Object number2021.4.1

Untitled (A Village Church)

Date1650

Artist Jan van Goyen (Dutch, 1596-1656)

CultureDutch

MediumBlack chalk, with brush and gray wash on ivory laid paper

DimensionsSheet: 3 3/4 x 6 1/8 in. (9.5 x 15.6 cm)
Image: 3 3/4 x 6 1/8 in. (9.5 x 15.6 cm)
Matted: 8 3/4 x 11 in. (22.2 x 27.9 cm)
Framed: 11 x 13 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (27.9 x 33.7 x 3.2 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, gift of Mrs. Frederick Ferris Thompson, by exchange

On View

Not on view

Period17th c

Classification(s)

Drawings and Watercolors

InscribedOn recto, upper right corner in faded ink: 14

BibliographyBeck, Hans-Ulrich. “Jan van Goyens Handzeichnungen als Vorzeichnungen,” Oud-Holland LXXII, 1957, pp. 241-250 Beck, Hans-Ulrich. “Jan van Goyen am Deichbruch von Houtewael (1651),” Oud-Holland LXXXI, 1966, pp. 20, 33 Beck, Hans-Ulrich. Jan van Goyen, 1596-1656: Ein Oeuvreverzeichnis. Katalog der Handzeichnungen, vol. I. Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co, 1972, no. 847/14, pp. 285-286, 288 Beck, Hans-Ulrich. Jan van Goyen, 1596-1656: Ein Oeuvreverzeichnis, vol. III. Doornspijk, The Netherlands: Davaco Publishers, 1987, no. 847/14, p. 125b Buijsen, Edwin. ”De schetsboeken van Jan van Goyen.” In Jan van Goyen. Leiden, The Netherlands: Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, 1996, pp. 22-37 Dattenberg, Von Heinrich. Niederrheinansichten holländischer Künstler. Düsseldorf, Germany: Rheinland Verlag, 1967, pp. 142, 150 Dodgson, Campbell. “A Dutch Sketchbook of 1650,” The Burlington Magazine XXXII, 1918, pp. 234-240 Dodgson, Campbell. “A Dutch Sketchbook of 1650,” The Burlington Magazine XXXIII, 1918, p. 112 Dodgson, Campbell. “A Dutch Sketchbook of 1650,” The Burlington Magazine LXVI, 1935, p. 284 Gorissen, Friedrich. Conspectus Cliviae. Kleve, Germany: Boss–Druck und Verlag, 1964, pp. 84–86 Verslagen omtrent‘s Rijks Verzamelingen van Geschiedenis en Kunst, vol. 18. Netherlands: n.p., 1895-1896, pp. 64-66 ProvenancePossibly part of the sketchbook that belonged to Andrew Geddes A.R.A., London by 1845;
Christie’s, London, Sale, April 8-14,1845, lot 361;
Private collection, England, 1879;
Johnson Neale, London, 1895;
Thomas Mark Hovell, London, June 1918;
Thomas Dinwiddy;
His sale, Sotheby's, London, July 3-4, 1918, lot 124 (£610 to Colnaghi);
with P. & D. Colnaghi & Obach, London.
with Frederik Muller & Cie, Amsterdam.
Anton Wilhelmus Mari Mensing, Amsterdam, 1918 (possibly bought for Mensing, who dismembered the album);
His sale, Frederik Muller & Co., Amsterdam, April 27, 1937, lot 218, (fl. 7200 to Hirschmann).
with Adolf Mayer, the Hague, New York.
with Van Diemen-Lilienfeld Galleries, New York, 1957 (the album dispersed);
C.F. Louis de Wild, New York, 20 February 1964;
Reacquired by Van Diemen-Lilienfeld Galleries, New York, 1959.
Prof. Dr. Fred P., New York and later Vienna.
Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna, 1987/1988.
Christie's, London, private sale, 2014;
Private collection, New York;
Mireille Mosler LTD, New York, 2021;

Vassar Exhibitions

Chronostasia: Select Acquisitions 2020–2025

Exhibition HistoryMauritshuis, The Hauge, 1895
Mauritshuis, The Hauge, 1918

Label TextThese sketchbook sheets come from Jan van Goyen’s 1650–51 journey through the Kleve region of Germany, documenting the same village church from slightly different vantage points. Compact in scale and striking in their economy, the drawings reflect van Goyen’s mature fluency and notational speed. Van Goyen was among the most prolific landscape artists of the Dutch Golden Age, creating hundreds of drawings through peripatetic practice across the Netherlands and lower Rhineland. Working both outdoors and in the studio, he recorded architecture, weather, and terrain, building a collection of forms for later paintings.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu