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拍品专文
This view of the Oude Kerk in Delft is a highly refined example on an intimate scale of the work of Hendrick van Vliet, who, along with his contemporaries Gerard Houckgeest and Emmanuel de Witte, was one of the leading church interior painters of the Delft school. In a daring compositional choice, van Vliet has devoted his focus and attention to a single polygonal column of the northern aisle, pushing it to the fore through crisp lighting that contrasts with the more subdued atmosphere of the nave beyond. The artist deploys his distinctively cool palette and populated the church with only a few figures, creating a restrained, pure, and elegant image reminiscent of Pieter Jansz. Saerendam's work.
Hendrick van Vliet depicted the Oude Kerk on many occasions, with a varying degree of architectural accuracy (see for instance, from the opposite side of the nave, the picture now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York). In the present work, the artist carefully rendered the Renaissance pulpit built in 1548 from which the pastor would preach, a key element of Protestant worship. Quite characteristically, van Vliet includes a freshly dug grave to the left of the column against which a discarded broom reclines. The square escutcheons hanging from the other pillars in the background bear the coat-of-arms of the parishioners buried beneath the flagstones. Both the grave and these epitaphs would have reminded the viewer of life's finitude and of Christian salvation that could be attained through the faith for which the church stood.
We are grateful to Walter Liedtke for confirming the attribution to Hendrick van Vliet, on the basis of photographs.
The painting comes from the collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A. (1881-1964), one of the finest British architects of the first half of the 20th century, who went on to become President of the Royal Academy in 1954 and was knighted in 1956. His early commissions included the façade of the Regent Street Polytechnic and the New Theatre, Manchester. Prestigious post-war commissions included the Financial Times Building (Bracken House) in Cannon Street, the Associated Electrical Industries building in Grosvenor Place, alterations at Woburn Abbey and the restoration of the Assembly Rooms at Bath. As well as being a dedicated student of Georgian architecture and a fluent and skilful draughtsman, Richardson was also a distinguished architectural historian. He was a keen collector from an early age but it was not until after he moved to Avenue House in 1919 that his collecting really gained momentum. The spacious interior, along with a strengthened knowledge and a respectable income, allowed him to gather treasures from both local antique shops and the grandest emporiums of London. It was also in 1919 that Richardson's combination of practical experience and architectural scholarship won him the chair of architecture at University College, London, a post that he held for 27 years, retiring as professor emeritus in 1946. It was on the strength of this appointment that he became universally known as 'The Professor'.
The Collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A. will be sold at Christie's King Street on 18 and 19 September 2013. The sale will include Old Master and British Paintings, British Watercolours and Architectural Drawings, English and European Furniture, Sculpture and Objects, Garden Statuary, Books, Clocks, Musical Instruments and Georgian Costume.
Hendrick van Vliet depicted the Oude Kerk on many occasions, with a varying degree of architectural accuracy (see for instance, from the opposite side of the nave, the picture now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York). In the present work, the artist carefully rendered the Renaissance pulpit built in 1548 from which the pastor would preach, a key element of Protestant worship. Quite characteristically, van Vliet includes a freshly dug grave to the left of the column against which a discarded broom reclines. The square escutcheons hanging from the other pillars in the background bear the coat-of-arms of the parishioners buried beneath the flagstones. Both the grave and these epitaphs would have reminded the viewer of life's finitude and of Christian salvation that could be attained through the faith for which the church stood.
We are grateful to Walter Liedtke for confirming the attribution to Hendrick van Vliet, on the basis of photographs.
The painting comes from the collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A. (1881-1964), one of the finest British architects of the first half of the 20th century, who went on to become President of the Royal Academy in 1954 and was knighted in 1956. His early commissions included the façade of the Regent Street Polytechnic and the New Theatre, Manchester. Prestigious post-war commissions included the Financial Times Building (Bracken House) in Cannon Street, the Associated Electrical Industries building in Grosvenor Place, alterations at Woburn Abbey and the restoration of the Assembly Rooms at Bath. As well as being a dedicated student of Georgian architecture and a fluent and skilful draughtsman, Richardson was also a distinguished architectural historian. He was a keen collector from an early age but it was not until after he moved to Avenue House in 1919 that his collecting really gained momentum. The spacious interior, along with a strengthened knowledge and a respectable income, allowed him to gather treasures from both local antique shops and the grandest emporiums of London. It was also in 1919 that Richardson's combination of practical experience and architectural scholarship won him the chair of architecture at University College, London, a post that he held for 27 years, retiring as professor emeritus in 1946. It was on the strength of this appointment that he became universally known as 'The Professor'.
The Collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A. will be sold at Christie's King Street on 18 and 19 September 2013. The sale will include Old Master and British Paintings, British Watercolours and Architectural Drawings, English and European Furniture, Sculpture and Objects, Garden Statuary, Books, Clocks, Musical Instruments and Georgian Costume.