Pieter Molyn
London 1595-1661 Haarlem

River Landscape with Fishermen in a Boat

Black chalk and wash
Signed and dated, u.r., PMolyn / 1654
147 x 195 mm; 5 3/4 x 7 5/8 in

LITERATURE
Hans-Ulrich Beck, Pieter Molyn 1595-166, Katalog der Handzeichnungen, Augsburg, 1998, no. 250, p. 133, illus.

PROVENANCE
Dr. Max Graff, Herford (Lugt 1157b)
Unidentified numbers, 7, No. 101 and AVIII.X
Sale: London, Sotheby's, 13 April 1992, lot 298
Private collection, Germany

In his early years in Haarlem, Pieter Molyn showed great promise as a painter and created some of the most innovative landscape paintings of the period. From 1650 onwards he increasingly concentrated on landscape drawing, due to the high demand by collectors in Haarlem. It is as a draughtsman that he is now remembered. Over four hundred of his drawings have survived, most of which are landscapes. Molyn's scenes are taken largely from his own imagination; very few show identifiable sites. This is in sharp contrast to his close contemporary Van Goyen, who filled sketchbooks with nature studies on which he based his landscapes, and whose style and development otherwise seem to resemble Molyn's fairly closely.

Our drawing shows Molyn's distinctive late style. He uses the chalk to create atmospheric effects. With the lighest touch, he lends movement to his trees and energy to his figures.