by-nc

Landscape with travellers on a road

Maker

(artist)
1595-1661

Title

Landscape with travellers on a road

Date of Production

1653 - 1657

Medium

black and red chalk, brown wash, on laid paper, with framing lines in pen and brown ink drawn over red and black chalk

Dimensions

Height: 18.9 cm
Width: 30.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.4015

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

Signed by Molijn at lower right, this drawing is conceived as an independent work. It depicts a landscape typical of the environs of the artist’s hometown of Haarlem. The distinctly Dutch setting is marked by a winding country road leading travellers to the nearby dunes that define the region’s coastline. Combining red and black chalk with pale wash, Molijn explores the possibilities for rendering light and shadow through a very limited colour palette.

Notes

Variant on a painting by Molijn of 'The Sandy Road', dated 1626 in Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Brunswick. It exhibits characteristics of his paintings of the early to mid-1650s. The use of red chalk is unusual, as Molijn usually limited himself to black chalk and grey wash. The care he took argues it was a finished work of art for a collector's album, rather than a preparatory study. Scrap of former mount in curatorial file.

Provenance

W. Thompson; purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 4 October 1948; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), 25 November 1948 (£20); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

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

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York, 02/10/2012-27/01/2013

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012 ...More

Landscapes in the Making: Dutch & Flemish 16-17th Century Drawings from the Courtauld Gallery, Tobu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 03/11/2000-24/12/2000; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, 02/02/2001-11/03/2001; Koriyama City Museum of Art, Koriyama, 17/03/2001-15/04/2001

Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 16/10/1991-19/01/1992

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/09/1986-30/11/1986; The Drawing Center, New York, 08/04/1986-26/07/1986

Master Drawings of the 17th century from the Witt Collection, Art Gallery of South Australia, Festival Exhibitions, Adelaide, 1968

Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 17/11/1962-22/12/1962

Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1958-59 ...Less

Literature

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, Frick Collection, New York and Courtauld Gallery, London London 2012-2013
no. 28
p. 143, detail on p. 145

Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1991
cat. no. 51
pp. 110, 185
p. 111

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 52
p. 129 ...More

Dutch drawings from the Witt Collection: Part 1: Landscape, Courtauld Gallery, London, January - March 1972
cat. no. 16

Anthony Blunt and Philip Troutman, Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, 1962
cat. no. 27

Drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1958 - 1959
cat. no. 57 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower right corner, black and red chalk, signed by the artist, first two letters monogram: “PMoLyn”. Verso: upper centre edge, graphite, the first number crossed out in brown ink: “337”; upper right edge, graphite: “89”; centre, graphite, crossed out in graphite: “63”; centre, graphite: symbol of an “L” crossing a circle [see 1986 catalogue; not in Lugt]; centre, graphite, enclosed in a box: “Cf40”. Scrap of former paper mount, now removed and kept in curatorial file: lower right corner, graphite: arrow pointing up at where the signature on the drawing would have been; lower right corner, graphite, Colnaghi number: “A15806”

Collector's mark: Mount (removed, now only a scrap kept in curatorial file): Recto, lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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