Esias van der Velde
Amsterdam 1587-1630 The Hague

A Set of Six Landscapes from the 'Twelve Months'

(a) Skating Scene with Figures on a Canal by a Drawbridge (January)

Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk
Signed, l.c., E.V.VELDE 1629, inscribed, De... in der Haarlem, and inscribed, 1068, (verso)
180 x 140 mm; 7 1/8 x 5 6/8 in

(b) Shepherd playing the Flute with Sheep and Goats in a Landscape - (March)

Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk
Inscribed, No. 1068/ April, (verso)
180 x 140 mm; 7 1/8 x 5 6/8 in

(c) Cattle slaughtered in a Town Square with a Crowd gathered - (April)

Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk
Signed, l.l., E.V.VELDE 1629, inscribed, No. 1068, (verso)
180 x 140 mm; 7 1/8 x 5 6/8 in

Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk
Signed, l.c., E.V.VELDE 1629, inscribed, No. 1068/ July, (verso)
180 x 140 mm; 7 1/8 x 5 6/8 in

Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk
Signed, l.c., E.V.VELDE 1629, inscribed, No. 1068/ September, (verso)
180 x 140 mm; 7 1/8 x 5 6/8 in

Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk
Signed, l.c., E.V.VELDE 1629, inscribed, No. 1068/ October, (verso)
180 x 140 mm; 7 1/8 x 5 6/8 in

PROVENANCE
S. Feitama, his sale: Amsterdam, De Bosch, 16 October 1758, (as Kunstboek M), part of lots 76-87
J. Goll van Franckenstein, Amsterdam, his numbering (Lugt 2987)
Sale: The Hague, De Visser, 27 July 1869, part of lot 222
A. van der Willigen, The Hague; his sale: The Hague, De Visser, 12 August1874, lot 283, bought A. G. de Visser, The Hague; his sale: Amsterdam, F. Muller, 16-18 May1881, lot 462 (pendant to lot 461), bought De Vries
On the art market, London, 1931
Charles Duits, Dordrecht and London; thence by descent

LITERATURE
George S. Keyes, Esaias van den Velde 1587-1630, The Netherlands, 1984, under D61, p. 231
E. W. Moes, Oude teekeningen van de Hollandsche en Vlaamsche school in het Rijksprentenkabinet te Amsterdam, 2 vols, The Hague, 1905-6, no. 83a
C. T. Eisler, Flemish and Dutch Drawings from the 15th to the 18th Century, London, 1964, pl. 95
S. Sawicka, "Pejza'z zimowy Esaiasa van de Velde", Studies dedicated to Professor Michael Walicki, Warsaw, 1966,  ill. 3

These six landscapes are part of a set of of twelve upright drawings representing the twelve calender months of the year. The other six of this series are dispersed in collections across Europe. The whole group are discussed by Keyes, where the present six drawings are described as 'lost sight of'. Indeed, these have not been seen since the de Vries sale in 1931. Two sets of copies of the complete series also exist, one inscribed '1633', although Keyes believes both to date from the eighteenth century. Of these later copies, Keyes illustrates the six that correspond to the drawings exhibited here, in order to illustrate the missing part of the series. Eleven of the twelve sheets are signed and dated, which suggests the set was intended for sale.

The fate of the twelve-drawing set was as follows: Johann Goll van Frankenstein, the famous Amsterdam collector, was the purchaser of ten of the drawings in the Feitama sale which took place in Amsterdam in1758. His numbering, No. 1068, can be found on the reverse of these sheets, including all of those shown here. The two that were separated passed through various hands until they were acquired by the British Museum from the estate of the Scottish collector, John Malcolm, in 1895. The remaining four were dispersed either by de Vries or on the London art market in 1931. One one them, at least, had also belonged to Charles Duits at that time.

The medieval tradition of representing the calendar months remained popular in The Netherlands in the 17th century, but Van der Velde does not always include the conventional attributes for each season. Although this increases the charm and variety of the scenes, it has made the identification of the particular month less easy. The Skating Scene which we identify as 'January', for instance, has little to distinguish it chronologically from the drawing in the Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam, which Keyes entitles, Ice Activities before a Village. In four of the six drawings shown here, the subject matter is rural, such as a shepherd with his flock or labourers harvesting wheat or fruit. In two of them, we see a somewhat more cosmopolitan gathering of skaters or townsfolk. On the verso of the sheet for January, there is an inscription identifying the place as Haarlem.

Esaias Van de Velde is one of the most important and inventive Dutch landscapists of his generation. His drawing technique is highly original and he developed his own particular style of the picturesque, which often included large trees in the foreground, opening up to form wide vistas.

Born in Amsterdam, brother of Willem van de Velde and nephew of Jan van de Velde,  he became a master of the Guild of St. Luke in Haarlem in 1612, where he came under the influence of Willem Buytewech. In 1618 van de Velde moved to The Hague, and although many of his landscapes show Northern wooded country, Bernt believes that it is unlikely that he ever went there.  Bernt also suggests that the rare views he painted of Italy and the Alps were probably inspired by other artists works, rather than drawn from the life. Early on in his career he began painting realistically observed landscapes with low horizons. Typically he depicted the dunes near Haarlem, river landscapes with boats and fishermen, and winter landscapes with ice skaters. De Velde's use of black chalk as a landscape medium influenced many subsequent Dutch artists, such as Jacob van Ruisdael, Jan van Goyen and Peter Molyn.