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Landscape with cattle and figures

Maker

(artist)
1595-1661

Title

Date of Production

1600 - 1699

Medium

black chalk, grey wash on laid paper, with brown ink over black chalk framing lines

Dimensions

Height: 15.2 cm
Width: 20.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2037

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

A peaceful atmosphere pervades this picturesque scene in which groups of peasants drive their cattle. The landscapist Molijn emphasises the figures’ close bond with nature by employing the same loose line, looped strokes and black chalk for both the figures and the landscape. This visually weaves the cattle drovers into the surrounding countryside. Urban collectors were less interested in truthful representations of the peasants’ hard lives than depictions of the countryside as unspoiled and pleasing.

Provenance

Frederick Carel Theodoor van Isendoorn à Blois, Château de Cannenburg (1784-1865), L.2610; purchased after his death by Wolff and Cohen, (Amsterdam); William Pitcairn Knowles, Rotterdam and Wiesbaden (1820-1894), L.2643; Ederheimer; acquired from him in exchange (for a drawing by Bramer) by Sir Robert Witt, L.2228b, n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Dutch drawings from the Witt Collection: Part 1: Landscape, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1972 (Jan.-Mar.)

Special Display - Drawing Peasants, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/09/2010-10/02/2011

Literature

Dutch drawings from the Witt Collection: Part 1: Landscape, Courtauld Gallery, London, January - March 1972
cat. no. 8

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, black chalk, signed by the artist, first two letters monogram: “PMoLyn”. Verso: upper centre, graphite: “28”.

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left, graphite: Frederick Carel Theodoor van Isendoorn à Blois (L.2610); lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b); lower left edge, stamped in purple ink: William Pitcairn Knowles (L.2643).

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