Maerten Ryckaert

With Kunde Galleries, New York, 1940s;
Baron Cassel van Doorn, Brussels;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

 

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The condition of this picture is unusually good. The varnish is a little soft and with a brighter varnish it would improve. The panel is cradled. The picture is originally made from two pieces of oak joined horizontally through the water, and this join has received some retouching in the past. The paint layer is stable and clean and not abraded, which is particularly notable. Visible under ultraviolet light there are some isolated retouches in the sky addressing some small losses. There is an area of restoration beneath the bridge on the canal, some retouches around the row boat in the figures and running along the original join. However, this picture is in considerably better condition than many or most from this period, and with a fresh varnish should be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Maerten Ryckaert was the scion of a dynasty of Antwerp painters; he was the son of David Ryckaert the Elder and uncle of the prolific genre painter David Ryckaert the Younger. He received his initial training from his father and later from the landscape painter Tobias Verhaeght, who was also responsible for the training of the landscape painter Joos de Momper. Although it has often been asserted that Ryckaert travelled to Italy around 1605-10, no such trip is documented. The assumption that he journeyed south would appear to come from his emulation of the works of Paul Bril, who himself had worked in Italy throughout his long and prolific life. Ryckaert made numerous paintings after Bril's designs from after circa 1615. These works by Bril were imported from Rome to Antwerp where they were much in demand and there was apparently also a strong market for Ryckaert's variations after Bril.

Ryckaert was registered in the Antwerp guild of Saint Luke in 1611 as the "painter with one arm" (P. Rombouts and T. Van Lerius, De Liggeren, 1864-1876, vol. II, p. 476). He was, despite his handicap, a highly prolific artist who gained a great reputation for his "landscapes with ruins, mountains, waterfalls and pleasant valleys" (Cornelis de Bie, Het Gulden Cabinet vande edele en vrij schilderkunst Antwerp 1661, p. 100). He remained a bachelor and collected many paintings by his contemporaries in his house in the Meyerstraat in Antwerp. His portrait by Anthony van Dyck, showing Ryckaert dressed up as a king, is today in the Prado in Madrid; it was executed around 1630 (Susan Barnes et. al., Van Dyck. A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven/London 2004, cat. no. III 123, in color). In spring 1631 Ryckaert fell ill and he died a few months later in Antwerp on 28 October. He left his entire fortune to his sister Maria and his brother Pauwel.

In the present composition, the landscape and figures are fully executed in Ryckaert's characteristic manner. Especially the foliage, in which individual leaves are executed in rhythmic patterns of yellowish-green paint, is very typical for the master, as well as the dot-like highlights, which can be been seen, for example, in the castle at the right. As often can be observed in Ryckaert's paintings, he derived the composition from a work by an older master. In this case the composition was "loaned" from Jan Brueghel the Elder. The original is now lost, but the composition is known through several copy/versions by his son Jan II (Klauz Ertz, Jan Brueghel the Younger, Lingen 1984, pp. 231-33, nos. 50-53). Arguably the finest version by Brueghel the Younger, formerly with David Koetser, Zurich, was recently sold at Lempertz, Cologne (May 21, 2005, lot 616, €360,000 hammer).

In the present painting Ryckaert did not slavishly copy Brueghel's invention, but he expanded the composition on all sides, thus providing space for the castle at the right and the boat in the front. The boat with gentry in the foreground is similar to that in a painting from the workshop of Jan Brueghel the Elder (Christie's, London, July 7, 2000, lot 2, £180.000 hammer). Interestingly, an unpublished painting by Maerten Ryckaert in a private Swiss collection has exactly equal dimensions and is likewise based on an invention by Jan Breughel the Elder. This does not automatically imply that the two were once a pair or part of a series. It is much more likely that Ryckaert used standard size panels.

It is difficult to make any statement concerning the stylistic development of Ryckaert's paintings. Due to the fact that the composition of the present painting is inspired by a work of Jan Brueghel the Elder painted around 1600, it is tempting to place the work early in Ryckaert's career. However, Ryckaert made use of other masters' motives and compositions throughout his life. For example, a painting by Ryckaert offered in 2005 at Sotheby's (Lillemor Herwig sale, London, Sotheby's, December 8, 2005, lot 106, illustrated.; the painting was subsequently with Johnny van Haeften, London) is based on a late painting by Paul Bril dated 1624, today in The Louvre (inv. no. 1117). The date 1624 thus serves as a terminus ante quem for Ryckaert's late work.

The verso of the panel appears to be marked with the brand of the panel-maker Guiliam Aertssen, active in Antwerp from 1612 until at least 1626.  The verso is also impressed with the left hand of Antwerp, the mark of the Antwerp Guild. 

We are grateful to Luuk Pijl for identifying this painting as a work by Maerten Ryckaert and for providing this catalogue note.