Quality in Detail. The Juli and Andrew Wieg Collection
Quality in Detail. The Juli and Andrew Wieg Collection
Jan Baptist Kobell
Peasants and flocks before a barn
Lot Closed
March 24, 04:07 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Jan Baptist Kobell
Delfshaven 1778 - 1814 Amsterdam
Peasants and flocks before a barn
Black chalk and watercolour, within black ink framing lines;
signed and dated lower right: JKobell f/1811;
bears faint numbering in black chalk, verso: No; 39
unframed: 343 by 432 mm
framed: 565 by 625 mm
This picturesque and vibrant pastoral scene of peasants tending to their animals, finely preserved and grand in scale, can be compared to the splendid watercolour, A shepherd resting in a cowshed, formerly in the Gordon collection, and sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2019.1In outstanding cattle pieces such as these, Kobell is clearly looking back to the works of his great predecessors in this genre, Adriaen van de Velde (1636-1672) and Paulus Potter (1625-1654). He sometimes even loosely based his compositions on theirs, but at the same time Kobell infuses his sparkling works with a touch of French-inspired lightness and a delicacy of colouring that immediately mark them out as works from this later period in Dutch art.
For other works by Jan Baptist Kobell in this sale, see lots 129, 135 and 136.
1. Sale, New York, Sotheby's, 30 January 2019, lot 134