Adriaen van Ostade
The Family

Public Domain

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Images(2)

Artist Adriaen van OstadeDutch, 1610–1685

CultureDutch

Titles

The Family

Date1647

MediumEtching on laid paper

DimensionsPlate: 7 1/16 × 6 5/16 in. (18 × 16 cm)
Sheet: 7 5/16 × 6 7/16 in. (18.5 × 16.3 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Art + Paper, Dr. and Mrs. Craig S. Calvert, Linda and David Dillahunty at Art + Paper 2022 and the Alvin S. Romansky Prints and Drawings Accessions Endowment Fund

Object number2022.91

Not on view

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Department

Prints and Drawings

Object Type

PRINTS

ProvenanceRichard Fisher (Hill Top, Midhurst, UK,1809-1890) (Lugt 2204) [1]; [London, Sotheby’s, Old Master Prints and Wilkinson & Hodge sale, 23 May, 1892, lot 606]; sold to Richard Gutekunst, 1892; Collection of Richard Gutekunst (Stuttgart/London/Bern, 1870-1961), 1892- at least before 1914 (Lugt 2213a) [2]; possibly [London, Garland-Smith, & Co, his sale, 2-3 December, 1920], unknown lot; Dr. Karl Herweg (Recklinghausen, Germany, 1914-2002) (Lugt 3974) [3]; [Carolyn Bullard Fine Prints and Drawings, LLC, and Susan Schulman Fine Art, Inc., as of 2019-2021]; purchased by MFAH, 2021.

[1] Richard Fisher (1809-1890) was from a wealthy Sussex family and he devoted his fortune to the purchase of works of art. He began collectin in 1835 and he catalogued the Italian engravings in the British Museum. In 1879 he published a catalogue of his collection of prints, a volume with illustrations. His collection contained the breadth of Old Master prints from Italian, German, Spanish, British, French and Netherlandish schools. His collector’s mark is of a kingfisher, an allustion to his name. See also Lugt 931.
(Lugt 2204)

[2] Richard Gutekunst (born 1870), his stamp Lugt 2213a
Richard Gutekunst was the son of H.G. Gutekunst of Stuttgart, known for an important series of public sales. Raised in Stuttgart, he was in London in 1890 and joined his brother’s business, Deprez & Gutekunst (who later took over P.&D. Colnaghi & Co.). He remained there until 1893. He moved back to Stuttgart in 1983 and worked in the art trade in Germany under his father. He opened his own print shop in may 1895 until 1914 when war was declared. Between 1900 and 1910 he built a fine collection of old master and modern prints and it went up for public sale in 1920. The stock was acquired amicably in 1918 by Colnaghi. He resumed his independent commercial activity at the end of 1919 in Bern in association with Dr. A. Klipstein (L.2803), called the Gutekunst-Klipstein house. See London, Garland-Smith, & Co, his sale, 2-3 December, 1920. The prices were unequal based on the auctioneers whom did not understand old master prints.
(Lugt 2213a)

[3] Dr. Karl Herweg (1914-2002), Recklinghausen, Lugt 3974. Dr. Herweg specialized in occumpational medicine and was interested in art history from a young age. He began collecting old master prints in the early 1950s and focused on Renaissance and Baroque prints from the German and Netherlandish schools. He was particularly interested in genre etchings from the Netherlandish school, such as Adrian van Ostade and Dusart and acquired all of the prints by van Ostade. He collected less after 1965. A large portion of his print collection was sold on December 4, 2003 and July 1, 2004 in London. See his sales: London, Sotheby’s, Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints. 4 December, 2003, 272 lots including lots 20, 21, 24, 28, 29, 42-80, 83, 84, 104, 105, 109-111, 113, 118, 121, 125, 126, and introduction on p. 28; London, Sotheby's, Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints, 1 July, 2004, lots 501, including 1-15, 17, 41-43, 46, 53-55, 59-69, 89, 93; London, Sotheby's, Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints, 2 December 2004, 424 lots,including three prints by Adriaen van Ostade, Cats. 17, 18 and 19, from the collection of Dr. Karl Herweg.
(Lugt 3974)

Exhibition HistoryNone known for this impression.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Verso: Inscribed in graphite, bottom left corner: R. Fisher
Verso: Stamped in ink, bottom left corner : RF, two illegible circular marks, and Dr. Herweg
Verso: Inscribed in graphite, running from lower center to bottom right corner: fine 2nd state before the [?] lines were strengthened

Watermark: Phoenix in a crown of laurel, Godefroy watermark no. 34

Catalogue raisonnéGodefroy 46 II/VII, RRR (extremely rare)

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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