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Gallery Text

In Avercamp’s drawings, the Dutch landscape serves as backdrop for scenes bustling with human activity. From the barefoot peasant fishing in the shallow waters to the woman washing clothes on the riverbank, this watercolor presents a catalogue of seasonal activities taking place along Holland’s busy waterways. Although the artist carefully crafted this world inside his studio, his eye for such seemingly anecdotal details as the baby sitting in an empty washtub (on the left side of the composition) gives the impression that this is a snapshot of daily life in the Dutch Republic. Acclaimed for his talent as a colorist, Avercamp saturated the image with subtle reds, greens, and blues. His depiction of water, which effectively exploits the white paper reserve with only a few added touches of watercolor, is particularly striking.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2024.80
People
Hendrick Barentsz. Avercamp, Dutch (Amsterdam, Netherlands 1585 - 1634 Kampen, Netherlands)
Title
Landscape (near Ouderkerk?) with a Fisherman
Other Titles
Alternate Title: River Landscape by Ouderkerk
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1620s
Culture
Dutch
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/183481

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Brown ink and watercolor over graphite on off-white antique laid paper, framing lines in brown and black ink
Dimensions
19.3 x 29.2 cm (7 5/8 x 11 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: Signed bottom center, in brown ink : HA [in ligature]
  • collector's mark: Verso, lower right, blue ink: M G A [in monogram] [Lugt 3306, mark of The Maida and George Abrams Collection]
  • inscription: Verso, lower left, brown ink: Ouwerkerk/1622.
  • inscription: Verso, lower left, in gray ink: Hendrick van Averkamp gebijnaamd de Stomme van Kampen f.1630.
  • inscription: Verso, center left, black ink: 100013
  • inscription: Verso, lower right: [in red chalk]: 756 / [in graphite]: 778
  • watermark: center of sheet: eagle with Basel crozier
  • inscription: verso, center right, graphite: 12

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Simon Fokke, Amsterdam; [sale, Amsterdam, December 6, 1785, lot 195]. Dirk Versteegh, Amsterdam, sold [through his sale, Amsterdam, November 3, 1823 (Kunstboek 3 F, no. 4)]; to De Vries. Eduard Cichorius, Dresden. Oskar Huldschinksky, Berlin, sold [through his estate sale, Paul Graupe, November 3, 1931, lot 3]. Private collection, United Kingdom; acquired by Maida and George Abrams, Boston, 1999, gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2024

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
The Maida and George Abrams Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gift of George Abrams in appreciation of Martha Tedeschi and her outstanding service as Director of the Harvard Art Museums (2016-2024)
Accession Year
2024
Object Number
2024.80
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Catalogue du cabinet de tableaux, dessins, estampes et recueils de graveures; delaissé par feu monsieur Dirk Versteegh..., auct. cat., De Vries, Cornelis Francois Roos, Albertus Brondgeest, and E. M. Engelberts (Amsterdam, November 3, 1823), p. 87, F 4, No. 17, lot 4
  • Die Zeichnungs - Sammlung Oskar Huldschinsky, Berlin: Handzeichnungen niederländischer Meister des 17. Jahrhunderts, exh. cat., Paul Graupe (Berlin, November 3, 1931), p. 4, lot 3
  • William W. Robinson, Bruegel to Rembrandt: Dutch and Flemish Drawings from the Maida and George Abrams Collection, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 8, repr.
  • Austeja Mackelaite, [Review] Crossroads: Drawing the Dutch Landscape, Master Drawings (2022), Volume 60, Number 3, pp. 397-400, p. 399; repr. as fig. 3 on p. 399
  • Joanna Sheers Seidenstein and Susan Anderson, ed., Crossroads: Drawing the Dutch Landscape, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, 2022), pp. 77-79, 102, 228, repr. p. 78 as fig. 3

Exhibition History

Subjects and Contexts

  • Dutch, Flemish, & Netherlandish Drawings

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu