Adriaen van der Cabel’s etching, “Landscape with Beggar”, 1660–1700

Adriaen van der Cabel (aka Adriaen van der Kabel) (1631–1705)

Two impressions of “Paysage avec mendiant” (Landscape with beggar), 1660–1700, plate 3 in the series, “Landscapes IV”, published by N Robert (fl.c.1650–1700) using a French privilege (presumably by Louis XIV the King of France). The BM proposes that the publisher might be “Nicolas Robert, the painter of vélins”. If this is true then the date of the print may be narrowed to between 1660 and 1685 as Nicholas Robert died in 1685.

UPPER IMPRESSION

Etching on fine laid buff coloured paper with thread margins around the platemark and backed with a support sheet

Size: (sheet) 15.7 x 25.3 cm; (image borderline) 14.9 x 24.5 cm

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) "Adr. Vander Cabel jnu. et fecit. Cum priuil. Regis."; (centre) “III”; (right) "N. Rob. ex. Cum. P. R."

State ii (of ii) with the addition of the plate number “III” that differentiates the second state from the first state.

LOWER IMPRESSION

The same technical details as the upper impression with the exception that this impression is printed on white laid paper (sheet size 15.4 x 24.9 cm), trimmed slightly within the platemark with narrow margins around the image borderline

TIB 5 (4).32 (247); Hollstein 34.II (F W H Hollstein, 1949 “Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700”, Amsterdam. P. 82, cat. no. 34)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Plate 3: A beggar in central foreground, sitting against a wall leading to a square tower, a woman walking by to the right, a village in the background; from a series of six prints (5ème) showing landscapes.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3063784&partId=1&people=130390&peoA=130390-2-60&page=1)

Note: TIB’s title for the series, “Landscapes IV” (i.e. four landscapes) may seem to conflict with the BM’s advice that there are six landscapes in the series (see: Walter L Strauss [ed.] 1979, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 5, Abaris Books, New York, p. 239), but the inconsistency is due to repetition of two of the plates and there are indeed six plates in total in the series, “Landscapes IV”.

See also the description of this print at the Rijksmuseum:

http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.90050

Condition: Both impressions are well-printed and backed with a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The lower impression is more richly inked than the upper one, but it is trimmed within the platemark close to the image borderline whereas the upper image retains the platemark and has thread thread margins. The upper image also has a restored lower-right corner and a pin hole at upper-left. The lower image is in near faultless condition.

I am selling EACH of these remarkably beautiful etchings from the late 17th century for AU$297 (currently US$215.84/EUR189.88/GBP170 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you wish to purchase either of these classical landscapes raked in glowing light, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

What I love about Adriaen van der Cabel’s work is not so much his choice of subject or even his compositions. Instead, what I love is the openness of his linework that allows the white of the paper to be the equivalent of light. Moreover, I love the way that he creates complexity in shadows with parallel hatched strokes over the top of superficial details. To my eyes, Van der Carel’s approach to rendering his landscapes is not so much about recreating observed patterns of light and shade, but rather about using light to give a touch of sublime grandeur to a scene— as if light is glowing from within the landscape as well as falling upon it.

Adriaen van der Cabel’s etching. “Landscape with a cluster of trees”, c.1680

Adriaen van der Cabel (aka Adriaen van der Kabel) (1631–1705)

“Landscape with a cluster of trees” (Le bouquet d’arbres au milieu du sujet) (aka “Landscape with resting couple along path”, c.1680 (1648–1705), from the series, “Landscapes II”, published by Nicolas Robert (fl. c.1650–1700), privilege by Lodewijk XIV (King of France)

Etching on laid paper with small margins.

Size: (sheet) 17.2 x 25.3 cm; (plate) 15.4 x 23.4 cm: (image borderline) 14.5 x 22.6 cm

Lettered below the image borderline: (left) “Adr. Bander Cabel. In[v]. et fecit Cum pri[v]il. Regis.”; (right) “ N. Bob. ex Cū P. R.”

TIB 5 (4). 15 (235) (Walter L Strauss Ed. 1979, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 5, p. 226)

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

“Landscape with winding path where are resting a man and woman in a group of trees. In the background a view of different cities.” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.90026)

Condition: well-inked and crisp impression with margins (approx. 1 cm) in near pristine condition.

