A view of Scheveningen from the dunes with clearing skies– 1646/7

FRANS DE MOMPER

1603 Antwerp 1660

Provenance:
Rev.Montague Taylor; Sale Christie’s London, 25 July 1919, lot 13, as J. van Goyen
Anon.Sale Christie’s London, 29 January 1954, lot 104, as H. Seghers ( 460 gns to Sabin)
Anon.Sale Christie’s Amsterdam, 11 November 1996, lot 19, with ill.( fl. 57.660 )

Literature:
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonne etc., VIII, 1927, no. 1110A, as Jan van Goyen
H.U. Beck, Künstler um Jan van Goyen, 1991, no. 832, with ill.

This atmospheric view of Scheveningen strikes by its impressive sky with rainclouds casting the foreground in a dark mood while above the Northsea the sun breaks through and announces better weather. The view is taken from the East with the village of Scheveningen at the foot of the dunes on the right and the tower of the Oude Kerk beyond on the left. In the foreground is the Westerduinpad, which at the time was the only road giving access to the village.

Frans de Momper, a member of the famous dynasty of painters in Antwerp and cousin of Joos de Momper II, is likely to have visited Scheveningen during his short stay in The Hague in the years1646/8. He came there from his native Antwerp to get married, became member of the local guild of Saint Luke and in April 1647 is known to have participated in the yearly Venduwe, a public auction organized by the Guild, to which members were invited to consign their work. While there is no precise record of de Momper’s consignment at the Venduwe, it may well be that this View of Scheveningen was part of it.

Whereas in 1919 at the sale of Reverend Montague Taylor at Christie’s London, the painting was sold as attributed to Jan van Goyen and in 1954 at another Christie’s sale as H. Seghers, a note in a copy of that catalogue kept at the RKD suggests an attribution to Frans de Momper. As such the painting was published by H.U.Beck, loc.cit.. and has never been contested. Indeed, as observed in 1954, the painting demonstrates de Momper’s knowledge of the art of Hercules Seghers.

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