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Lot Essay
This painting of the beach just north of the fishing village of Scheveningen, with its church and houses towering on the dunes to the left, was executed at the height of van Goyen’s career in the 1640s. This decade was one of astonishing productivity for the artist, with over 450 known dated works from this period alone. He was also intermittently active as an art dealer, auctioneer and estate agent.
Hans-Ulrich Beck records several other views of Scheveningen looking south across the dunes, of which the earliest is dated 1632. Van Goyen appears not to have returned to this composition after 1645. Although the artist employed a restricted palette in the 1640s, he was able to capture an enormous range of atmospheric effects and achieve a masterly sense of depth in his compositions, here rendering the clouds with a vivid and broad handling and the landscape in a liquid style, painted rapidly in the wet paint with great attention to the narrative.
Hans-Ulrich Beck records several other views of Scheveningen looking south across the dunes, of which the earliest is dated 1632. Van Goyen appears not to have returned to this composition after 1645. Although the artist employed a restricted palette in the 1640s, he was able to capture an enormous range of atmospheric effects and achieve a masterly sense of depth in his compositions, here rendering the clouds with a vivid and broad handling and the landscape in a liquid style, painted rapidly in the wet paint with great attention to the narrative.