Jan Gottlieb Glauber (aka Johannes Gottlieb Glauber; Myrtill)
(1656–1703)
“A Tree Struck
by Lightning” (BM title) or “Landscape with a Tree Broken by a Strong Wind”
(TIB title), c.1685, after Gaspard Dughet (1615–75). (Note: Dughet is often called
Gaspard Poussin as he is Nicholas Poussin’s brother-in-law and was very close
to Nicholas.)
Etching on laid
paper, trimmed along or slightly within the platemark.
Size: (sheet)
29 x 39.3 cm: (image borderline) 28.3 x 38.6 cm
Inscribed in
the plate at the lower-right corner (hardly discernible): "Gaspar Poussin
Pinxit Romae / J. G. G. f."
State iii (of
iii) A copy of the second state before the added cross-hatching in the sky is
available at: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/three-shepherds-in-a-storm-johannes-gottlieb-glauber-johannes-gottlieb-glauber.html
TIB 7 (5). 2
(399) (Walter L Strauss & Otto Naumann [Eds.] 1978, “The Illustrated
Bartsch”, vol. 7, p. 222); Bartsch V.399.2; Hollstein 2.III; Weigel 1843 315.2
(state not described); Weigel 1838 7275
The British
Museum offers the following description of this print:
“Landscape with
two shepherds and a shepherdess with a dog and a herd of cattle in the lower
right corner, their clothes blowing in the wind, a tree struck by lightning to
the left, wind-swept trees to the left, a town and mountains in the background;
soiled plate-edges; added cross-etchings in the sky and in the foreground. Etching”
(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1668551&partId=1&searchText=glauber+shepherds+in+a+storm&page=1)
Condition: rich
and crisp impression trimmed along the platemark with the centre fold (as
published?). The sheet is in good condition with light age toning and a small
tear (about 1 cm) on the lower edge. There are traces of mounting (verso).
I am selling
this beautiful and rare etching for the total cost of AU$244 (currently US$182.67/EUR167.85/GBP141.13
at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere
in the world.
If you are
interested in purchasing this highly sought after print, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.
This print has been sold
My usual way of
looking at prints by Glauber is to admire the way that he gives his images the
sparkle of light. This scene may have been created to show effects of a storm
with regard to the fallen tree in the foreground which the British Museum
describes as having been struck by lightning or the Bartsch’s catalogue
raisonné advises is “broken by a strong wind”, but, for me, the real attraction
in this landscape is the glowing light that bathes the scene. Note, for instance,
that Gauber has employed cross-hatching where the lines almost intersect at
ninety degrees and it is this extreme contrast of angles that gives the scene its
luminosity.
Glauber’s approach is unusual for the time in which the print was
executed as the angle of cross-hatching was more commonly applied at close
angles—so close, in fact, that moiré effects often occurred. Indeed, the effect
of the line work is similar to the broken strokes of the Impressionists. For
example, if I may draw attention to the treatment of light and shade rendering
the bent tree on the right with a patch of light illuminating the bend in its
truck, I find great interest in the way that Glauber codifies his strokes so
that light is represented with vertical strokes while shadow is represented with
horizontal strokes. I find details like this fascinating and wish that a
scholarly article would be written about Glauber that addresses his currently
hidden importance as an artist of light.
