Esaias van de Velde Lot n° 2032

Esaias van de Velde Path across a Stream in a Hilly Landscape Oil on panel. 45 x 61 cm. Signed and dated lower centre: E. V. Velde 1624. Provenance Alfred Kummerlé (1887-1949), Brandenburg. - Comandeered by the DDR authorities in 1953 and sent to the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig in 1954, inv. no. 1480. - Restituted to the rightful heirs in 2012. Literature Susanne Heiland: Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig. Katalog der Gemälde, Leipzig 1979, p. 248. - George S. Keyes: Esaias van de Velde 1587-1630, Doornspijk 1984, p. 164, no. 170, illus. 152. - Dietulf Sander: Museum der bildenden Künste. Katalog der Gemälde 1995, Stuttgart 1995, p. 199. - Jan Nicolaisen: Niederländische Malerei 1430-1800. Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Leipzig 2012, p. 314 illus. - Kim, Ho Geun: Die Kunden der Landschaften. Das Sammeln der Werke von Esaias van de Velde (1587-1630) und Jan van Goyen (1596-1656) im Holland des 17. Jahrhunderts, Diss. Stuttgart, Stuttgart 2013, p. 19, illus. 7. Esaias van de Velde played a decisive role not only in the development of the "Merry Company" subject, but also paved the way for the realistic conception of landscape in Dutch painting in the first quarter of the 17th century. He created authoritative prototypes for dune and river landscapes, which inspired the works of many Dutch artists, including his most famous pupil Jan van Goyen. This landscape depiction, dated 1624, is enlivened by various figures, including a horse-drawn cart in the foreground and a rider striding towards a wooden bridge that crosses a stream. Bizarre rock formations dominate the middle ground, while a ruined castle and church tower perch on a steep hill in the background.