Studies of a Man and a Woman Standing on the Bank of a Frozen River, with a Town in the Distance

c. 1610 - c. 1615

Object data

graphite, point of brush and grey ink, with some red chalk and grey, brown and yellow wash

height 189 mm × width 272 mm

Inscriptions

inscribed: lower centre, by Gerard ter Borch I, in brown ink, de Stomme Fecit
inscribed on verso: centre, in pencil, 187 / 270
stamped on verso: lower centre, with the mark of the museum (L. 2166)

Technical notes

watermark: basilisk with a shield containing a crozier, above letters PD (for Peter Dürring) and three balls; similar to Laurentius, I, nos. 31-33 (Middelburg and The Hague, 1614-33)

Condition

Brown stains; upper corners damaged and repaired, one horizontal and three vertical creases

Provenance

…; collection Gerard ter Borch I (1582/83-1661), Zwolle;¹ by descent to Lambertus Theodorus Zebinden (1809-86), Zwolle; sale, Gerard ter Borch the Elder (1582/83-1661, Zwolle) et al., Amsterdam (F. Muller), 15 June 1886 sqq., no. 309, with 616 other drawings and 153 prints, to the Vereniging Rembrandt;² from whom, en bloc, fl. 3522.50, to the museum (L. 2166), 1887

Object number: RP-T-1887-A-1147

Credit line: Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt

The artist

Hendrick Avercamp (Amsterdam 1585 – Kampen 1634)

The eldest son of the apothecary Barent Hendricksz Avercamp (1557-1602) and Beatrix Peters Vekemans (c. 1563-1633), he was baptized in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam on 27 January 1585.³ In 1586 his father became the town apothecary of Kampen, and the family moved there. Hendrick has long been assumed to have been deaf and mute from birth, since he was commonly known as ‘de Stom’ or ‘de Stomme’ (‘the Mute’). Because one of the buyers at the 1607 studio sale of Pieter Isaacsz (1568-1625) in Amsterdam is mentioned as ‘de stom tot Pieter Isacqs’ (‘the mute at Pieter Isaacz’s’),⁴ it is thought that Avercamp was sent to Amsterdam to live and study with the history and portrait painter Pieter Isaacsz, who returned to his native Denmark in that year. By January 1613, but probably earlier, Avercamp must have returned to Kampen, where he remained for the rest of his life. Shortly before his mother died, she expressed in her will her concern about her unmarried eldest son, Hendrick, who she called ‘stom en miserable’ (‘mute and wretched’).⁵ Hendrick was buried on 15 May 1634 in the Bovenkerk (or St Nicolaaskerk) in Kampen.⁶

Avercamp painted and drew mainly winter scenes, which in the seventeenth century were called ‘wintertjes’. His early paintings, executed in 1608 and 1609, show the influence of Flemish landscape painters, such as Hans Bol (1534-1593), Gillis van Coninxloo (1544-1607) and David Vinckboons I (1576-1631/33), and a strong interest in narrative details in the tradition of Pieter Bruegel I (c. 1528-1569). The Flemish influence became less noticeable in his later works, with the horizon lines being lower and the perspective more natural. Although best known for his winter landscape paintings, he also drew and painted some summer and river landscapes.

Hendrick Avercamp was a prolific draughtsman, who worked mostly in pen, chalk and watercolour, creating figure studies that were recycled repeatedly in his paintings, as well as fully worked-out drawings as detailed as his paintings. The latter works were probably intended for sale. Paintings by artists such as Arent Arentsz (1585/86-1631), Adam van Breen (c. 1585-after 1642), Antonie Verstralen (c. 1594-1641) and Hendrick’s nephew Barent Avercamp (1612/13-1679) strongly resemble his work, but it is unclear whether those artists were taught by him or simply imitated his work.

Jan-Piet Filedt Kok, 2007

REFERENCES
E. Bénézit, ‘Hendrick Avercamp’, in U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, 37 vols., Leipzig 1907-50, II (1908), pp. 276-77; C.J. Welcker, Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), bijgenaamd ‘De Stomme van Campen’ en Barent Avercamp (1612-1679). ‘Schilders tot Campen’, Zwolle 1933, pp. 33-71; C.J. Welcker and D.J. Hensbroek-van der Poel, Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), bijgenaamd ‘De Stomme van Campen’ en Barent Avercamp (1612-1679). ‘Schilders tot Campen’, Doornspijk 1979, pp. 33-71; A. Blankert, Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), Barent Avercamp (1612-1679): Frozen Silence: Paintings from Museums and Private Collections, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Waterman Gallery)/Zwolle (Provinciehuis Overijssel) 1982-83, pp. 15-36; D.J. Hensbroek-van der Poel, ‘Hendrick Avercamp’, in Saur Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: Die bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker, 94 vols., Munich 1992-, V (1992), pp. 728-29; D.J. Hensbroek-van der Poel, ‘Avercamp Family’, in J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, 34 vols., London/New York 1996, II, pp. 854-55; J. Bikker, ‘Hendrick Avercamp: “The Mute of Kampen”, in P. Roelofs et al., Hendrick Avercamp: Master of the Ice Scene, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum)/Washington (DC) (National Gallery of Art) 2009-10, pp. 11-21

Entry

The inscription ‘de Stomme Fecit’ (‘made by the Mute’) was written by Gerard ter Borch I (1582/83-1661) and would almost appear to be a certificate of authenticity, for Ter Borch could well have bought or acquired the drawing directly from the artist. Caution, though, is advisable. Compared to the Study of a Standing Duck Hunter, Leaning on his Gun (inv. no. RP-T-1886-A-684), the other graphite drawing in the collection, the draughtsmanship is hesitant, and the contours thinner and more brittle. The combination of graphite with red chalk and washes of different colours is not found in any other drawing by Avercamp, although that is perhaps not a very sound criterion, given the large number that must have been lost. The type of face with long pointed noses is certainly not characteristic of the artist.

One cannot rule out the possibility that the drawing is autograph after all and that it is from the artist’s very early period, about which so little is known. For the time being, it is perhaps best to retain the old attribution, but with considerable reservations.

Judging by the creases in the paper, the sheet was folded and enclosed with a letter at some stage.

Marijn Schapelhouman, 1998

Literature

A. Bredius, ‘Tine Ter Borch-Sammlung', Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 18 (1883), p. 410; C.J. Welcker, Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), bijgenaamd ‘De Stomme van Campen’ en Barent Avercamp (1612-1679). ‘Schilders tot Campen’, Zwolle 1933, no. T 14; C.J. Welcker and D.J. Hensbroek-van der Poel, Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), bijgenaamd ‘De Stomme van Campen’ en Barent Avercamp (1612-1679). ‘Schilders tot Campen’, Doornspijk 1979, no. T 14; A. McNeil Kettering, Drawings from the Ter Borch Studio Estate, 2 vols., coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksprentenkabinet) 1988, II, p. 772, no. 2; M. Schapelhouman and P. Schatborn, Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: Artists Born between 1580 and 1600, 2 vols., coll. cat. Amsterdam 1998, no. 18; P. Roelofs et al., Hendrick Avercamp: Master of the Ice Scene, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum)/Washington (DC) (National Gallery of Art), 2009-10, p. 95 (fig. 120)

Citation

M. Schapelhouman, 1998, 'attributed to Hendrick Avercamp, Studies of a Man and a Woman Standing on the Bank of a Frozen River, with a Town in the Distance, c. 1610 - c. 1615', in J. Turner (ed.), Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.468515

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