Landscape with a River and Two Ships
Drawing
c.1634 (drawn)
c.1634 (drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Anthony van Dyck was among the first artists active in England to draw from nature in the open air, concentrating on atmospheric effects rather than on topography. This drawing was made in a sketch-book and was not intended for display. Executed with swift, energetic pen lines, it creates a vivid impression of trees and shrubs on a windy day.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Landscape with a River and Two Ships (published title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and brown ink |
| Brief description | Drawing, 'Landscape with a River and Two Ships,' by Anthony Van Dyck, pen and brown ink on paper, Flemish School, c.1634 |
| Physical description | Landscape: a river, on which are two boats, winding through a valley. In the right foreground, a wooded hill leading down to the river, with rising ground on the far side. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed (?signed) at lower left, in brown ink, A. Vandyck. On verso, there are several indecipherable sketches in red chalk. |
| Gallery label | Landscape was not a prominent subject in Anthony van Dyck’s art. However, in the last decade of his life, he made a number of drawings and watercolours of the English and Flemish countryside. These were finished works rather than preparatory sketches. Van Dyck made them for his own pleasure in response to the beauty of the views he saw. |
| Object history | Miss Emily Dalton (1816/17–1900), Leicester, by whom bequeathed to the museum (NAL dry stamp on recto and Dalton Bequest purple ink stamp on verso; neither in Lugt), 1900. From the collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence. |
| Production | In his catalogue raisonne of Van Dyck's drawings, Horst Vey rejected this drawing as a copy (Vey 298); however, Royalton-Kisch disagrees on the grounds that the treatment of the scrub closely resembles that in an undisputed drawing of Rye (1634) in the Uffizi. See Martin Royalton-Kisch, The Light of Nature: Landscape Drawings and Watercolours by Van Dyck and His Contemporaries (London: British Museum Press, 1999), pp.24 and 120. |
| Summary | Anthony van Dyck was among the first artists active in England to draw from nature in the open air, concentrating on atmospheric effects rather than on topography. This drawing was made in a sketch-book and was not intended for display. Executed with swift, energetic pen lines, it creates a vivid impression of trees and shrubs on a windy day. |
| Bibliographic references |
|
| Collection | |
| Accession number | D.911-1900 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
