Allaert van Everdingen’s etching, “Boat on a River Bank”, 1636–75

Allaert van Everdingen (aka Allart van Everdingen; Allaert Pietersz. van Everdingen; Aldert van Everdingen) (1621–1675)

“Boat on a River Bank” ("La nacelle retiree au bord” [TIB title]), 1636–75, from the series, “Four Landscapes” (H.52-55).

Etching on laid paper with narrow margins backed with a support sheet.

Size: (support sheet) 28.5 x 31.2 cm; (sheet) 11 x14.8 cm; (platemark) 10.5 x 14.3 cm;

(image borderline) 9.9 x 13.8 cm.

Inscribed on plate: (lower left on a tablet) “EVERDINGEN”.

State iii (of iii). Note that the British Museum holds impressions of all three states: BM no. S.1868 (state i); S.1869 (state ii); S.1870 (state iii).

TIB 2(2).52(189) (Mark Carter Leach & Peter Morse [eds.] 1978, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Netherlandish Artists”, vol. 2., Abaris, New York, p. 162); Hollstein 52.III (F W H Hollstein 1949, “Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700”, Amsterdam); Bartsch II.189.52 (Adam Bartsch 1803, “Le Peintre graveur”, 21 vols, Vienna).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Two men in conversation next to a boat on a riverbank; in left foreground; another three figures outside a house in background; from a series of four landscapes.”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1632589&partId=1&searchText=boat+&people=125724&page=1)

Condition: crisp, but slightly silvery impression with narrow margins around the platemark and re-margined with a support sheet.

I am selling this superb etching that sparkles with sunlight gleaming on the rocky riverbank for AU$182 (currently US$138.61/EUR117.49/GBP103.45 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this exceptionally beautiful oldmaster print from the mid-1600s, 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

What makes this etching especially interesting is that the British Museum holds the preparatory drawing for the print (see BM no. 1836,0811.140: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=711198&partId=1&searchText=boat+&people=125724&page=1).

When I first saw this preliminary study executed in pen and brown ink, with grey wash, I was somewhat surprised to see that the composition was not in reverse to the etching—mindful that if Everdingen had simply copied the original drawing onto the etching plate the image would be mirrored/reversed by the printing process. Clearly Everdingen went to some trouble to keep the printed image “the same way around” as the original drawing.