Esaias van de Velde

Paget collection;
Mrs. Elizabeth Holbrooke, Bladon Castle, Burton-on-Trent;
Her estate sale, London, Christie's, 17 February 1939, lot 153, for 64 Guineas, to Scharf;
Private collection, France;
David Koetser, before 1999. 

Baltimore 1999, no. 55.

G.S. Keyes, Esaias van den Velde, 1587-1630, Doornspijk, The Netherlands, 1984, p. 147, cat. no. 101, as present whereabouts unknown, reproduced pl. 419;
Baltimore 1999, p. 128, cat. no. 55, reproduced p. 129.

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. This work on panel is not cradled and is in lovely condition. The painting is probably clean. The details throughout the picture seem to be mostly un-abraded. Some panel grain and slight thinness has been retouched in the lighter colors of the ice and clouds. The retouches are good, and it is recommended that the work be hung in its current state.
"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."

When he published his monograph on Esaias van de Velde, George Keyes knew the present work only from photographs (see Literature).  He has now examined the painting in person and confirms that it is a fine, early work by the artist.  

Turning away from the carefully structured and mannered approach of his predecessors, Van de Velde was among the earliest proponents of a more naturalistic approach to landscape in the Netherlands.  As such he was an important influence on Jan van Goyen, one of his pupils, and the younger generation of landscape artists.   Van de Velde's subjects are ordinary scenes, set in landscapes or small towns, as here, and are presented with an utter lack of grandiosity.  He paints them from a low vantage point, which creates a sense of immediacy for the viewer.  

In the Weldon painting, we see townspeople enjoying a day on the ice.  In front is a very formal looking couple perched on a sled with a tall, decorated back, while to the left a skater in a yellow vest looks dangerously close to tipping over.  This combination of humor and naivety is characteristic of Van de Velde's earliest works, as are the wispy trees and rather flat buildings.  The winter subject dictates a narrow range of tones, but the artist enlivens the scene with the bright colors of the foreground figures and pure white touches of snow.