13 - Adriaen van de VELDE (Amsterdam, 1636–1672)

Adriaen van de VELDE (Amsterdam, 1636–1672) A Peasant Couple Resting Among Their Herd, Near a Pond Oil on canvas. Signed lower right: A.V.Velde f. 1670 On the back, an old ink number: 559; on the stretcher, a label with the number 4051. 30 x 39 cm (extended by 1.5 cm on each side). Provenance E. Secrétan Collection, Paris, July 1, 1889; no. 175 (6,300 francs); his sale, Paris, Sedelmeyer Gallery, Mes Chevallier and Aulard, July 1, 1889, lot 175, not illustrated; Henri Lehmann Collection; his sale, Paris, Georges Petit Gallery, Messrs. Lair-Dubreuil and Baudoin, Part 3, June 12–13, 1925, lot 290, ill., Shepherds and Animals. Bibliography C. Hofstede de Groot: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, Vol. IV (London, 1912), p. 544, described under no. 307: “Herdsman and Animals.”- A cow drinks from a stream. Sheep rest on the bank. In the middle ground, at the foot of a tree, sits a shepherdess, to whom a herdsman is courting. In the distance are several animals on the edge of a wood. An Italian house rises above the trees.”; perhaps also, p. 542 under nos. 298a and p. 538, no. 280 (similar but overly vague descriptions).The same applies to the mention of this subject in Waagen, *Treasures of Art in Great Britain*, vol. II, 1854, p. 254, which describes the same subject but without any evidence to confirm that it is our painting. A painter, draftsman, and engraver, Adriaen van de Velde was the son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, a seascape painter, and the brother of the famous master seascape painter, Willem II van de Velde. After initially training with his father, he joined the studio of Jan Wijnants, whose subjects were more in line with his own work. In 1657, he returned to Amsterdam. The artist excelled at depicting animals. His biographer, Arnold Houbraken (1660–1719), recounts that he enjoyed drawing outdoors, studying “cows, oxen, sheep, and landscapes.” Although he never traveled to Italy himself, the presence of buildings with Italian architecture in his work shows that he was influenced by the contributions of his compatriots who returned from there with sketches or engravings. His paintings, generally small in size, were perfectly suited to the art trade, which was then booming.