EGBERT VAN DRIELST | Travellers on a road through a wood, near a farm at Midlaren

With H. Marcus, Amsterdam;
Hans van Leeuwen, Amerongen, (L.2799a),
his sale, Amsterdam, Christie's, 24 November 1992, lot 283,
where acquired by the present owners

Bonn, Rheinisches Landesmuseum; Saarbrücken, Saarländisches Museum; Bochum, Städtische Kunstgalerie, Niederländische Zeichnungen des 17. bis 19. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Hans van Leeuwen, 1968-9, no. 37;
Rheydt, Städtisches Museum Schloss Rheydt, Niederländische Zeichnungen des 17. bis 19. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Hans van Leeuwen, 1971, no. 19;
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, De Verzameling van H. van Leeuwen, 1975-6, no. 33;
Bremen, Kunsthalle; Braunschweig, Städtisches Museum; Stuttgart, Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart, Meisterzeichnungen aus drei Jahrhunderten, Niederländische Handzeichnungen des 17. bis 19 Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Hans van Leeuwen, 1979-80, no. 35;
Fribourg, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire; Passau, Oberhausmuseum; Trier, Städtisches Museum; Nuremberg, Dürerhaus, Meisterzeichnungen des 17. bis 19. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Hans van Leeuwen, 1982-4, no. 22;
Boston, St. Botolph Club, A Selection of Dutch 18th Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Gordon Collection, 2003, no. 4

Hinge mounted in two places along the upper edge to a modern decorative mount. There is an old mount mark that runs around the extremities of the sheet and some very slight dropback in the watercolor. The work remains in otherwise very good condition throughout and is sold in a modern giltwood frame.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Much of Van Drielst's work is, like the present lot, dominated by the presence of large, irregularly shaped trees that the artist was known to seek out on his annual trips to the province of Drenthe, in the northeast of the Netherlands. The artist traveled to this region from 1772 onward, often specifically on sketching tours, frequently recording the names of the hamlets he visited through the numerous inscriptions found on the versos of his drawings.
The inscription on the verso of this particular work allows us to locate its origin to the small village of Midlaren, not far from the artist's native Groningen, a location that we know, through other surviving drawings, Van Drielst visited over the course of a number of years. Other examples of drawings that can be firmly located, through the artist's inscriptions, to Midlaren include A Farm in Midlaren, Drenthe, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,¹ and A seated woman with child, at the bend of a road, Midlaren, in the Amsterdam Museum.^{2 1.} Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-T-1918-21
^2. See B. Gerlagh and E. Koolhaas-Grosveld, Egbert van Drielst 1745-1818, Zwolle 1995, p. 22, fig. 11