Jan Josefsz. van Goyen

The complete painting:
Leonardus Bouman, his (deceased) sale et al., Leiden, Delfos, 24 August 1802, lot 53 (for 99 Florins);
Abraham Delfos et al., sale,The Hague, Bosboom, 10 June 1807, lot 21 (20 florins to Thomasse);
Abraham Delfos, his (deceased) sale, 17 May 1808, lot 5 (50 florins to Sluyter);

Left side:
Edward Solly (1776-1844), by 1820;
Thence by descent to his brother Isaac Solly (1769-1853);
Thence by descent in the family until 1976;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 19 April 1985, lot 81 (for £54,000);

Right side:
Sir John James Stewart, 5th Bt. of Allanbank (1779-1849);
Stuart Johnson, 4 Eaton Place, London, 1916;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 1 April 1960, lot 67 (for £1,680);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 16 July 1971, lot 87 (for 2,800 gns to Henderson);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 12 December 1986, lot 46 (for £22,000).

The reunited painting:
The two halves were reunited in the late 1990s after which:
With J.M.B Guttmann, Los Angeles;
Private collection, The Netherlands;
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

Possibly C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. VIII, London 1927, p. 30, no. 69 (as unsigned);
H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen. 1596-1656, vol. II, Amsterdam 1973, p. 103, no. 214;
H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen. 1596-1656, vol. III, Doornspijk 1987, pp. 167, 178-179, nos. 214 and 310A, reproduced. 

The painting has fairly recently been relined and restretched, and was previously in two pieces (please see catalogue entry). There is a central vertical join running down the length of the canvas 4 cm to the left of the church tower and a latter addition of a strip of 3 cm along the top edge of the left hand section of the painting. The painting has recently been cleaned and restored and is in good overall condition. Inspection under UV light reveals restoration along the joins above and in the centre and to a series of scattered damages between 1 and 2 cm in length running just to the left of the centre of the upright join. Some areas of the canvas have been more restored than others, notably the central clouds on the left hand side and the church. Others repairs are mostly minor in nature and are concentrated along the far river bank, the foreground water and to areas of wear in the sky on the right hand side. The restoration has been well carried out and is unobtrusive to the naked eye. The varnish is still clear and even and the painting will require not further attention. Offered in a modern stained wood northern style frame with ripple mouldings in 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."

Van Goyen visited Dordrecht on a number of occasions and this prospect was clearly a favourite of his, for over twenty views of the city taken from this viewpoint - and painted in all seasons - survive, the majority dating from the 1640s. As with most of these, this painting is taken from the south west bank of the Dordtse Kil with the wider expanse of the river Maas in the distance; the large tower in the centre is that of the Gothic Grote Kerk. This and other late views of Dordrecht may derive from a drawing made in his Dresden sketchbook of around 1648.¹  A comparable view, of smaller size and painted on panel in the same year is the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.²

It seems that this painting was cut into two sections at some point in the early 19th century; it is last recorded intact in the Delfos Estate sale in Leiden in 1808, and by 1820 the celebrated collector Edward Solly (1776-1844) had acquired the left hand side on its own. At over three thousand works, Solly's collection was perhaps the largest assembled in the 19th century, and was largely purchased by the Prussian state in 1821, where it still forms the core of the German National Museums collection in Berlin. This fragment remained in the family's collections until its sale in 1985. It may well be the painting whose early history is correctly recorded by Hofstede Groot, but he could not have seen it reassembled, for this was not undertaken until the late 1990s.


1. H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656, vol. I, Amsterdam 1973, p. 278, no. 846.72, reproduced.
2. H.-U. Beck, op. cit., vol. II, 1973, p. 156, no. 310, reproduced.