I am selling this museum-quality etching for the total cost of AU$275 (currently US$209.76/EUR196.87/GBP167.28 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this small but luminous 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

Van der Cabel was born in Rijswijk (the Netherlands) but his fame rests with images like this of very Italianate scenes. In his lifetime, the artist was an influential force in the arts as his studio was, as Clifford S Ackley (1981) in “Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt” points out, “a frequent stopping place for Dutch artists making the Italian journey” (p. 293). Sadly, the gate-keepers of history are unforgiving to artists who stray from their home soil and Van der Cabel’s status as an expatriate meant that his work could not be conveniently classified as Dutch, Italian or even Italianated Dutch. Fortunately, times have changed and need to “pigeon-hole” artists is less of a challenge for arts writers.

What I love about Van der Cabel’s work is not so much his choice of subject—usually, broad vistas populated with classical dressed figures like this etching—or even his compositions—usually a view into the distance framed between trees on either side— but rather his free use of line. To my eyes this openness of his linework and the confidence of the artist to leave lines without too many calculated refinements (e.g. the use of cross-hatching consciously designed give tonal complexity to dark areas and lines that show deliberate adjustments within the stroke by the addition of dots and other marks) creates the visual effect that the print has light glowing from within it. 

Adriaen van der Cabel’s etching, “Extensive Landscape with River, Mountains, and Village”

Adriaen van der Cabel (aka Adriaen van der Kabel) (1631–1705)

“Extensive Landscape with River, Mountains, and Village” (Le paysage au grand lointain) , 1660–1700, plate 5 in the series, “Landscapes VI” (only five of the six landscapes have been identified by Bartsch), published by N Robert (1650–1700; fl. c.) using a French privilege. (Interestingly, the BM proposes that this publisher may be “identified with Nicolas Robert, the painter of vélins”. If this is true then the date of the print may be narrowed to between 1660 and 1685 as Nicholas Robert died in 1685.)

Etching on fine laid paper with watermark, small margins around the image borderline and stamped (verso) with a collector’s mark

Size: (sheet) 23.1 x 35 cm

Lettered below the image borderline: (left) "Adr. Vander Cabel jnu. et fecit. Cu. priuil. Regis."; (right) "N. Robert ex. Cu. P. R.".

State i (of ii) before the number '5' is added to the text line. This must be a very early impression as the fine burnishing marks left on the plate from its original polishing are clearly visible. (Note: later impressions do not have these tiny “scratch” marks as the inking and wiping process involved in printing the plate wears them away.)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Plate 5: Landscape with a draped woman conversing with a seated man in lower right corner, a fisherman seated on a river-bank beyond, trees on either side, towns and mountains in the background; on full sheet; from a series of six prints (7ème) showing landscapes.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3063813&partId=1&searchText=van+der+cabel&page=1)

Hollstein 48.I (F W H Hollstein, 1949 “Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700”, Amsterdam); Bartsch 4 (5).42 (254) (Walter L Strauss, 1979, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 5 New York, , p. 253; Adam Bartsch, 1803 “Le Peintre graveur”, vol. 4, Vienna)

Condition: A richly inked and well-printed early (lifetime) impression from the first state. There is a flattened fold mark (only visible verso), a few tiny tears at the margins, mounting hinges, pencil notations and a stamp on the back of the sheet from previous collectors; otherwise the sheet is in excellent condition for its age.

I am selling this remarkably strong, museum quality, lifetime impression from the late 17^th century for a total cost of AU$297 (currently US$220.78/EUR208.79/GBP177.13 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you wish to purchase this rare landscape print exemplifying the classical tradition, 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

I have been collecting prints by Adriaen van der Cabel for many years and the reason for my fascination is simple: I like the way in which he composes his landscapes.

To explain what I mean about this artist’s compositions, I need to draw upon two much earlier traditions of landscape imagery dating back to Joachim Patinir (c.1480–1524) and Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c.1525–69): the Weltlandschaft (German for “World Landscape”) and—to borrow the term coined by Max Dvořák—“Mannerist inversion.”

Regarding the Weltlandschaft/World Landscape, this tradition celebrated elevated views of landscape constructed with all that is spectacular in an ideal world: grand mountains, statuesque trees, vast stretches of water and a sprinkling of monumental buildings with folk dressed from an Olympian past engaged in symbolic acts. This print exemplifies all these attributes of the Weltlandschaft tradition and presents the key ingredients in an endless moment.

Regarding the tradition that Dvořák’ perceived as “Mannerist inversion”, what this approach to composition involves is to give maximum attention to the landscape as the key subject of the image rather than the figures portrayed within it. In the case of van der Cabel, his use of figures leans towards them being generic folk—staffage for the landscape—rather than “real” people.