Bidspirit auction | Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem: Deer Hunt

Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem: Deer Hunt in the Hilly Woodland - BERCHEM , NICOLAES PIETERSZ 1620 Haarlem–1683 Amsterdam Title: Deer Hunt in the Hilly Woodland. Date: 1650. Technique: Oil on wood. Mounting: Parquetted. Measurement: 93.5 x 100cm. Notation: Signed and dated above the dogs on the right: Berchem 50. Frame: Framed. An artist’s significance is measured, on the one hand, by the quality of his works in comparison with those of his contemporaries, and, on the other hand, by the impact his work has on subsequent generations. Judged by both criteria, Nicoles Berchem is an outstanding artist: he has produced an extensive body of work comprising history, genre and landscape paintings, and is also an exceptional graphic artist. His depictions of animals and figures are so masterful that fellow artists sought him out for collaborations. His Italianate landscapes featuring shepherds also left a lasting mark on pastoral landscape painting during the Dutch ”Golden Age”. Through this genre, he exerted a particularly enduring influence on 18th-century French painting. Born in Haarlem in the early 1620s, the young Nicolaes Berchem likely received his initial training from his father, the still-life painter Pieter Claesz. Several names are discussed by scholars as his later teachers, though only Claes Cornelisz Moeyaert in Amsterdam is undisputed. In 1642, Nicolaes Berchem was admitted to the Guild of St Luke, of which he became a council member in the 1650s. From the 1660s onwards, Berchem divided his time between Haarlem and Amsterdam, where the highly successful artist died in 1683. Although Nicolaes Berchem’s paintings undoubtedly display Italian characteristics, particularly in their depiction of light and nature, but also in their choice of subject matter, there is no conclusive evidence that the painter ever spent time in the south. It may simply be the strong influence of Italian-style painters who had returned home, such as Jan Asselijn or Jan Both, that is so strongly reflected in Berchem’s paintings. This ”Deer Hunt”, dated 1650, depicts a scene at the edge of the forest against an autumnal landscape stretching into the depths of the picture plane. Two horsemen are discussing matters with a beater. Behind them, at the right-hand edge of the picture, a felled stag lies on the ground; two leashed hunting dogs await their next task. In the middle ground, the chase after fleeing game is still in full swing: two horsemen, armed with spears, a runner with a raised horn and a dog are hot on the heels of a pair of deer. And further in the distance, beneath the gnarled oaks, more hunters and dogs are encamped near a gate. Alongside the mountainous landscape and the warm, golden autumn light, which bathes the small group with the white horse in particularly striking illumination, it is the figure of the driver in the left-hand foreground that makes a direct reference to Italy, specifically Rome. The seated man is examining his right shoe, which may have caused him problems whilst walking. This is a deliberate reference to the Thorn-Puller, the ancient sculpture located on the Roman Capitoline Hill, though here depicted in a mirror image; the painter may therefore have been familiar with it solely through a print. Italianate landscapes and recognisable motifs were very much in vogue in the Netherlands of the 17th century. With his Italianate paintings, Nicholaes Berchem created works that remain among the highlights of the era in leading museums and private collections to this day. Provenance: - Private ownership, Germany; acquired in 1928/29 from Böhler art dealer, Munich; T.M. Whitehead & Co. auction, London, 07.05.1898, Lot 81; van Loon Collection, Amsterdam, 1834. Literature: I.v. Sick: Nicolas Berchem, a precursor of the Rococo. Berlin 1930, p. 38, fig. 31. C. Hofstede de Groot: Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. Vol. 9, Esslingen 1926, p. 97, no. 162. Here with old provenance details from the van Loon Collection, Amsterdam, which was sold in its entirety to the Rothschild family in 1877. J. Smith: A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French painters. London 1829, no. 299. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: The lot is unsuitable for parcel shipping. Transport only by shipping company after consultation following the auction. additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: max. 41.65 Euro over a total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: 1.8 o/oo USA by individual arrangement after the auction. #Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem #Dutch School/Flemish School #Bambocchant #The Netherlands #17th C. #Hunting #Painting #Old Masters.