Dutch School XVII, Entourage Of Jan Van Goyen (1596-1656) Skating Scene

Skating scene, two skaters in a landscape at the mill
Drawing in brown ink
17th century Dutch drawing in brown ink depicting a particularly successful and lively skating scene, within a landscape as typical as it is finely treaty. In the foreground, within a composition of a striking freshness, two skaters, are placed in the center of this representation of which they are the main protagonists in spite of themselves. Placed off stage behind the two characters, the artist captures the moment and all the flavor of this frozen ballet. Friends or strangers to each other, seen from behind, the expression of their faces is not shown to us but it can be read in their attitude, movement, their similar costume, the crowd in the distance, the pleasure of this entertainment is then total, nature belongs to them. The back of one arched, the other holding a stick, both wearing a tricorn hat and wearing a coat resembling a frock coat similar to the jacket model worn in his self-portrait by Adriaen Van Ostade in 1663 in “the artist in his studio, the two skaters are skilfully sketched in all the graceful complexity of their movement, seeming to want to skate in two opposite directions; on the left, towards a village with a church (perhaps leaning against a rock), a barely sketched population, a few houses; to the right a few trees and buildings, and above all, a mill. A Flemish school from the 17th century, bearing an old attribution to Bruegel de Velours, showing a skater on the ground with skates in the air, shows a model of skates similar to the one worn by the skaters in our study. As for the tricorn, although it appeared in 1690 in cavalry units, it was in use long before with European musketeers who raised the brims of their hats before it officially became a fashion that would cross the following century before d 'be replaced by the cocked hat. Completing to confirm the dating that the subject and the manner installed, the habit and hat of the characters, musketeers or gentlemen of the time, turn out to be very similar to the drawing by Dirck Hals (1591-1656) dated 1622-27 and appearing in Rijkmuseum. The arch of the first skater is reminiscent of the parodic dimension of Dutch art, present in Adrien Van Ostade or Jan Steen (Van Goyen's son-in-law), and actually going back a century before to representations marked by a imaginary still medieval (Brueghel the elder). This scene of skating by the hand of a virtuoso artist, possible emulator of Van Goyen, as was Isaac Van Ostade, Adrien's younger brother, of whom he was a pupil, who specialized in skating scenes. Isaac Van Ostade's career was brief, ended with his death in 1649 at just 28 years old; His works are recognized and appear in the collections of the Rijkmuseum (Amsterdam), the National Gallery (London) and the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. The landscape - more than a decoration, even if the glance, line of flight, starts from the two characters to move towards the two opposite obliques going from the church to the mill, is not without borrowing its manner and representative codes to the fine and typical landscape sketches by Jan Van Goyen, notably on the side of The Hague, Rotterdam, Delft, Dordrecht, Gouda, which can also be found in the landscape side of Rembrandt, his contemporary. Note that Van Goyen himself, brilliant landscape painter, painter, designer and art dealer, appearing in the largest collections, was also the author of several skating scenes. Anti or rather ante-portrait, the construction of this removed composition is truly unique since it focuses on the backs of the skaters before opening a panoramic perspective on the landscape which translates: and the situation (Netherlands) and the time. Skating and games on ice have developed in Europe since the end of the 15th century for the benefit of an ice age, harsh winters freezing lakes and rivers, canals and harbor basins. This genre was particularly popular in the 17th century, the golden age of Dutch art. The topographic distribution strongly evokes the site of Leidschendam Voorburg (the Protestant church on the edge of the Vliet canal and the Salamander sawmill). A town on the outskirts of The Hague and south of Scheveningen. Soberly treated in brown ink, playing on its intensity, this skating scene, so virtuoso and lively, eventful and typical, gives to read all the grace of the Dutch Golden Age.
Framed dimensions: 29.5cm x 25.5cm / At sight: 21 x 17 cm / drawing alone: 16cm x 11.5cm
Wooden frame and gilded stucco, small accidents