Rijksmuseum

Object data

pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over traces of graphite; framing line in brown ink

height 140 mm × width 174 mm

Inscriptions

inscribed by the artist: upper right, in brown ink, tot Gemert de : 12 / 31 (date expressed as a fraction, month over day) 1675
inscribed on verso: lower left, in graphite, v. Klots; below that, in graphite or black chalk, HP [...] G […]
stamped on verso, lower left, with the mark of the museum (L. 2228)

Technical notes

watermark: none

Provenance

…; ? sale, Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726-98, Amsterdam), Amsterdam (P. van der Schley et al.), 3 March 1800 sqq., Album FF, one of a pair in either no. 37 (‘Een Wintergezigt op Hemert; met dito, door V. Clotz’) or no. 38 (‘Een dito dito, door denzelven’), fl. 8:5- or fl. 5:5-, to ‘Van Leen’;¹ …; sale, Johannes Marinus Vreeswijk (1839-1919), Amsterdam (F. Muller), 3 May 1882, no. 152,² fl. 17, to Daniël Franken Dzn (1838-98), Amsterdam and Le Vésinet;³ by whom bequeathed to the museum (L. 2228), 1898

Object number: RP-T-1898-A-3978

Credit line: D. Franken Bequest, Le Vésinet

The artist

Barend Klotz (? - ?)

Only one record, related to his position as a midshipman (adelborst) in the Dutch army, exists.⁴ The Klotz family may have come from the province of Limburg, where the surname was recorded in the seventeenth century.⁵ Barend was likely related to fellow draughtsman Valentijn Klotz (c. 1646-1721), who was probably a brother or cousin. Barend was part of the military company of Capt. Harderwijk (?-?), the leader of the naval department of the Dutch army, founded in Maastricht in 1668.⁶ In Maastricht, he likely met fellow draughtsman Josua de Grave (1643-1712). After being stationed in Bergen op Zoom (1671-early 1672), Barend and Valentijn Klotz and Josua de Grave accompanied the army during their campaigns in the southern Netherlands in 1672, 1674, 1675 and 1676.

Barend Klotz signed and dated his works only occasionally (e.g. inv. no. RP-T-00-736). Consequently, scholars seem to have been hesitant about attributing drawings to the artist. Furthermore, his style is very close to that of Valentijn Klotz and Josua de Grave. Based on the few inscriptions found on his sheets, Mosseveld and Van Ham were able to describe Barend Klotz’s handwriting and attribute a number of drawings of sites in Bergen op Zoom to the artist.⁷ Overall, his handwriting is neater than that of Valentijn, but not as consistent as that of Josua de Grave. His ‘w’, as well as his ‘p’ and ‘z’, are quite distinguishable; also noteworthy is his sparse use of capital letters.⁸ Barend used a very distinct old-fashioned ‘e’, adding an additional loop through the ‘o’. Further, he included the words ‘geteekent de’ [accompanied with a date and place] on several of his drawings. Based on this information, various drawings in the Rijksmuseum’s collection could be (tentatively) reattributed to the artist.

Carolyn Mensing, 2020

References
R. van Eijnden and A. van der Willigen, ‘Klotz, Valentijn’, in U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, 37 vols., Leipzig 1907-50, XX (1927), pp. 549-50; R.J.G.M. van Hasselt, ‘Drie tekenaars van topografische prenten in Brabant en elders. Valentijn Klotz, Josua de Grave en Constantijn Huygens Jr.’, Jaarboek Oudheidkundige Kring ‘De Ghulden Roos’ 25 (1965), pp. 145-55; M.H. Breitbarth-van der Stok, ‘Josua de Grave, Valentinus Klotz en Bernardus Klotz’, Bulletin Koninklijke Nederlandse Oudheidkundige Bond 68 (1969), pp. 99-101; J.H. van Mosselveld and W.A. van Ham, Tekeningen van Bergen op Zoom. Topografische afbeeldingen van Bergen op Zoom en omgeving uit de zestiende tot en met de achttiende eeuw, exh. cat. Bergen op Zoom (Markiezenhof) 1973-74, pp. 15-18; G. Gordon, ‘Klotz, Valentijn’, in J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, 34 vols., London/New York 1996, XVIII, pp. 140-41; P. Groenendijk, Beknopt biografisch lexicon van Zuid- en Noord-Nederlandse schilders, graveurs, glasschilders, tapijtwevers et cetera van ca. 1350 tot ca. 1720, Leiden 2008, p. 466

Entry

The present sheet and inv. no. RP-T-1888-A-1642 of the castle of Gemert in the province of Noord-Brabant were made in the last week of December 1675, on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, respectively. Both sheets were initially attributed to Valentijn Klotz (c. 1646-1720), but based on their inscriptions, they are more likely to have been the work of Barend, whose handwriting is neater and whose use of a loop through the letter ‘e’ is quite distinctive.

In the present sheet, the town is depicted from a distance. The roadway leading into Gemert seems to follow the small stream called the ‘Rips’ on the right. Even were the drawing not dated, the restrained use of grey wash and the bare trees would have successfully conveyed the fact that it was made during the winter.

It is likely that Barend and his travel companion Valentijn Klotz made several drawings of Gemert and its environs; Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726-98), the possible former owner of the present sheet, had four of them in his collection.⁹

Carolyn Mensing, 2020

Literature

R.J.G.M. van Hasselt, ‘Drie tekenaars van topografische prenten in Brabant en elders. Valentijn Klotz, Josua de Grave en Constantijn Huygens Jr.’, Jaarboek Oudheidkundige Kring ‘De Ghulden Roos’ 25 (1965), pp. 145-92, no. 108 (as Valentijn Klotz)

Citation

C. Mensing, 2020, 'attributed to Barend Klotz, View of Gemert, Noord-Brabant, Gemert, 1675-12-31', in J. Turner (ed.), Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.54266

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