.56
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PROVENANCE:
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Prince W. Argoutinsky-Dolgoroukoff (Lugt 2602d), his mark on verso
Emil Spira (Lugt Supp 2306a), his mark on verso
Neville Davison Goldsmid (Lugt 1962), his mark on verso
Private collection, London
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