Meindert Hobbema

Art market, Antwerp, 1901;

Where acquired by Consul Eduard Friedrich Weber (1830–1907), Hamburg (according to Hofstede de Groot 1912);

His sale, Berlin, Lepke, 20–22 February 1912, lot 322, for 39,000 marks to Sedelmeyer;

With Galerie Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris, 1913;

James H. Clarke, Philadelphia;

Helen G. Clarke, Philadelphia;

From whose Estate sold ('Property from the Estate of Helen G. Clarke from the Collection of James H. Clarke, Philadelphia'), New York, Sotheby’s, 2 December 1976, lot 52, for $26,000;

Acquired by the present owner in the 1990s.

Munich, Secession exhibition building Köningsplatz, Ausstellung der Meisterwerke der Renaissance, 1901, no. 98.

Ausstellung der Meisterwerke der Renaissance, exh. cat., Munich 1901, p. 14, no. 98;

Illustrated Catalogue of the Twelfth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters ... being a portion of the Sedelmeyer Gallery, Paris 1913, p. 21, no. 11, reproduced;

C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné…, vol. IV, London 1912, p. 364, no. 34 (as ‘A Cottage under Oaks’);

G. Broulhiet, Meindert Hobbema, Paris 1938, p. 415, no. 282, reproduced.

This accomplished work by Meindert Hobbema showcases the artist at the height of his powers during the early 1660s. Strongly informed by the example of his master Jacob van Ruisdael (1629–1682), this composition displays many of the characteristics associated with Hobbema’s finest works: cottages partially obscured by trees, a sandy track leading through the foreground, and a luminous sky that opens beyond the dense woodland. While indebted to his master, this picture reveals Hobbema’s individual manner, lighter and more open in both tone and mood. This painting also boasts distinguished provenance, having once formed part of the celebrated collection of the great German connoisseur Eduard Friedrich Weber (1830–1907) in Hamburg, one of the most important private collectors of Dutch and Northern European paintings assembled in the late nineteenth century.

Hobbema is widely regarded as the last great master of seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting. Born in Amsterdam, he was orphaned at an early age and subsequently trained under Ruisdael after the latter settled in the city in 1658. By around 1660, Hobbema’s style closely followed that of his master, though he gradually developed a more individual artistic language characterised by brighter tonalities and more expansive rural scenes, often centred on woodland views and watermills. The close association between Hobbema and Ruisdael continued throughout the 1660s, and Ruisdael acted as a witness at Hobbema’s marriage in 1668. Shortly afterwards, Hobbema accepted the post of gauger to Amsterdam’s Wine Buyers’ Guild, a position that greatly reduced his artistic production. Though fewer in number, some late works – such as the famous Avenue at Middelharnis of 1689 in the National Gallery in London – show no diminution of his powers.¹

This panel once belonged to the renowned ‘Galerie Weber’, assembled by Eduard Friedrich Weber in Hamburg. Comprising approximately 370 works, the collection included German, Dutch, early Netherlandish, and Italian paintings, alongside an important cabinet of Greek and Roman coins. Among its highlights were paintings by Rembrandt, including Saint James the Greater sold at Sotheby's New York in 2007 and now in a private collection,² The Offering in the Temple, now in the Hamburger Kunsthalle,³ as well as works by Pieter de Hooch, Jan Steen, and Peter Paul Rubens. Open to the public during Weber’s lifetime, the collection achieved considerable renown. Although Weber bequeathed the picture gallery to the city of Hamburg for 2.5 million marks, the offer was declined, and the remaining works, including this painting, were dispersed at auction in 1912.

¹ Inv. no. NG830; oil on canvas, 103.5 x 141 cm.

² ‘Property of the Shippy Foundation in the Aid of Education, Social Justice and Human Service’, New York, Sotheby’s, 25 January 2007, lot 74, for $25,800,000.

³ Inv. no. HK-88; oil on oak panel, 55.5 x 44 cm.