ID number: BIRBI-59.4 Institution: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts Artist / Maker: Goyen, Jan van (1596-1656) Title / Object name: Cottages in a Landscape with a Well Object type: Painting
Culture: Dutch Date made: 1631 Materials: Oil on wood Measurements: 42.5 x 54.5 cm Provenance: J. Bier, Haarlem, 1938; Sotheby's, 24 June 1959 (lot 87); purchased at Sotheby's in 1959 for £4,200.
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Peasants work at a picturesque well, with its elaborate system for drawing up water, next to thatched huts and an ancient tree. The work was known as A Landscape in the Dunes, but it is more correctly simply a cottage scene with a low horizon. At this stage, early in his career, Van Goyen employed the convention of a brown foreground in his landscapes. In a nearly monochromatic composition, dominated by muted tones of green, the brown area was interpreted as sand.
Inscriptions / Translations: Signed and dated I.I.: VG 1631
Notes: Exhibited: 'Jan van Goyen, 1596-1656: poet of the Dutch landscape', Alan Jacobs Gallery, London, 1977, no. 5; 'The Blasted Oak', Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry, 1987, no. 41.
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