Jan Both, “Two Cows by the Water”, c.1645

Jan Both (aka. Jan Dirksz Both) (1618/22–1652)

“Two Cows by the Water” (TIB title) (aka “Vue de Tivoli”), c.1645 (1636–1652 [BM]) from the series of six plates, “Six Horizontal Landscapes” (TIB title) (aka “Views of Rome and its Surroundings”).

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed with a thread margin around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 20.4 x 28.2cm; (plate) 20.3 x 28.1cm; (image borderline) 19.8 x 27.6cm.

Inscribed in plate: (lower left corner) “Both fe”.

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “View of Tivoli with two cowherds in conversation. Landscape with also two cows standing on the banks of the river at right, buildings in left middle distance, and ruins of Hadrian's Villa in right background; from a series of six plates” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_F-2-80 [BM inv.no. F,2.80]).

See also the description offered by the Rijksmuseum: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200127138.

TIB 7.8 (Otto Naumann [ed.] 1978, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Netherlandish Artists”, New York, Abaris Books, vol. 7, p. 14, cat. no. 8 [209]); Hollstein 8.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression, trimmed along the platemark and laid upon a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. Beyond minor darkening (possibly the intrinsic colour of the paper and ink?), the sheet is in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this exceptionally fine etching showing the Aniene River with travellers and cows close to Hadrian’s Villa that is around 6 to 7kms from Tivoli—interestingly, today’s travellers are advised not to walk from Hadrian’s Villa to Tivoli despite the reasonably manageable distance because of traffic dangers—for AU $349 in total (currently US $217.42/ EUR 209.46/ GBP 172.71 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU $349) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this remarkable 17th century print by an artist that Clifford S Ackley (1981) in “Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt” (Boston Museum of Fine Arts cat.) proposes was “searching for the black and white equivalent of the golden haze of southern light that vaporises or makes the forms of the landscape translucent …” (p. 176), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Jan Both’s etching, “View of a Stone Bridge”, c.1645

Jan Both (aka. Jan Dirksz Both) (1618/22–1652)

“View of a Stone Bridge” (TIB title) (aka "View of the Ponte Milvio”; “Le Pont de Pierre”), c.1645 (1636–1652 [BM]) from the series of six plates, “Six Horizontal Landscapes” (TIB) and “Views of Rome and its surroundings” (BM).

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed around the image borderline and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 19 x 27.3 cm.

Inscribed in plate: (lower left corner) “Both fe”.

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “View of the Ponte Milvio. Landscape with two mules stepping off the bridge at left, a man in conversation with three skippers in right foreground, and two barges moored on the banks of the Tiber at centre; from a series of six plates” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_Sheepshanks-1283).

State vi (of vi).

TIB 7(5).5(208) (Otto Naumann [ed.] 1978, “The Illustrated Bartsch 7: Netherlandish Artists”, New York, Abaris Books, p. 11, cat. no. 5 [208]; Hollstein 5.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression, trimmed along the image borderline and laid upon a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this historically interesting and very beautiful etching of an ancient stone bridge, the Ponte Milvio (aka Ponte Molle; Pons Milvius; Milvian Bridge), spanning the River Tiber in Rome and the site of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (see https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2023/10/pietro-santi-bartolis-etching-aftermath.html; https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2023/06/nicolas-tardieus-etching-with-engraving_16.html; https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2023/06/nicolas-tardieus-etching-with-engraving.html) for AU$452 (currently US$227.68/EUR208.04/GBP179 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this remarkable 17th century print by an artist that Clifford S Ackley (1981) in “Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt” (Boston Museum of Fine Arts cat.) proposes was “searching for the black and white equivalent of the golden haze of southern light that vaporises or makes the forms of the landscape translucent …” (p. 176), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold 

Jan Both's etching, “Landscape with a Woman on a Donkey”, c1650

Jan Both (aka Jan Dirksz Both) (1618/22–1652)

“Landscape with a Woman on a Donkey” (TIB title) (aka “La femme montée sur le mulet” [Bartsch title]; “Landscape with a woman riding a mule along the Aqua Negro between Bologna and Florence” [Rijksmuseum title transl.), c1644–1652, from the series of four (upright) Italian Landscapes, “Four Vertical Landscapes”.

