An Inhabited Ruin on the Bank of a River

Jan van de Velde II reproduced this drawing, in reverse and with some modifications, for the last of his numerous printed landscape series (see 2014.733.3). Published shortly after Van de Velde’s death by Claes Jansz. Visscher, another enormously important maker of such series, under the title “PLAYSANTE LANTSCHAPPEN ende vermakelycke GESICHTEN” (“Pleasant landscapes and amusing views”), this series features thirty-five views of fields, rivers, and rustic buildings, all evoking the local Dutch landscape.[1] The titlepage of the series, designed by Visscher, explicitly notes that Van de Velde drew the scenes from life (“na t’ leven”). The present drawing, depicting a dilapidated building on the bank of a river (and the corner of a second overgrown structure at far right), is indeed suggestive of direct observation. Rapid marks made with a flat-tipped quill capture the varied textures of grass, leaves, and moss. Touches of brown wash create the illusion of reflections in the surface of the water at right.

(JSS, 08/23/2018)


[1] See Hollstein vol. 33, nos. 333-67, pp. 105-15.