Study of a tree - birch (?)
Maker
(artist)
1595-1672
1595-1672
Title
Study of a tree - birch (?)
Date of Production
(circa) 1640 - 1660
Medium
black and white chalk, moistened in areas, on blue-prepared laid paper, laid down
Dimensions
Height: 28.5 cm
Width: 19.9 cm
Width: 19.9 cm
Accession Number
D.1952.RW.950
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
This graceful drawing of a birch, the fall of light on its leaves and trunk rendered with delicate touches of white chalk, is remarkable for its fresh and meticulous observation. Such slender trees frequently populate van Uden’s paintings and watercolours of woodland scenes, but ‘portraits’ of trees such as this one seldom seem to have been made as direct preliminary studies for larger compositions.
Provenance
probably purchased at a sale in Paris by unidentified collector, L.3000, around 1775-90; Benno Geiger, Italy and Vienna (1882-1965); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 7 - 10 December 1920, lot 525; E. Parsons & Sons (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (£3); Witt Bequest 1952
Exhibition History
Drawings Gallery Display - Regarding Trees, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/06/2016-25/09/2016
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
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 ...More
Flemish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, October 1977-January 1978
Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 17/11/1962-22/12/1962
Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1927 ...Less
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
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 ...More
Flemish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, October 1977-January 1978
Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 17/11/1962-22/12/1962
Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1927 ...Less
Literature
Flemish Drawings of the Seventeenth Century. From the Collection of Frits Lugt Institut Néerlandais Paris, Carlos van Hasselt (ed.), Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Institut Néerlandais, Paris; Kunstmuseum, Bern; Royal Library of Belgium, Brussels
p. 154 note 12 under no. 111
The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 22
ill. p. 69
Flemish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, October 1977- January 1978
cat. no. 51 ...More
Anthony Blunt and Philip Troutman, Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, 1962
cat. no. 47
Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 132
Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1927, 1927
cat. no. 635 ...Less
p. 154 note 12 under no. 111
The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 22
ill. p. 69
Flemish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, October 1977- January 1978
cat. no. 51 ...More
Anthony Blunt and Philip Troutman, Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, 1962
cat. no. 47
Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 132
Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1927, 1927
cat. no. 635 ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: unable to check due to backing sheet.
Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, brown ink, written over earlier inscription in brown ink: "V. Uden". Verso (backing sheet): upper centre, graphite: "129r"; centre: "40"; lower centre, graphite, Witt number: "950 / Uden".
Collector's mark: Verso (backing sheet): centre, stamped in brown ink: Guillaume Jean Constantin (L.3000) numbered “24” [suggested on Lugt to be a price]; lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).
Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, brown ink, written over earlier inscription in brown ink: "V. Uden". Verso (backing sheet): upper centre, graphite: "129r"; centre: "40"; lower centre, graphite, Witt number: "950 / Uden".
Collector's mark: Verso (backing sheet): centre, stamped in brown ink: Guillaume Jean Constantin (L.3000) numbered “24” [suggested on Lugt to be a price]; lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).
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