Etching on laid paper trimmed along the plate mark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 27 x 20.8 cm; (image borderline) 26.5 x 20.5 cm.

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (upper right corner) “Both fe”; (lower right corner) “3”.

State ii (of iii) with the addition of the plate number but before the publication details of Theodor Matham (see state i and state iii at the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.38173; http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.38174).

TIB 7 (5). 1 (205) (Otto Nauman [ed.] 1978, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Netherlandish Artists”, vol. 7, New York, Abaris Books, p, 7, cat. no. 1 [205]); Hollstein Dutch 2.

See also the interesting discussion about this print in “The Ideal Landscape: The Impact and Influence of Dutch Landscape Tradition”:

http://wordpress.conncoll.edu/ahi455cranna/2015/11/06/landscape-with-a-woman-on-a-donkey-la-femme-montee-sur-le-mulet/

Condition: richly inked and well-printed impression showing light wear to the printing plate, trimmed along the platemark, in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, abrasions, stains, or foxing, but there is a vertical flattened fold line at right), laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this superb and very rare etching of great beauty—perhaps even “drenched in Mediterranean … light”, to borrow the rather poetic turn of phase from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Dirksz_Both)—for AU$360 (currently US$242.49/EUR220.59/GBP199.42 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this etching crafted in the manner Claude Lorrain with whom the artist collaborated, but with the added feature of angled hatched strokes to heighten the effect of glowing light, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Jan Both’s etching, “Wooden Bridge”, 1644–52

Jan Both (aka. Jan Dirksz Both) (1618/22–52)

"Wooden Bridge” (aka “The Wooden Bridge at Sulmona, near Tivoli”), 1644–52, from the series of six plates, “Views of Rome and its surroundings” (BM) or “Six Horizontal Landscapes” (TIB).

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed along the platemark and lined with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 20.1 x 27.2 cm; (image borderline) 18.6 x 26.6 cm

State ii? (of vi) before the inscription “Both fe” below the image borderline at left. (Compare with the state ii impression held by the National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.54389.html)

TIB 1978 7 (5). 10 (10) (Otto Naumann [ed.] 1978, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 7, Abaris Books, New York, p. 16); Bartsch V.210.10; Hollstein 10

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“The wooden bridge Sulmona near Tivoli; crossed by peasants on donkeys; a waterfall in background; from a series of six etchings of the environs of Rome.”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1562778&partId=1&people=131562&peoA=131562-2-60&page=1)

See also the description of the print at the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.38169

The National Gallery of Ireland holds Jan Both’s original drawing for this print: http://onlinecollection.nationalgallery.ie/objects/5313/bridge-in-a-mountain-landscape-with-waterfall;jsessionid=35B357F9C4C5CEBF42622A3397D4AFDE?ctx=c1cf7a92-39be-4640-8250-85d37b1a8bf7&idx=1

Condition: strong (lifetime) impression of museum quality (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, or foxing and minimal signs of use), trimmed at the platemark and laid upon an archival support sheet.

I am selling this exceptionally fine and very beautiful etching for AU$323 (currently US$255.01/EUR206.51/GBP182.44 at the time of posting this listing). Postage for this print is extra and will be the actual/true cost.

If you are interested in acquiring this marvellous and very rare print, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Following in the footsteps of Claude, Poussin and Herman van Swanevelt, Jan Both had explored and drawn the “hills outside of Rome” (National Gallery of Ireland: Essential Guide, 2008). Certainly when I look at this landscape, which I understand is “near Tivoli”, I can see strong relationships in this composition to his fellow artists. For example, the scene is viewed from an elevated viewpoint, the subject is bathed in light, the distance suggests a zone of spiritual transcendence and the line work is kept to notational strokes where no element is more important than the next.

What I find especially interesting about this etching is the way that Both subtly changes his strokes to connote spatial depth. In his treatment of the foreground area, for example, the strokes are a mixture of dark toned lines that curl around foliage and change direction according to the contours described. In the middle distance, the lines are lighter in tone and  tightly curled in tonal blocks to portray broadly observed light patterns on trees. To suggest far distance, Both uses even paler lines laid in regular patterns of hatched strokes that become increasingly horizontal in orientation in the furthest away aspects. Clifford S Ackley (1981) in “Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt” (exh. cat. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) makes the very insightful proposal in regard to Both’s use of line that the artist was “searching for the black and white equivalent of the golden haze of southern light that vaporises or makes the forms of the landscape translucent …” (p. 176).

