1.3 Wanderings in the Cleves Area
Before we devote ourselves to these, we still have to report on a group of travel-loving artists that wandered throughout Germany, without ever finding a permanent job or a generous patron, which, by the way, was not their intention. Most of them were landscape painters, who gathered motifs for their paintings beyond the borders of their country.1 The wanderings in the surroundings of Cleves played a large part in this.2 Cleves itself was a Netherlandish town in the cultural sense, and when Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen (1604-1679) became a stadholder there in 1647, the ties with the Netherlands became even stronger. However, we will talk about the artists in his service later, because they do not belong to the travelling draughtsmen. Schwanenburg Castle of Cleves is a familiar place to us. There are drawings with views of the castle and its environs from Jacob Esselens (1627/28-1687) [1], Herman Saftleven (c. 1609-1685) [2],3 Jan van Goyen (1596-1656) [3-4],4 Jan Lievens (1607-1674) [5], Jan Ruyscher (c. 1625-1674/75) [6],5 Abraham de Verwer (c. 1585-1650) [7]; paintings from Isaac de Moucheron (1667-1744) [8]6 and François Knibbergen (1596/97-after 1664) [9];7 sketches and paintings from Joris van der Haagen (c. 1615-1669) [10-13], who wandered from the environs of Cleves to Malmedy and also went further up the Rhine.8
1
Jacob Esselens
View of Schwanenburg castle at Cleves, probably 1663
Private collection
2
possibly Dirk Verrijk possibly after Anonymous
Kleve, Schwanenburg castle and the lower city as seen from the Lustgarten
Berlin (city, Germany), Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, inv./cat.nr. Z 13844
3
Jan van Goyen
View of Cleves, dated 1653
Frankfurt am Main, Graphische Sammlung im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, inv./cat.nr. 3593
4
Jan van Goyen
View of Schwanenburg castle at Kleve seen from the Neuen Wall, 1650-1651
New York City, private collection Henriette Granville
5
Jan Lievens
View from the citadel and old town of Cleves seen from the Opschlag, c. 1655-1665
Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, inv./cat.nr. RP-T-1885-A-482(R)
6
Jan Ruyscher
Distant view of Cleves, after 1652
Göttingen (city, Lower Saxony), Kunstsammlung der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, inv./cat.nr. H 151
7
Abraham de Verwer
View of the chancellery and gallery at Kleve castle, seen from the Mühlendamm, c. 1635
Berlin (city, Germany), Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, inv./cat.nr. 2266
8
Isaac de Moucheron
View of Kleve with the Schwanenburg castle seen from the Lustgarten (pleasure garden)
Schwerin, Staatliches Museum Schwerin, inv./cat.nr. G 365
9
François van Knibbergen
Panoramic river landscape, c. 1655-1665
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-2361
10
Joris van der Haagen
View of Cleves, dated 166(1)
Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, inv./cat.nr. RP-T-1889-A-1950
11
Joris van der Haagen
Landscape with the Schwanenburg castle of Kleve
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. C 138
12
Joris van der Haagen
View of Cleves seen from the Mühlenberg, early 1660s
Cognac (France), Musée d'Art et d'Histoire Cognac, inv./cat.nr. 52.77
13
Joris van der Haagen
View of Cleves from the Mühlenberg, early 1660s
Enschede, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, inv./cat.nr. 72
Views of Hoch-Elten are known from Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) [14],9 Philips Koninck (1619-1688) [15] and Anthonie van Borssom (1630-1677) [16], one such of the Schenkenschanz is known by Simon de Vlieger,10 and we have this enchanting picture by Esaias van de Velde (1587-1630) with a view of Wesel of 1618 (Berlin, no. 1952) [17].11 Other Dutchmen travelled to Cleves as well, for example the Mennonite preacher Lambert Jacobsz (c. 1598-1636) from Leeuwarden, to visit the German parish. From this trip he brought Govert Flinck with him to Friesland.
