"Anthony Jansz Van der Croos (1606, 1662)- The fishermen on the edge of a village- dated 1654."
Oil on panel signed and dated at the bottom on the right.
Dimensions: 27.5 x 45.5 cm, with frame: 42 x 60 cm.
Provenance: Sale Master Savot, Orleans 23/11/2000
A peaceful scene of everyday life, a typical subject of the golden age of Dutch painting, a warm golden palette, the finesse of the drawing, a layout composed of several planes, foliage in Chinese shade from the foreground to the bridge in the background gives this work an undeniable charm.
Dutch painter of the golden age. This period in the history of the Netherlands between 1584 and 1702, which sees the Republic of the United Provinces (current Netherlands), rise to the rank of the first commercial power in the world, while the rest of Europe is struggling in the throes of a recession is favorable to artists. The freedom of expression "golden age" covers above all a still unprecedented flowering of culture and art, often confined to the many masterpieces of Dutch painting of the seventeenth century.We are talking about the "golden age of Dutch painting"
One of the striking features of this period, compared to the previous period, is the low number of religious paintings Indeed, Dutch Calvinism prohibits religious paintings in churches and, although biblical subjects are tolerated within private buildings, very few are realized. The other traditional genres of history painting and portraiture are present, but the Dutch golden age is especially remarkable for its very wide variety in other genres, such as scenes of peasant life, urban views, landscapes with animals, scenes of sea battles, and still lifes. The development of most of these genres of paintings was decisively influenced by the Dutch artists of the XVII century.
Anthonie Jansz. van der Croos was born around 1606 in Alkmaar in the Netherlands. In 1634, he left Alkmaar and settled in The Hague. He became a member and secretary of the Confraternity Pictura in The Hague in 1656. He is known for making landscapes of rivers, forests, with villages, castles, palaces or towers in the background.
The technique of the Dutch artists is generally excellent, and most of them follow the old medieval method of learning from a master. For A. J. Van der Croos, it was the painter Jan Van Goyen who was his teacher and influenced his work.
Museums: The Hague,Museum Bredius, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Paris, the Louvre, Art Gallery of Great Victoria, British Columbia, United Kingdom,The Bowes Museum, Durham, Augustine Museum, Toulouse, Museum of Fine Arts of Carcassonne