Frans de Momper

Reverend Montague Taylor (d. 1896), London;

By whom bequeathed to Mrs A. H. Taylor, London;

By whom sold, Christie’s, London, 25 July 1919, lot 13, for £110.5.0 to Shoebridge (as attributed to Jan van Goyen);

Dr J. Seymour Maynard, London, by 1920;

By whose estate sold posthumously, Christie’s, London, 29 January 1954, lot 104, for 460 guineas to W. Sabin (as attributed to Hercules Seghers);

Anonymous sale, Christie’s, Amsterdam, 11 November 1996, lot 19, for 57,660 Dutch guilders (as Frans de Momper);

Where acquired by the present owner.

C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch painters of the seventeenth century based on the work of John Smith, vol. VIII, London 1927, p. 277, no. 1110a (as Jan van Goyen);

H.U. Beck, Künstler um Jan van Goyen, Maler und Zeichner, Doornspijk 1991, p. 299, no. 832 A20, reproduced (as Frans de Momper).

Born in Antwerp, a nephew of Joos de Momper, Frans de Momper began his career in Flanders before settling in the Low Countries in the mid-1640s, first in The Hague and then in Haarlem. There he absorbed the influence of the Dutch landscape artists, especially Van Goyen, with whom he shared the same monochrome palette.

It is therefore unsurprising that this masterly work was long thought to be by Van Goyen, since its mood is so similar. A monogram ‘VG’ for Van Goyen, added at a later date, has probably helped to confuse matters. It is under Van Goyen’s name that the painting, whose history is fairly well known, appears in several early sales as well as reference books, such as the one by Hofstede de Groot. It was not until publication of Hans-Ulrich Beck’s monograph in 1991 that it was reassigned to its real author, Frans de Momper.

Equally, the very graphic execution of the foreground, almost like drawing, recalls the distinctive work of Hercule Seghers, who had also settled in The Hague in 1633. Momper could not have met him, since he arrived after his death, but he would probably have seen his works in the city.

Frans de Momper probably went to Scheveningen while he was in The Hague in about 1646–1648. He took up position east of the village of Scheveningen which he illustrates, nestling in the dunes, on the right of his composition. Winding between the two large dunes and providing the only access to the village, the Westerduinpad is clearly visible, with the tower of the Oude Kerk beyond.

A comparison between this composition and other contemporary views of the site (ill. 1) demonstrates the importance the painter placed on topographical accuracy. This was a significant evolution from the Flemish influence of his earlier paintings, which mostly depicted imaginary views.

Ill. 1 After Gerrit van Giessen, Gezicht op Scheveningen vóór de Allerheiligenvloed van 1570 (inv. RP-P-OB-78.192) © Rijksmuseum