Home Online catalogues Art on Paper. Recent Acquisitions 61. Adam Pijnacker, attributed to Schiedam 1620/22 – 1673 Amsterdam View of a Waterfall When this drawing entered the collection it was attributed to Johannes Janszoon Collaert (1621/22-after 1678), a relatively unknown landscape artist from Amsterdam. One of the few surviving drawings by his hand is a large sheet in Hamburg, representing a view of Tivoli with a waterfall.1 The subject, the upright format of the paper and the use of the point of brush and grey ink over a sketch in black chalk are similar to the drawing discussed here. However, in execution and style the two sheets differ. Collaert used short, rather mechanical hatching to render the foliage, while in View of a Waterfall trees and bushes are depicted with subtle dots and dashes, applied in multiple layers to create depth. Subsequently, Peter Schatborn suggested an attribution to the Dutch landscape artist Jan Worst (fl. 1645-1686).2 View of a Waterfall can be compared to a double-sided sheet in Amsterdam, with Cascade at Tivoli with a Draftsman on the recto and Large Waterfall at Tivoli on the verso.3 Characteristic in these drawings is the application of grey wash in different shades on the rocks and the rendering of the gushing water of the cascade with delicately applied brushstrokes, contrasting with the blank white areas of the paper. However, certain features, such as the distinctive underdrawing in black chalk, the irregular hatching and the coarse contour lines, rendered with the brush, cannot be observed in the present sheet. On the basis of new research by Annemarie Stefes, the drawing can now be associated with the work of Adam Pijnacker (1620/22-1673), a Dutch landscape painter from Schiedam.4 Stefes argued that View of a Waterfall is connected to a signed painting with a similar motif of a cascade in Berlin.5 Although the artist did not exactly copy the drawing, a comparable, yet striking feature in both works is the protruding heart-shaped rock formation. Moreover, the general scheme of the composition – the strong diagonal alignment accented by a large repoussoir – is comparable to other works by Pijnacker as well.6 The painting in Berlin was probably executed during Pijnacker’s stay at the Brandenburg Court in 1654/55, following a presumed sojourn by the artist to Italy at the end of the 1640s. If the present sheet predates the painting, it is one of the earliest known drawings by Pijnacker.7 This explains the difference in style compared to the generally accepted drawings by the artist, dated from the early 1660s.8 These finished sheets, intended to be sold directly to collectors, demonstrate a more stylized drawing style, e.g. the trunks have sharp, rather angular contours, and the foliage is rendered with short strokes and small areas of hatching in black chalk. The brush work of View of a Waterfall is more subtle and there is little to no underdrawing in black chalk visible. According to Stefes, the present sheet is closer in style to two newly attributed sheets by Pijnacker in the Hamburger Kunsthalle, which are also thought to have been made during the artist’s time in Rome.9 MR 1Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, inv. no. 21807 (point of brush and grey ink, with grey wash, over a sketch in black chalk; 544 × 415 mm. Signed and dated, lower right, in brown ink: “Jan Collaert t’ Tivo […] / 1646”); see James D. Burke, ‘A Drawing by Johannes Collaert’, Master Drawings 14 (1976), no. 4, pp. 384-386, fig. 6; and Annemarie Stefes, Niederländische Zeichnungen 1450-1850 (Die Sammlungen der Hamburger Kunsthalle, vol. 3), 3 vols., Cologne 2011, vol. 1, no. 212, p. 168, repr. 2Oral communication Peter Schatborn, 2016. 3Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-T-1954-156 (point of brush and grey ink, over black chalk; 245 × 345 mm); see Peter Schatborn, ‘Two Drawings of Tivoli by Jan Worst’, Master Drawings 53 (2015), no. 4, pp. 467-470, figs. 2-3; and https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/zoeken. 4Email of Annemarie Stefes, 27 September 2017. The new attribution was also confirmed by Peter Schatborn in an email to the author on 6 October 2017. 5Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. no. GG 897 (oil on canvas; 20.7 × 17.5 cm. Signed and dated, lower left: “APynacker 1754 [AP in ligature]”); see Laurie B. Harwood, Adam Pynacker (c. 1620-1673), Doornspijk 1988, no. 35, repr. 6Cf. ibid., nos. 36 and 44. 7The earliest dated drawing by Pijnacker is a sheet dated 1662 in Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest, inv. no. 1278.25.2-3 (point of brush and grey ink, with grey wash, over a sketch in black chalk; 271 × 196 mm. Signed and dated, lower left: “AP 1662 [AP in ligature]”); see Peter Schatborn, Drawn to Warmth: 17th-century Dutch artists in Italy, exh. cat., Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2001, p. 180, fig. C. 8Cf. ibid., pp. 178-182, figs. A and D. 9Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, inv. nos. 1963-573 (point of brush and grey ink, with grey wash and opaque white, over a sketch in graphite; 251 × 382 mm); and 21809 (point of brush and grey ink, with grey wash, over a sketch in graphite; 363 × 298 mm); see Stefes 2011, op. cit. (note 1), vol. 3, pp. 448-449, nos. 834 and 835. 10Some parts along the fold have been retouched by a later hand in brush and grey ink.
