Leonard Bramer
1658 – Brussel – 1719
“A pleasant gathering at a market scene”
|
  
|
Oil on panel
20 x 29 cm
Signed
A unique oil sketch by Jan Steen
In the more recent literature about Jan Steen, the here presented oil sketch has been almost neglected. It has been accepted as a sketch by Wilhelm Martin in 1928, and by Karel Braun in his Alle schilderijen van Jan Steen of 1980. A carefull study of how the sketch is situated between the different versions of The Village Wedding, shows that Steen here prepared his ideas for at least two compositions. Recent insights about the Steen’s working methods is suggesting that the artist used an underdrawing which is quite similar to this oil sketch. In the complicated story of Steen’s use of motives, sometimes in mirror image, the present sketch offers a hint of how the artist prepared and preserved his ideas. As very little is known about Jan Steen as a draughtsman (only two drawings can be related to his paintings), the sketch should be regarded as a unique evidence of the artist at work.
lit.:
Wilhelm Martin, ‘Neues über Jan Steen’, in Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 61(1927/28) pp. 330-334, ill. on p. 330.
Karel Braun, Alle tot nu toe bekende schilderijen van Jan Steen, Rotterdam 1980, nr. 40.