Accession Number
2009/1.517

Title
Untitled (Study of Barges)

Artist(s)
Jan van de Velde II

Artist Nationality
Dutch (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1615-1641

Medium & Support
graphite, ink and wash on laid paper

Dimensions
8 3/4 in x 14 3/8 in (22.23 cm x 36.51 cm);4 5/8 in x 10 1/2 in (11.75 cm x 26.67 cm)

Credit Line
Joseph F. McCrindle Collection

Label copy
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Jan van de Velde II
Netherlands, active 1593–1641
Study of Barges
1615–41
Graphite, pen and ink, and wash
Gift of the Joseph F. McCrindle Collection, 2009/1.517
These two small drawings attest to the rising importance in the seventeenth century of representations of everyday life. Such genre scenes were particularly popular with the prosperous art-buying citizens of the Dutch Republic, whose economy flourished as a result of unprecedented trade and commerce. In the foreground of Landscape with Peasants in a Cart the artist portrays a group of peasants making their way towards a town on the horizon. The diagonal lines of the composition direct the viewer towards the townscape in the distance where a tall, wooden steeple majestically rises above the buildings, penetrating the vast skyline. In Van de Velde’s Study of Barges, the simple composition emphasizes seven barges laden with goods, an important aspect of the new Dutch economy.

Subject matter
This sketch is evidence of an interest in everyday life and subjects. The artist adroitly uses the slight wash to indicate shadows and to unify the sketches as if they were seen concurrently, with the untouched paper reading as the surface of the water.

Physical Description
This sheet of sketches of barges and boats suggests that they were drawn from life and meant to capture the rich variety of life along a river. Two of the sketches along the bottom of the sheet show large piles of hay or similar materials; two smaller boats in the upper portion of the paper have smaller cargo. Three of these four sketches show the boats with an oarsman in the rear and are seen passing by from the bank or from another boat. At the upper right corner is a sketch of two boats, possibly tied up to a dock as both are seen end-on from the bows.

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Primary Object Type
life drawing

Additional Object Classification(s)
Drawing

Collection Area
Western

Rights
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Keywords
boats
business (commercial function)
genre (visual works)
rivers
sketches