When this drawing entered the collection it was attributed to Johannes Janszoon Collaert (1621/22-after 1678), a relatively unknown landscape artist from Amsterdam. One of the few surviving drawings by his hand is a large sheet in Hamburg, representing a view of Tivoli with a waterfall.1 The subject, the upright format of the paper and the use of the point of brush and grey ink over a sketch in black chalk are similar to the drawing discussed here. However, in execution and style the two sheets differ. Collaert used short, rather mechanical hatching to render the foliage, while in View of a Waterfall trees and bushes are depicted with subtle dots and dashes, applied in multiple layers to create depth. Subsequently, Peter Schatborn suggested an attribution to the Dutch landscape artist Jan Worst (fl. 1645-1686).2 View of a Waterfall can be compared to a double-sided sheet in Amsterdam, with Cascade at Tivoli with a Draftsman on the recto and Large Waterfall at Tivoli on the verso.3 Characteristic in these drawings is the application of grey wash in different shades on the rocks and the rendering of the gushing water of the cascade with delicately applied brushstrokes, contrasting with the blank white areas of the paper. However, certain features, such as the distinctive underdrawing in black chalk, the irregular hatching and the coarse contour lines, rendered with the brush, cannot be observed in the present sheet. On the basis of new research by Annemarie Stefes, the drawing can now be associated with the work of Adam Pijnacker (1620/22-1673), a Dutch landscape painter from Schiedam.4 Stefes argued that View of a Waterfall is connected to a signed painting with a similar motif of a cascade in Berlin.5 Although the artist did not exactly copy the drawing, a comparable, yet striking feature in both works is the protruding heart-shaped rock formation. Moreover, the general scheme of the composition – the strong diagonal alignment accented by a large repoussoir – is comparable to other works by Pijnacker as well.6 The painting in Berlin was probably executed during Pijnacker’s stay at the Brandenburg Court in 1654/55, following a presumed sojourn by the artist to Italy at the end of the 1640s. If the present sheet predates the painting, it is one of the earliest known drawings by Pijnacker.7 This explains the difference in style compared to the generally accepted drawings by the artist, dated from the early 1660s.8 These finished sheets, intended to be sold directly to collectors, demonstrate a more stylized drawing style, e.g. the trunks have sharp, rather angular contours, and the foliage is rendered with short strokes and small areas of hatching in black chalk. The brush work of View of a Waterfall is more subtle and there is little to no underdrawing in black chalk visible. According to Stefes, the present sheet is closer in style to two newly attributed sheets by Pijnacker in the Hamburger Kunsthalle, which are also thought to have been made during the artist’s time in Rome.9 MR 1Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, inv. no. 21807 (point of brush and grey ink, with grey wash, over a sketch in black chalk; 544 × 415 mm. Signed and dated, lower right, in brown ink: “Jan Collaert t’ Tivo […] / 1646”); see James D. Burke, ‘A Drawing by Johannes Collaert’, Master Drawings 14 (1976), no. 4, pp. 384-386, fig. 6; and Annemarie Stefes, Niederländische Zeichnungen 1450-1850 (Die Sammlungen der Hamburger Kunsthalle, vol. 3), 3 vols., Cologne 2011, vol. 1, no. 212, p. 168, repr. 2Oral communication Peter Schatborn, 2016. 3Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-T-1954-156 (point of brush and grey ink, over black chalk; 245 × 345 mm); see Peter Schatborn, ‘Two Drawings of Tivoli by Jan Worst’, Master Drawings 53 (2015), no. 4, pp. 467-470, figs. 2-3; and https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/zoeken. 4Email of Annemarie Stefes, 27 September 2017. The new attribution was also confirmed by Peter Schatborn in an email to the author on 6 October 2017. 5Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. no. GG 897 (oil on canvas; 20.7 × 17.5 cm. Signed and dated, lower left: “APynacker 1754 [AP in ligature]”); see Laurie B. Harwood, Adam Pynacker (c. 1620-1673), Doornspijk 1988, no. 35, repr. 6Cf. ibid., nos. 36 and 44. 7The earliest dated drawing by Pijnacker is a sheet dated 1662 in Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest, inv. no. 1278.25.2-3 (point of brush and grey ink, with grey wash, over a sketch in black chalk; 271 × 196 mm. Signed and dated, lower left: “AP 1662 [AP in ligature]”); see Peter Schatborn, Drawn to Warmth: 17th-century Dutch artists in Italy, exh. cat., Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2001, p. 180, fig. C. 8Cf. ibid., pp. 178-182, figs. A and D. 9Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, inv. nos. 1963-573 (point of brush and grey ink, with grey wash and opaque white, over a sketch in graphite; 251 × 382 mm); and 21809 (point of brush and grey ink, with grey wash, over a sketch in graphite; 363 × 298 mm); see Stefes 2011, op. cit. (note 1), vol. 3, pp. 448-449, nos. 834 and 835. 10Some parts along the fold have been retouched by a later hand in brush and grey ink.