14
Aelbert Cuyp
View of High and Low Elten, viewed from the Sternberg, 1651/1652
Paris, Fondation Custodia - Collection Frits Lugt, inv./cat.nr. I 5304
15
Philips Koninck
Riverlandscape with a village on the top of a hill, Hochelten?, first half 1650s
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, inv./cat.nr. R 132
16
Anthonie van Borssom
Riverlandscape near Cleves with fortress Schenkenschans, High and Low Elten, c. 1660
Düsseldorf, Museum Kunstpalast, inv./cat.nr. M 121
17
Esaias van de Velde
View of Zierikzee, dated 1618
Berlin (city, Germany), Gemäldegalerie (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), inv./cat.nr. 1952
The invasion of the French also was not without consequence. Jan van Bunnik (1654-1727), who came to Rees in 1672 in the company of Andries de With (1649/50-1680) and Justus van den Nijpoort (c. 1625-1692), met Gerard Hoet I (1648-1733), who was summoned to paint for the French colonel and art lover Salis.12 Maybe they had no objection to doing some work temporarily for this gentleman, to supplement the travel fund. Others were looking for motifs further east: Nicolaes Berchem (1621/22-1683) and Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682) painted Bentheim Castle in the 1650s [18-19],13 Anthonie Waterloo (1609-1690) came as far as Hamburg and Danzig [20-21].14 Herman Naiwincx (1623-after 1651) died in Hamburg.
19
Jacob van Ruisdael
Landscape with a view of Bentheim castle, first half 1650s
The Hague, Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis, inv./cat.nr. 1151
18
Nicolaes Berchem
Landscape with Bentheim castle, dated 1650
Frankfurt am Main, Graphische Sammlung im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, inv./cat.nr. 3842
20
Anthonie Waterloo
The Winsertor on the Messberg, Hamburg, c. 1660
Netherlands, private collection Heirs Johan Quirijn van Regteren Altena
21
Anthonie Waterloo
Monastery in Oliva near Gdańsk, c. 1660
Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, inv./cat.nr. 22703
Notes
1 [Gerson 1942/1983] On this section, compare: Dattenberg 1938; Muthmann 1938. The drawings and paintings listed there, are not repeated here.
2 [Van Leeuwen 2017] Gorissen 1964.
3 [Van Leeuwen 2017] The drawing in Berlin Gerson probably had in mind, is reattributed by Charles Dumas in 2012 as a possible copy by Dirk Verrijk after Saftleven (RKDimages 16995). Other drawings by Saftleven of the surroundings of Cleves are f.e. RKDimages 230334 and 232516.
4 [Gerson 1942/1983] The sketchbook of Jan van Goyen from the 1650s was bought at the Mensing auction in Amsterdam, 27-29 April 1937, no. 218 in the collection of Adolf Mayer, New York. A view of Cleves is in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt [i]. [Van Leeuwen 2017] For the sketchbook: RKDimages 197437. The sheets were sold separately by Van Diemen-Lilienfeld Galleries, New York. Beck 1972-1991, vol. 1 (1972), p. 285-286.
5 [Gerson 1942/1983] On Jan Ruyscher: § 2.11 and 2.15.
6 [Van Leeuwen 2017) It remains unclear if Isaac de Moucheron visited the area on his way to or from Italy, or that he based his composition on works by his father. Dattenberg 1967, p. 262, no. 287, ill. ; Wedde 1996, p. 436, no. P21; Wandschneider 2008 , p. 80, ill. 208, no. 62.
7 [Van Leeuwen 2017] Dattenberg 1967, p. 246, no. 276; traditionally considered a landscape in the vicinity of Cleves, however, specific details for identifying the location are lacking (Bikker/Bruijnen/Wuestman 2007, p. 238, no. 163).
8 [Van Leeuwen 2017] De Werd 1989, p. 21-22.
9 [Gerson 1942/1983] Hofstede de Groot 1919, p. 8.
10 [Gerson 1942/1983] Bredius 1915-1921, vol. 2, p. 423; Bredius 1892, p. 35. [Van Leeuwen 2017] Drawing in sale 19 October 1818, no. 42 Kunstboek C (https://rkd.nl/explore/excerpts/596416).
11 [Van Leeuwen 2017] However, the view is now identified as Zierikzee, not Wesel (Keyes 1984, p. 149, no. 109, ill. pl. 115).
12 [Van Leeuwen 2017] Houbraken 1718-1721, vol. 3, p. 239.
13 [Van Leeuwen 2017] For other examples of Bentheim by Ruisdael: Buvelot 2009, several ones in RKDimages.
14 [Van Leeuwen 2017) See also Gerson/Van Leeuwen/Tylicki 2013-2014, § 3.4.