Jan Brueghel the Younger Antwerp 1601-1678

The Rt. Hon. the Earl of Midleton, MC;
Sold by Order of his Trustees, London, Christie's, 26 June 1964, lot 67, for 6000 guineas to H. Terry Engell;
With H. Terry Engell Gallery, London;
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Private Collector"), London, Sotheby's, 12 July 1978, lot 86, for £60,000 to Smith;
With Galerie Nystad, The Hague;
Private collection, Europe;
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Lady"), London, Sotheby's, 22 April 2004, lot 18, for £104,160, where acquired by the present owner.

Advertisement in The Burlington Magazine, June 1978, p. xxxiii, reproduced;
K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Jüngere, Freren 1984, p. 218, no. 34, reproduced.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is in good condition and the paint surface is stable. There is thinness to the paint layer in the sky revealing ground colour, this thinness has been partly retouched out. The prominence of the wood grain, particularly noticeable in the water, has necessitated restoration in this area. There is original underdrawing visible. The darker areas of the boat and the rigging show evidence of abrasion. The varnish is slightly discoloured."
"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."

Dated by Dr. Klaus Ertz (see Literature) to circa 1626 this expansive river landscape derives from an original by Jan Brueghel I (1568-1625) which is known in two versions; one, dated 1612, is in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Clowes Collection,¹ and the other in a German private collection.²  On the death of his father in 1625 Brueghel took over the running of the studio in Antwerp and much of his own output during this period, until 1635 when he left the studio, is heavily indebted to the compositions of his father. Other versions of this composition by Brueghel the Younger are in: Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten;³ and a private collection.⁴

1.  Inv. no. C 10011; see K. Ertz, Brueghel-Brueghel, exhibition catalogue,Lingen 1998, p. 186, cat. no. 57, reproduced p. 187.
2.  Idem, p. 186, reproduced fig. 57b.
3.  Inv. no. 910; see Ertz, under Literature, pp. 218-19, reproduced.
4.  Idem, p. 218, cat. no. 34, reproduced.