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Galerie Dreyfus
84
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ALBERTUS VAN DER BURCH (DELFT, 1672 – DELFT, 1745)
Scene of …
See original version (French)
84
-
ALBERTUS VAN DER BURCH (DELFT, 1672 – DELFT, 1745)
Scene of …
See original version (French)
Estimate €24,000 - €30,000
Voluntary lot
Description
ALBERTUS VAN DER BURCH
(DELFT, 1672 – DELFT, 1745)
Scene of bustling Mediterranean harbours with fishermen
Pair of oils on board
29 x 40 cm.
One signed lower centre
Certificate from Eric Turquin Expertise.
These two matching seascapes are mirror images of one another. One side, either the left or
the right, features a cliff at the foot of which fishermen are gathered. Thus, one is
drawn into the composition by its brightly coloured figures, captured naturally in
anecdotal, picturesque scenes. In the background, the sea, with sailing boats entering
or leaving a harbour, is rendered in a more subdued colour palette to suggest
distance. The horizon, set very low, leaves ample space for the sky, which occupies more than three
quarters of the canvas. This provides the painter with an opportunity to depict the light filtering through
the clouds, which vary in density. He seems to be presenting us here with the two extremes of a day:
a dawn with rosy hues against a pale grey sky, and a sunset whose
orange light bathes the figures in backlight.
Albertus Van der Burch (1672–1745) was a Dutch painter of landscapes and
genre scenes. He was a pupil of Jan Verkolje and Adriaen Van der Werff, members of the Guild of Saint
Luke, a body that organised the art market in the Netherlands, guaranteeing artists a
certain degree of financial security and studio space. Seascapes were then very much in
vogue in Dutch society, where maritime trade was flourishing, with a fleet that
sailed the world’s oceans. The sea became the new favourite subject, featuring
ships in all weathers. The sky always occupies the majority of the
composition. The ships are at the mercy of the elements, battling against the immensity of the ocean, which
makes the Netherlands’ dominance of the seas all the more heroic. But what sets
Albertus Van der Burch apart is precisely his inclusion of picturesque scenes in his seascapes,
from which people are usually absent. In these Scenes from Mediterranean Ports, bustling
with fishermen, he combines genre scenes with traditional seascapes, inviting the viewer
to discover some exotic anecdote – in this case, a Mediterranean one – to set the scene and tell
a story.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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