Herman Saftleven Rotterdam 1609 – Utrecht

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Herman Saftleven
Rotterdam 1609 – Utrecht 1685
Younger brother of Cornelis Saftleven, active in Utrecht. Painter of genre scenes
and landscapes.
#1
Landscape with a Water Mill
Black chalk, brown and grey wash, 211x277 mm.
NM THC 3254
Horizontal folds in the centre.
Watermark: Foolscap.
Chain lines: 24 mm.
Signed in the lower right corner HSL (monogram), and dated 1650, pen and
brown ink. Inscribed in the lower left corner Sachtleven, pencil. Mark of the
Royal collection (Lugt 1638).
Provenance: Royal Library (Lugt 1638).
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Bibliography: W. Schulz, Herman Saftleven 1609-1685. Leben und Werke. Mit
einem kritischen Katalog der Gemälde und Zeichnungen, Berlin & New York
1982, pp. 52, 73, cat. no. 791, Abb. 131.
Exhibitions: Stockholm, 1953, no. 174.
A brownish wash is used exclusively on the mill to the left. Schultz considers the
period 1648-52, when this drawing was made, an artistic high point in
Saftlerven’s oeuvre. These landscapes are in part inventions, in part made from
nature.
A copy of this drawing is in the collection (NM 500/1884. Ref.). It was acquired
by the museum in a large group of drawings, mainly by Swedish artists of the
late 18th and early 19th centuries. This drawing is inscribed on the verso Heideken
/ 1807. It refers to the painter Pehr Gustaf von Heideken (1781-1864), who
became “conducteur” at the Royal Museum in Stockholm in 1807. It is a rare
example of how the collection was used by artists and amateurs.
NM 500/1884.Ref.
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[Saftleven, H]
#2
Wooded Landscape with a Saw-Mill in a Ravine
Black chalk, grey and brown wash, 302x380 mm.
NM THC 3253
Vertical fold in the centre.
Chain lines: 24 mm.
Signed in the lower right corner with the monogram HSL, and dated 1655, black
chalk, and a part of a number 1…., pen and dark brown ink. Inscribed near the
lower right corner Sachtleven, pen and brown inkl. Mark of the Royal collection
(Lugt 1638).
Provenance: Royal Library (Lugt 1638)
1982, p. 86, cat. no. 1149, Abb. 181.
Exhibitions: Stockholm, 1953, no. 172; Stockholm, 2005, no. 178
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There is a subtle gradation in the use of wash: warm brown dominates the
foreground, while light grey is applied to the background. The landscape, in spite
of its realism, is probably a composition based on the work of Roelandt Savery
and perhaps also impressions from a trip on the Rhine.
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[Saftleven, H]
#3
Outside a Town Gate
Black chalk, grey, reddish and blue wash, 201x264 mm.
NM 1694/1875
Ruled framing lines in brown ink. Vertical folds in the centre. Two repaired holes
in the centre, in the area of the city gate, both integrated with hatching in black
chalk. There is also a brown stain to the right of them.
Chain lines: 26 mm.
J. T. Sergels collectors mark (Lugt 2339b), and numberd N:o 137, on a
preserved piece of the old mount, pen and brown ink.
Provenance: J. T. Sergel (1740-1814).
1982, cat. no. 1148.
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[Saftleven, H]
#4
Castle Surrouded by Water
Black chalk, brown wash, 167x257 mm.
NM THC 3239
Ruled framing lines in brown ink.
Laid down.
Inscriptions and Collectors Marks: Mark of the Royal Collection (Lugt 1638).
Provenance: Royal Library (Lugt 1638)
1982, p. 87, cat. no. 1147, Abb. 179.
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[Saftleven, H., copy after]
#5
Knife Sharpener
Black chalk, brown wash, 197x155 mm.
NM 2142/1863
Ruled framing lines in brown ink.
Laid down.
Numbered on the mount in the lower right corner 1941 (Sparre), changed from
142 (Tessin), pen and brown ink.
Provenance: Crozat; C. G. Tessin (List 1939-42, p. 72; Cat. 1749, livre 15, no.
142,); Kongl. Biblioteket (Cat. 1790, no. 1941, as Cornelis Saftleven); Kongl.
Museum (Lugt 1638).
1982, p. 50, cat. no. 1150, Abb. 163.
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There is some doubt that Tessins entry (no. 142) really regards this drawing. It
reads “Un paysan dans sa cabanne. Al’encre de la Chine”. Neigther the subject
matter nor the technique is exact. The subject matter is elusive. In the
Stockholm exhibition 1953 the drawing was entitled “The stone cutter”, while
Schulz prefers a more generic title and talks about a possible baking oven.
However it seems like the object in front of the man is a grinding stone, with a
pot suspended above it from which water drops down, and running off to a
bucket on the ground. In all likelyhood the man is holding a knife.
Schulz lists another version in Leiden (cat. no. 1064), and he considers one of
them a replica. The Leiden drawing is without doubt the better drawing. The
Stockholm version reproduces that drawing in part stroke by stroke, but some
areas are simplified. The brush work is more schematic but also less distinct, see
for example the shaded area in the foreground. Some points seem to have been
misunderstood, such as the hand holding the knife and the man’s chin.
The Leiden drawing comes from the collection of Jacob de Vos (1735-1831) or
his heirs of the same name, and it is well known that the members of that family
made copies, perhaps even with intention to decieve.1 However they cannot be
responsible for our drawing, since it was already in Tessin’s collection around
1740.
1
Schulz, op.cit., p. 48.
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[Saftleven, H., copy after]
#6
Harbour with Ruins
Pencil, black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, 225x280 mm.
NM 745/1973
Ruled framing lines in black ink. Vertical fold in the centre.
Chain lines: 24 mm.
Inscribed at the lower left Herman Sachtleven 249, pencil. Mark of J. G. De la
Gardie (Lugt 2722a).
Provenance: Duke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen; Count J. G. De la Gardie (Lugt
2722a); Gift to the museum in 1973.
Copy after a drawing in the Louvre. 2 The space left blank at the bottom suggest
that the copy was intended to be engraved. The character of the drawing is
2
Lugt 1931-33, IV, no. 690.
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similar to a series of four etchings after Saftleven by Jan van Almeloveen.3. They
all display clumsy figures and heavy outlines.
3
Ill. Bartsch, pp. 285-28.

Herman Saftleven Rotterdam 1609 – Utrecht

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