signed with monogram and dated ‘VG 1647’
black chalk, grey wash, watermark foolscap with letters FC above three balls, pen and brown ink framing lines
10.5 x 19.5 cm
Provenance:
Presumably with Frederik Muller & Cie., Amsterdam (see Beck, under Z170a).
Prinz Johann Georg von Sachsen (1869-1938), Dresden (without his mark).
Anonymous sale; Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett, Stuttgart, 25 April 1951, lot 1151 (220 mark to Beck, according to Beck see literature).
Dr. Walter Beck (1895-1960), Berlin (L. 2603b), and by descent to
Dr. Hans-Ulrich Beck (1930-2010), Augsburg (his mark, not in Lugt), and by descent.

Exhibited:
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Catalogue des oeuvres de Jan van Goyen, réunies par M.M. Frederik Muller & Cie au Mussée Communal de la ville d’Amsterdam, 1903, no. 53 (see Beck, under Z170a).
Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam, Esaias van de Velde, schilder: 1590/91-1630. Jan van Goyen, tekenaar: 1596-1656: tentoonstelling van een 60-tal landschappen uit de traditie van het Noordnederlands realisme tussen 1615 en 1655, 1981, p. 26, ill.

Literature:
W. Bernt, Die Niederländischen Zeichner des 17. Jahrhunderts, Munich, 1957, no. 263, ill. H-U Beck, Jan van Goyen 1596-1656, ein Oeuvreverzeichnis, Amsterdam, 1972, I, p. 56, Z 160, ill. (most probably identical with Z170a).

Jan van Goyen was one of the most prolific draughtsman and painters of the 17th century, specializing in landscape scenes in both painting and drawing. While he did produce drawings in pen and ink, as well as others in pure wash at the beginning of his career, from the 1630s onwards he favoured black chalk (sometimes worked up with grey wash). Besides small-scale sketchbook drawings, Van Goyen produced a monumental number of often larger landscape drawings that were intended for sale. The artist’s paintings, as well as his drawings, had a profound impact on his generation of landscape artists and those after him.

The present drawing, signed and dated ‘VG 1647’, is a particularly fine and characteristic example of the artist’s draughtsmanship, both in execution and in subject matter. This is attested by its inclusion in Walter Bernt’s seminal work Die Niederländischen Zeichner des 17. Jahrhunderts (see literature). Additionally, the drawing belonged to Walter Beck, and later to his son, Hans-Uhlrich Beck, the leading authority on the artist who published the artist’s drawn œuvre in 1972.

Alongside ice scenes, beach scenes are amongst the most animated and attractive subjects Van Goyen’s œuvre. In this drawing, the artist has depicted a particularly lively beach scene, with a group of men pushing a fishing boat towards the sea in the centre of the composition, while another boat in the background appears to be ready to set sail. On the far right, one can observe another group of fishermen and women accompanied by two horse riders. Furthermore, the repoussoir in the foreground, as well as the freely applied wash in the sky and the figures, contribute to the visual impact of this particularly charming sheet.