Jan van de Velde II – Landscape with Distant Town 1616
etching, plate 12.2 x 19 cm / sheet 14.8 x 21.2 cm
Unframed – Price £115
From the series of ‘Sixty Landscapes’ (plate 7?)
References: Hollstein 286 Franken & van der Kellen 325
Condition: Nice impression in clean condition. The vertical flaw mid image was a crack in the plate – all known impressions have this. Remains of water stain in left margin, otherwise showing general wear from handling. Old adhesive points on reverse corners.
Jan van de Velde (1593-1641) was one of the most significant printmakers of early seventeenth century Dutch art. He was certainly the most prolific, with over 490 prints to his name, 200 of which were landscapes. He was born in Rotterdam and was in Haarlem by 1613 when he took up an apprenticeship with Hendrick Goltzius’s stepson and pupil Jacob Matham (1571-1631). His first print series, published by Claes Jansz Visscher when he was at the age of just twenty-two, was Amenissimae aliquot Regiunculae et antiquorum momentorum ruinae of 1615. He followed this with a larger series, Amenissimae aliquot Regiunculae (he abbreviated the title) comprising sixty etchings, published also by Visscher, in 1616 from which this print comes.
I consider Velde’s trees to be one of his strong points. He introduces much variety of line and form to differentiate tree types. Some may consider these to look a bit stilted and many do come across being quite wooden (pun not intended) in a style that suggests his grounding in engraving. Nonetheless the trees do have an almost naif charm which shows Velde’s penchant for ornament and patternmaking.