Master Paintings Part II
Master Paintings Part II
Property from the Estate of Paul Kasmin
Roelandt Savery
A lion hunting two deer
Lot Closed
January 30, 03:20 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from the Estate of Paul Kasmin
Roelandt Savery
Kortrijk 1576 - 1639 Utrecht
A lion hunting two deer
signed lower center: ROELANT/SAVERY and inscribed with an old inventory number lower right: R.F. 156.
oil on panel, circular
panel diameter: 24 3/4 in.; 63 cm.
framed: 29 3/4 by 30 1/4 in.; 75.6 by 76.8 cm.
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 29 January 2015, lot 36;
There acquired by Paul Kasmin.
H. Ritschl, Katalog der Erlaucht Gräflich Harrachschen Gemälde-Galerie in Wien, Vienna 1926, p. 43, cat. no. 391;
K.J. Müllenmeister, Roelant Savery, Die Gemälde mit Kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, Freren 1988, p. 258, cat.no.131, reproduced plate 22 (as circa 1620, perhaps with the assistance of Hans Savery II).
This painting is a late work by Savery, dated by Kurt J. Müllenmeister to circa 1620 (see Literature). By that date, Savery had returned to the Netherlands from Prague, where he had been in the service of Emperor Rudolph II from around 1603-1613. While there, the artist made numerous detailed studies of animals and birds in the menageries and hunting grounds of Rudolph and continued to use these as reference for later paintings. Rudolph had sent Savery on an expedition to the Tyrol in circa 1606-07 where he made drawings of mountains and waterfalls that also served as inspiration in his landscapes.
In Utrecht, where he settled after 1619, Savery found a steady demand for his landscapes among a large and prosperous class of buyers who were fascinated by his fantastical scenes and wild animals. This painting, depicting a lion chasing two deer through a dramatic mountainous ravine with a cascade in the background, would have been highly exotic compared to the more realistic landscapes being produced by Savery’s Dutch contemporaries.