Rijksmuseum

Object data

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

height 152 mm × width 199 mm

Inscriptions

inscribed by the artist: upper left, in brown ink, Getekent den 1 Jannuarij 1683; upper right, in brown and grey ink, Aen de kleijne hekel tot 's Hertogens Bosch. f
inscribed: upper right, in black ink, 83.
inscribed on verso, in graphite: lower centre, in a nineteenth-century hand, v. Klotz; next to that, 191
stamped on verso: lower left, with the mark of the museum (L. 2228)

Technical notes

watermark: foolscap with seven points (fragment)

Provenance

…; collection Henri Duval (?-?), Liège; his sale, Amsterdam (F. Muller), 22 June 1910 sqq., no. 191, fl. 70, to J.H. Odink (Amsterdam);¹ from whom purchased, together with 19 other drawings, with support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, fl. 2020, for all, to the museum (L. 2228), 1913

Object number: RP-T-1913-50

Credit line: Purchased with support of the Vereniging Rembrandt

The artist

Barend Klotz (? - ?)

Only one record, related to his position as a midshipman (adelborst) in the Dutch army, exists.² The Klotz family may have come from the province of Limburg, where the surname was recorded in the seventeenth century.³ 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 1668.⁴ 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.⁵ 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.⁶ 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 ‘Kleine Hekel’ was a water gate where the River Aa entered the city of ’s-Hertogenbosch. The gate, which functioned also as a sluice, was first mentioned in the accounts of the city in 1399. The structure was demolished in 1822 during the construction of the canal called the Zuid-Willemsvaart. Klotz probably drew this view from the bridge known as the Baseldonkse brug.⁷

Based on the inscriptions on the drawing, the drawing is here attributed to Barend Klotz, who used a very distinct ‘o’ / ‘e’, adding an additional loop through the circle. It is unclear whether the darker grey reinforced lines on top of the brown ink lines, particularly in the trees and along the river bank, are original. Likewise, the coloured washes were probably added later.

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. 160 (as Valentijn Klotz)

Citation

C. Mensing, 2020, 'attributed to Barend Klotz, View of the ‘Kleyne Hekel’ in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Den Bosch, 1683-01-01', in J. Turner (ed.), Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.54306

(accessed 23 September 2024 23:31:24).