Images(2)

Estuary at Twilight

Aert van der Neer (Dutch, 1603 or 1604–1677)

about 1655–1660

Medium/TechniqueOil on panel

Dimensions46.7 x 69.9 cm (18 3/8 x 27 1/2 in.)
Framed: 64.8 x 88.9 cm (25 1/2 x 35 in.)

Credit LineGift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art

Accession number2019.2084

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsPaintings

Collections

Europe

Description

Amsterdam painter Aert van der Neer was a specialist in moonlight landscapes, winter scenes and snowstorms. He also excelled at depictions of dawn and dusk. One of the most striking features of his landscapes is his dramatic use of black. Here the dark clouds in the foreground and the grey and brown tonalities signal early evening. The dimming light casts delicate reflections on the water and accentuates the silhouettes of the sailing and fishing boats dotting the river. Van der Neer creates the effect of a fleeting moment with the diminishing light and ever-changing clouds.

ProvenanceGeorge Salting (b. 1835 - d. 1909), St. James's, London [see note 1]; by descent to his niece, Katherine Salting, Lady Binning (b. 1871 - d. 1952); by descent to her son, George Baillie-Hamilton (b. 1894 - d. 1986), 12th Earl of Haddington, Mellerstain House, Gordon, Berwickshire, Scotland; by descent to the Trustees of the Mellerstain Trust [see note 2]; July 8, 1987, Mellerstain Trust sale, Sotheby's, London, lot 13, sold to Richard Green (dealer), London and Johnny van Haeften Ltd., London [see note 3]. 1988, Charles C. Cunningham, Boston [see note 4]. 2004, Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, Marblehead, MA; 2019, gift of Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)

NOTES:
[1] According to Agnew and Sons, Exhibition of the Collection of Pictures and Drawings of the Late Mr. George Salting (London, 1910), no. 200.

[2] On the chain of descent, see the 1987 Sotheby’s catalogue, p. 6.

[3] According to Wolfgang Schultz, Aert van der Neer (Doorspijk, 2002), cat. no. 540. The back of the painting has a Richard Green label.

[4] According to Frederick Duparc, Golden: Dutch and Flemish Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection (New Haven, 2011), cat. no. 40.