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Lot Essay
This magnificent drawing is one of de Gheyn's most impressive nature studies, showing the full height of a great beech at the edge of a wood. Different tones of brown ink suggest depth and distance, and focus the eye on the intricate details of leaves and branches. Most of de Gheyn's other studies of trees show only the twisted trunks, although the Study of an old oak in the Rijksmuseum is closely comparable to the present sheet in the curving hatching used to delineate the uneven, gnarled shape of the bole and branches (van Regteren Altena, op. cit., no. 998). A signed drawing in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which was not included in van Regteren Altena's catalogue, is also extremely similar to this sheet (inv. 1980.381). A smaller and more loosely-rendered drawing of Withered trees on the edge of a wood in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, has the look of a drawing made directly from nature which might have inspired another more highly finished presentation drawing of the present sort (van Regteren Altena, op. cit., no. 985).
Van Regteren Altena noted that, although a number of Dutch artists began to take an interest in trees as subjects after 1600 – citing Goltzius, Bloemaert (see lot 33), Segers and ter Borch among them – de Gheyn seems to have been the earliest Dutch draughtsman to see the aesthetic potential of studies such as this, which combined an interest in nature with a Mannerist feel for monumental forms. In the present work the tree becomes the object of focus, not as a study for a painting or print, but in its own right. Halfway through losing its leaves, it is represented with a striking level of detail and individuality, which gives the drawing the impression of being more of a portrait than a generic nature study.
An inscription in the same handwriting appears on The Parable of the Devil sowing weeds in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin (van Regteren Altena, op. cit., no. 50) and on Four lumps of rock with human and animal heads in the Courtauld Institute (van Regteren Altena op. cit., no. 531). The style of the handwriting suggests a date of circa 1700.
Van Regteren Altena noted that, although a number of Dutch artists began to take an interest in trees as subjects after 1600 – citing Goltzius, Bloemaert (see lot 33), Segers and ter Borch among them – de Gheyn seems to have been the earliest Dutch draughtsman to see the aesthetic potential of studies such as this, which combined an interest in nature with a Mannerist feel for monumental forms. In the present work the tree becomes the object of focus, not as a study for a painting or print, but in its own right. Halfway through losing its leaves, it is represented with a striking level of detail and individuality, which gives the drawing the impression of being more of a portrait than a generic nature study.
An inscription in the same handwriting appears on The Parable of the Devil sowing weeds in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin (van Regteren Altena, op. cit., no. 50) and on Four lumps of rock with human and animal heads in the Courtauld Institute (van Regteren Altena op. cit., no. 531). The style of the handwriting suggests a date of circa 1700.