A River Landscape with a Boat Landing below a Bluff
Herman Saftleven, II
Description
*Gallery Rotation Winter 2011 (January 2011)
Herman Saftleven, II
The Netherlands, 1609–1685
A River Landscape with a Boat Landing below a Bluff
1630–85
Ink and graphite on paper
Gift from the Joseph F. McCrindle Collection, 2009/1.516
This small drawing is noteworthy for its balance of mass and opening, light and dark. It is built upon a contrast between a low bluff with buildings on the left and the open expanses of sky and water on the right. The two halves of the drawing interpenetrate each other: the angled tree and the object dangling from the overhanging building cut into the open space, which in turn cuts into the masses of rock in the angled bluff. The stream, whose the movement is skillfully suggested by the use of wash, cuts through the dark form of the bluff to create an engaging interplay of positive and negative space.
Gallery Rotation Winter 2011
Herman Saftleven, II
The Netherlands, 1609–1685
A River Landscape with a Boat Landing below a Bluff
1630–85
Ink and graphite on paper
Gift from the Joseph F. McCrindle Collection, 2009/1.516
This small drawing is noteworthy for its balance of mass and opening, light and dark. It is built upon a contrast between a low bluff with buildings on the left and the open expanses of sky and water on the right. The two halves of the drawing interpenetrate each other: the angled tree and the object dangling from the overhanging building cut into the open space, which in turn cuts into the masses of rock in the angled bluff. The stream, whose the movement is skillfully suggested by the use of wash, cuts through the dark form of the bluff to create an engaging interplay of positive and negative space.
Subject Matter:
This drawing may be a record of the damage inflected by a hurricane that struck Utrecht in 1674; Saftleven sold many of those drawings to the city.
Physical Description:
This drawing is horizontally oriented. It is surrounded with rose, gold, and mint matting; a scroll that reads “H. Saftleven” is juxtaposed over the mattings. The actual work depicts a river scene, with a cliff on the shore of the river to the right. On the cliff are buildings, including what looks like the ruins of a castle tower. A tree leans to the right over the edge of the cliff. Ships populate the river, including one at the shoreline, in which a person is seated, while another person straddles it and a dock.
Usage Rights:
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