Jacob Grimmer

René Gilbert, Geneva;

By descent until anonymously sold ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Sotheby's, 14 December 2000, lot 3, for £179,500;

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

The support consists of a single plank of oak which is cradled bit completely flat and stable. The painting is beautifully preserved in general with the majority of the original detailing intact. There appear to have been at least two campaigns of retouching, the earlier of which is visible under UV and remains under some patches of old varnish. Of this there has been some in painting to the craqulure to the background around the central figure group. The later retouchings are to the upper and lower margins where there appears to have been some frame abrasion, to a couple of small damages In the sky, along with a small are of craqulure in-filling, and to some minor re-outlining of certain details such as the tree to the right. No further restoration is required.
"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 wonderfully atmospheric spring landscape would no doubt have originally formed part of a set of the Four Seasons. The motifs of figures planting out a kitchen garden enclosure and of families travelling along the roads moving their possessions were typically used by Grimmer to denote this time of year and recur, for example, in the larger panel of 1581 now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Algiers.¹ The specific figures of the old woman with the barrow, the family to her right, and the group of the Lord of the Manor greeting two other men all recur in another panel in a private collection.²

Grimmer was one of the first landscape painters to break with the old panoramic 'World landscape' format set by the followers of Joachim Patinir and to concentrate upon a more realistic portrayal of everyday life. It was this same truth to life, so evident in the present work, where he concentrates carefully upon recording the daily or seasonal tasks in a village, that led Vasari to describe him as one of the best landscape painters of his day, and for Karel van Mander to later claim that he knew of no other painter as 'outstandingly skilled in landscapes'.³

1. R. Bertier de Sauvigny, Jacob et Abel Grimmer, Brussels 1991, p. 68, reproduced fig. 13.

2. Bertier de Sauvigny 1991, p. 81, fig. 28.

3. K. van Mander, Schilder-boeck, Haarlem 1603-4, II, fol. 256v.