Jan van Huchtenburg (aka Johan van Hughtenburgh; Jan
Huchtenburgh; Johannes van Hugtenberg) (1647–1733)
“Landscape with Travellers” (descriptive title only), 1665–90, from
a series of six landscapes, engraved by Van Huchtenburg after Adam François van der Meulen (aka Adam
Frans van der Meulen; Adam François Vandermeulen) (1632–90), published by Jan
van Huchtenburg with privilege from Louis XIV (King of France). This is a late
impression of 1804 taken by the Chalcography of the Louvre Museum and showing
their blind stamp towards the centre of the lower plate edge.
Etching on laid paper backed with a support sheet with full
margins (as published) and blind seal of the Louvre Chalcography.
Size: (sheet) 30.4 x 43.6 cm; (plate) 18.2 x 26.9 cm; (image
borderline) 17.6 x 26.7 cm
Inscribed below the image borderline with publication details.
Le Blanc 1854-89 42 (Charles Le Blanc 1854, “Manuel de l'Amateur
d'Estampes 1550-1820”, 4 vols, Paris)
(Note that TIB shows an additional series of six landscapes by Van
Huchtenburg: 7(5). 25(419) – 7(5).30(421) but does not feature the series of
six held by the BM [http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?searchText=1869,0410.1944])
The British Museum offers the following description of this print:
“Landscape with, in left foreground, a man seated on the roadside
on the edge of a wood and giving direction to a horseman and his servant;
beyond at right, two figures on the roadside, and another three further back;
from a series of six”
Condition: a faultless, richly inked and superbly printed impression
with the blind stamp of the Louvre Museum’s Chalcography (towards the lower
centre of the plate mark) and generous margins. The sheet is in excellent
condition for its age and has been laid upon a support sheet of archival
(millennium quality) washi paper.
I am selling this exceptionally strong impression by one of the
famous masters of the Dutch Golden Age, Van Huchtenberg—pupil of Thomas Wyck
and the travelling companion of Genoels and Boudewyns—for AU$156 (currently
US$118.39/EUR100.57/GBP88.41 at the time of this listing) 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 stunning oldmaster
etching, 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
This is the second etching by Van Huchtenburg (after Van der
Meulen) that I have showcased (see the earlier post: http://www.printsandprinciples.com/2017/01/jan-van-huchtenburgs-etching-of-horse.html)
and, even if this image does not feature a mountain of a horse like the earlier
print, the stylistic treatment of the portrayed scene reveals the artist’s
continued fascination with contour marks (i.e. marks that visually “explain”
the form of a subject). What I mean by this comment is that the artist’s uses
line is to visually sculpt the landscape topography of trees and eroded terrain
in terms of volumes rather than mimetic descriptions of surface textures.
From a personal way of looking at Van Huchtenburg’s s approach to
using line, I also note that he tends to separate his treatment of landscape topography,
which I see as rendered with curved contour lines, from his treatment of
figures, which I see as rendered in near straight cross-hatched lines. Although
I do not have privileged insights concerning the artist’s motivation to
employ two different approaches for rendering forms in the same scene, I would
not be surprised if the reason was as simple as the artist perceiving an animistic spirit in this landscape and the portrayed travellers as alien to this spirit.
