Entry by
William W. Robinson,
completed March 07, 2019:
Painter and etcher Adriaen van de Velde specialized in pastoral landscapes, often with Italianate settings. He also depicted beaches, winter scenes, portraits, and biblical and mythological subjects. He ranks among the most versatile Dutch draftsmen of the 17th century. His extensive oeuvre of drawings includes landscape sketches, compositional projects for paintings and prints, a few finished watercolors, and detailed studies of figures and animals. More than 50 drawings relating to Van de Velde’s paintings and etchings have survived, affording a rare glimpse of the working process of a Dutch landscapist.
Formerly assigned to the French school, this study of a dilapidated, overgrown wall is more likely by a Dutch Italianate draftsman of the second half of the 17th century. Elements of its technique, specifically the foliage at upper left drawn with zigzag brushstrokes and the loosely washed shadows on the wall, bear some resemblance to the handling of works by Van de Velde. However, the similarity is not entirely compelling, and we do not know comparable studies of architectural details by Van de Velde, so the attribution to him must remain tentative.
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