A Romanesque Ruin

Description

Five drawings (1961.378-1961.382) were once bound in a small sketchbook of approximately 200 pages. Because it was light and portable, Jan van Goyen could tuck it into his pocket while walking in search of inspiration. Sketchbooks allowed the artist to quickly delineate sand dunes and architectural structures in the vicinity of his residence in The Hague and farther afield. These landscape sketches in black chalk and ink wash relate—directly and indirectly—to compositions the artist later realized in oil paintings.

Provenance

Possibly A. Geddes; sold Christie’s, April 1845, lot 361 [Dodgson 1935]. Private collection, England, 1879 [Gorissen 1964].  Johnson Neale, London, by 1895 [Gorrisen 1964]; Thomas Mark Hovell (1853–1925), London [Dodgson 1918]. Sold, Sotheby's, London, July 3, 1918, lot 124, to P. and D. Colnaghi, London [Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1980].  W. M. Mensing [or Anton Mensing? ](1866–1936), Amsterdam; sold, Frederick Muller, Amsterdam, Apr. 27–29, 1937, lot 218.  Hirschmann (probably Otto Hirschman, born 1889) [Gorissen 1964]. A. Mayer, New York [Gorissen 1964]. Possibly C. F. Louis deWild (1900–1987), New York [according to Beck].  Sold by Lilienfeld Galleries, New York, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1961.

A Romanesque Ruin

Jan van Goyen

1650–51

Accession Number

20160

Medium

Black chalk, with brush and gray wash, on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

9.8 × 15.8 cm (3 7/8 × 6 1/4 in.)

Classification

chalk

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Worcester Sketch Fund Income