Studio of Jan Brueghel the Elder

With Galerie Sankt Lucas, Vienna, 1991;
From whom acquired by the present owner (as by Jan Brueghel the Elder).

K. Ertz and C.N. Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568-1625), vol. I, Lingen 2008, p. 293, no. 135, as by Jan Brueghel the Elder and dated 1595-1600. 

The copper support is flat. The painting is in very good overall condition, the paint surface neing in an excellent state of preservation in most areas. The blues of far distance are now partly translucent, as is usual with such pigments, as are those of the sky. There is some very minor thinness in some of the bathing figures. there are some minor retouchings in the sky and an area od restored loss in the water lower left. Sold with an ebony frame, in fairly good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This painting is one of three closely related versions of this composition, each depicting a summer landscape in which a river recedes diagonally into the distance, its banks occupied by a church and houses, while in the foreground assorted sailing boats and groups of swimmers are seen in the water. Two of these, the present work, and another formerly with Galerie d'Art St. Honoré in Paris, have recently been published by Klaus Ertz in the first volume of his updated catalogue raisonné of the landscapes of Jan Brueghel the Elder as autograph works by the artist himself. Ertz dates both works to the second half of the 1590s, after Brueghel's return from Italy. The Paris version, on a copper panel of nearly identical dimensions (22.4 x 28.5 cm.) and also unsigned, differs chiefly from the present work in the inclusion of the sails on the barges on the quayside in the left foreground. The third version of the design, again of the same size,  is in the National Gallery in Prague.¹ This again shows variations in the disposition of the boats, and is considered by Ertz and others to be the work of a follower of Brueghel, perhaps Pieter Gysels (1621-1691).

 

1. Inv. 010144. Copper, 22 x 28.7 cm. Ertz, op. cit., p. 292, reproduced fig. 1.