Jan Van Goyen

JAN VAN GOYEN (Leiden 1596 - The Hague, 1656),
"Landscape with castle".
Oil on panel.
Reproduced in RKD
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 35 x 20 cm; 44,5 x 29, 5 cm (frame).
Landscape scene constructed in perspective, in which the author introduces us in an organic way by slightly deviating the vanishing point. In this way he creates a meandering view that leaves as protagonists two characters that are shown in an everyday way. The view is defined by the presence of a large castle, reflecting the artist's interest in capturing the common life, customs and orography of a particular site.
A typical characteristic of Van Goyen's river views will be the play of earth tones in the construction of the space in perspective. On the other hand, within his production the horizon will go lower and lower, leaving more and more space for the development of the sky; the horizon goes down from the middle of the painting, placing itself very low in the composition already in the middle of the century, unlike what happens in the contemporary Flemish landscape. Jan van Goyen began his training in his native Leiden, where he had Van Schilperoort, Van Swanenburgh, Jan de Man and Clock as teachers, and then settled in Hoorn, where he continued his studies in the workshop of Willem Gerritsz. In 1615 a trip to France is documented, and the following year we find him already in Haarlem working in the workshop of who will be his main teacher, Esaias van de Velde, one of the main initiators of the Dutch landscape. He later returned to Leiden, where he began his career as an independent master and reached the maturity of his style. In 1632 he settled permanently in The Hague, where he combined his artistic practice with the art and tulip trade, a luxury product in great demand in Holland at the time. His mastery was recognized by his colleagues, and in fact between 1638 and 1640 he was dean of the guild of St. Luke in The Hague. In the following years Van Goyen traveled throughout the Netherlands and Germany, making numerous landscape sketches, and already in his later years, in 1651, he received two important public commissions for the Town Hall of The Hague and the royal palace of Honselaersdijk. However, his commercial adventures led him to bankruptcy, and in 1652 and 1654 there are documented sales of his assets. A prolific painter, Van Goyen is now represented in major art galleries in Europe and America, including the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery in London, the MetropolitanMuseum in New York, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, the Louvre in Paris, the J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles, the Fitzwilliam of Cambridge University, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Royal Mauritshuis Gallery in The Hague and the Kunstmuseum in Basel, among others.