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Picturesque view of houses and fishing boats on the river Lek, showing Vianen on the opposite bank

[BURG, Dirk van der (formerly attributed to Nicolaas WICART)].
[View of Vianen across the river Lek with fishermen and their boats and houses in the foreground].
[North bank of the Lek River, near Vianen], [Ca. 1760/70]. Oblong Elephant 4to or possibly cut down oblong whole sheet (1mo) (19.5 x 31 cm). Original watercolour view on laid paper, looking southwest across the river, with Vianen in the background on the opposite bank, and a tree, houses, 11 people (mostly fishermen) and 3 fishing boats in the foreground. Mounted with 2 paper hinges on green laid paper in a passe partout (35 x 50 cm).
€ 4,500
Fine watercolour in subtly shaded green and brown tones, showing a charming view looking across the Lek River (a branch of the Rhine) to Vianen on the far bank. The foreground shows thatched houses and other buildings on the near shore and fishermen with their nets and other gear in three rowboats, hauling in their nets and bringing their catch on land. The rightmost large building in the city across the river appears to be the Lekpoort (the city gate on the Lek River), but the largest tower, a bit to its left, doesnt look like any in other views of Vianen and might have been influenced by the cathedral tower in Utrecht. Also prominent in the present view is a large windmill near the river bank further to the left of the tower.
The watercolour had been attributed to Nicolaas Wicart (Utrecht 1748-1815), painter of landscapes and river views, and painter of porcelain (pencilled note "Wicart f[eci]t." on the back of the drawing). He was mainly active in the province of Utrecht and worked at the porcelain factory at Loosdrecht. On the occasion of an exhibition by the Kunststichting Zeist, in June 1960, however, the watercolour was re-attributed to Dirk van der Burg (Utrecht, 1723-1773), a painter and draughtsman of landscapes and views of the countryside in the province of Utrecht.
A 19th-century manuscript note inside the passe partout may or may not be related to the watercolour now in the passe partout and parts of the note are covered: it refers to an 1891 estate of "Stuych[?] in Dordt", "tecke[ning] Kat. v. Hardinxveld te Dordt" and "In t Haagsche Gemeente Museum". Notes certainly referring to the present drawing record it in possession of the art dealer H. Marcus, Amsterdam in 1954 and in the 1960 exhibition noted above, when it was in possession of the Dutch art collector Hans van Leeuwen (1911-2010), director of the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra, with his stamps on the back of the drawing (rampant lion above HVL, in a circle): Frits Lugt L.2799a (in green) and L.5935 (in violet). A lovely watercolour view of fishing boats with their crews and equipment on the Lek River, with Vianen in the background. Catalogus der tentoonstelling van aquarellen en tekeningen uit de collectie van de heer Hans van Leeuwen, [Zeist], Kunststichting Zeist, 1960; for Van der Burg: Thieme-Becker 5, p. 244; Scheen I, p. 187; for Wicart: Thieme-Becker 35, p. 506; Scheen II, p. 591.
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Art, architecture & photography  >  Drawings, Prints & Watercolours
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