Jan Both’s etching, “Landscape with a Large Tree”, 1636–52

Jan Both (aka Jan Dirksz Both) (1618/22–52)

“Landscape with a Large Tree” or “Le Grand Arbre” (The Tall Tree), 1636–52, from the series, “Four Vertical Landscapes” (Bartsch title) or “Italianate Landscapes” (BM title).

Note that the British Museum holds a copy of this print inscribed “TMatham ex." signifying that the print in that later state was published by Theodor Matham (1605/1606–76).

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed on or within the plate-mark and lined onto a conservator’s support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 26.4 x 20.5 cm

Inscribed with the artist’s name and fecit note at the upper-right corner: “Both fe

State ii (of iii?)

Hollstein 3.II Bartsch V.206.3; TIB 7(5)3 (206) (p. 9)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“The Tall Tree. A tree standing at centre in front of a mountain road passing the cliffs at left as it winds down towards a valley in right background, various figures on the road, some on horseback, others accompanying cattle; from a series of four upright landscapes” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3060157&partId=1&searchText=S.1270+&page=1 )

Condition: well-inked and crisp impression trimmed at or within the plate-mark and laid onto a support sheet. There are a few tiny dots and other minor imperfections otherwise the print is in exceptionally good condition for its age.

I am selling this almost iconic image of landscape by Jan Both for the total cost of AU$265 (currently US$200.36/EUR190.43/GBP163.37 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this portrait of a tree, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

In the eyes of many of the old masters, trees are more than simply trees. For instance they can represent the link between the temporal and heavenly realms. They can also embody the spirit of the landscape and may even be a psychological portrait of the artists themselves. There is one use, however, that I find especially interesting: the use of trees to symbolise the cycle of life—the never ending rhythm of life, death and regeneration.

Jan Both may not have consciously planned to connote a cycle of life in this spectacularly beautiful etching. Nevertheless, his deliberate appropriation of design elements extracted from the Italian tradition (e.g. use of a “U”-shaped composition with an “S”-shaped meandering path leading into the distance) may have inadvertently guided his arrangement of trees to symbolise the cycle of life wherein a healthy adult tree is juxtaposed with a dead tree and lush undergrowth.

Jan Both, "River Crossing"

Jan Both (aka. Jan Dirksz Both) (1618/22–52)

"River Crossing” [Le Trajet], 1636-1652

from “Six Horizontal Landscapes” (Bartsch) and “Views of Rome and its surroundings” (BM)

Etching on fine laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 22 x 30 cm; (plate) 19.9 x 28 cm; (image) 19.4 x 27.5 cm

Inscribed below the image borderline (lower left) "Both fe." The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “View of the Tiber Valley. Landscape with two men travelling on horseback on the country road at left in conversation with the skippers of the barge which carries passengers and cattle on the river at right, a male figure with a mule approaching in left background; from a series of six plates” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3060228&partId=1&searchText=jan+both&page=1)

Hollstein 7.IV; Bartsch (1803) V.209.7; Bartsch (1978) VII.209.7

Condition: strong impression with minimal wear and with small margins. There is very light spotting, and remnants of mounting (verso) otherwise the sheet is in remarkably fine condition for its age.

I am selling this rare, historically important and very beautiful etching for AU$226 in total (currently US$167.36/EUR152.09/GBP125.01 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. If you are interested in purchasing this etching by an old master please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Jan Both made a significant impact on the way that 17th century artists looked at the landscape. Prints like this one, showed a fresh vision of how black and white etchings could express atmosphere and—perhaps surprisingly—colour.

Clifford S Ackley in “Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt,” for instance, proposes that the artist was “searching for the black and white equivalent of the golden haze of southern light that vaporises or makes the forms of the landscape translucent …” (p. 176).

Ackley also summaries Both’s method of achieving this effect of a golden haze in his prints that is so much a part of his paintings: “[using] … slanting open parallel shading lines … [to] suggest not only the translucency of the shadows but the path of the sun’s rays. Passages of bitten granular tone comparable to that which occurs in some of Rembrandt’s etched landscapes of the 1640s combine with Both’s masses of fine scribbling lines to lay stress on the broader patterns of southern light and shadow rather than on contour drawing.” (ibid).