Jan Siberechts

Paul Sandby (L.2112);
Acquired from Holloway, 1927

London, Royal Academy of Arts, The Paul Oppé Collection, 1958, no. 409

M. Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Northern European Drawings, vol. III (Dutch Artists), Turin/London/Venice 2002, p. 434, under no. 1501;
G. Rubinstein, 'The Drawings of Jan Siberechts', Master Drawings, vol. L, no. 3, 2012, p. 374, reproduced fig. 13, p. 395, n.18

Laid down, and with remains of a further, partially removed backing sheet adhering to the back of the secondary support. Some surface dirt and a little abrasion, particularly towards right edge. Abraded in horizontal line, along slight ridge in paper, c 1/4 of the way up from the bottom of the sheet. Some very light staining in sky. General condition of pigments, and readability of the image, nonetheless still good and strong.
"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."

Though acquired by Oppé as the work of the later English artist William Taverner (1703-1772), the attribution to Siberechts had already been suggested by the time of the 1958 exhibition, on the basis of comparison with the splendid drawing of a clump of foliage, then in the Bruce Ingram Collection and now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.¹  Both drawings show the same highly unusual combination of very liquid, broad and rather flat areas of brown and green watercolour, with numerous rather precise, dotted touches of gouache in the leaves themselves.  This technique is also seen in other drawings by the artist, such as the magnificent Study of a Pollarded Willow, in the Lugt Collection², and the Study of a Pollard Willow and Silver Birch by a River Bank, on the recto of the large, double-sided sheet in the Hamburger Kunsthalle.³  The latter, only recently identified by Annemarie Stefes as the work of Siberechts, is one of only two drawings directly connected with known paintings by the artist, and is therefore of immense importance as a basis for other attributions.  

Jan Siberechts was a highly original draughtsman, whose style was initially dependent on the traditions of his native Antwerp, but grew in very much its own direction following his move to England in 1672/3.  There he developed a very personal watercolour technique that was to prove highly influential on English artists of subsequent generations.   

^1.  Inv. PD 717-1963; Rubinstein, op. cit., p. 374, fig. 12

^2.  Inv. no. 4542; Rubinstein, op. cit., p. 373, fig. 11

^3.  Inv. no. 22010; A. Stefes, Niederländische Zeichnungen 1450-1850. Kupferstichkabinett der Hamburger Kunsthalle, 3 vols., Cologne/Weimar/Vienna 2011, no. 988; Rubinstein, op. cit., pp. 368-9, fig. 5