1251 - Cornelis Beelt

Cornelis Beelt Fun on the Ice of a Frozen Canal Oil on canvas (relined). 64.5 x 104.5 cm. Provenance German private collection. Literature Cf. I. van Thiel-Stroman: ‘Cornelis Symonsz. Beelt’, in: N. Köhler and P. Biesboer (ed.): Painting in Haarlem 1500–1850. The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, Ghent–Haarlem 2006, p. 99. The broad expanse of ice, the low horizon and the cloud-laden sky are characteristic features of the Dutch winter landscape of the mid-seventeenth century. Skaters, sledge riders and strollers animate the scene. Comparable compositions recur throughout the winter landscapes of Cornelis Beelt; characteristic motifs such as the farmhouse at the left edge of the composition and the grey horse with sledge are likewise found there. The monogram on the sledge is not entirely legible. The earlier reading 'SR' was associated with Salomon van Ruysdael; however, an interlaced 'C' or 'S' followed by 'R' or 'B' is equally plausible. Since Beelt signed as 'Cornelis Symonsen beeltsnyder' (I. van Thiel-Stroman 2006, p. 99), the monogram may also be connected with his name. The attribution to Cornelis Beelt is supported by an assessment from the RKD. On the basis of the photographs submitted, correspondences with Beelt's securely attributed oeuvre were identified, particularly with regard to the overall composition, the palette, the treatment of the sky, the distribution of figures across the broad ice surface and the figure types. Comparable works are recorded in the RKD database (RKDimages nos. 220390, 192688, 191676 and 191666).