Johannes Christiaan SCHOTEL

(Dordrecht 1787 - Dordrecht 1838)

A Seated Woman with a Basket

Pen and grey ink and grey wash, over an underdrawing in pencil.
Faintly inscribed or signed J.CS in pencil at the lower left.
Inscribed (signed?) J. C. Schotel on the verso.
335 x 215 mm. (13 1/8 x 8 1/2 in.)
Although Johannes Schotel is much better known for his marine paintings and drawings, a large number of figure studies by the artist are known, amounting to more than four hundred sheets. Many of these may have been drawn during one of the life drawing classes Schotel regularly attended at Pictura, the artist’s society in The Hague, and as such are generally dated between 1805, when Schotel joined the society, and around 1810. Such figure drawings by Schotel often reflect the influence of the artist’s older contemporaries in Dordrecht, the brothers Abraham and Jacob van Strij. According to the artist’s son, writing in an account of his father’s work published in 1840, Schotel often found it difficult to draw hands and feet, which may explain the fact that those parts of the figure in this drawing are left unfinished.



The present sheet can be compared, in both stylistic and thematic terms, with a group of six oval figure studies of men and women by Schotel, mounted together on one mount, formerly in the collections of Hans van Leeuwen and Charles Ryskamp. A group of similar figure drawings by Schotel are in the Teyler Museum in Haarlem, and other examples are in the Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam, the Dordrechts Museum in Dordrecht, the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, and elsewhere.

 




Following a brief career as a soldier, Johannes Schotel was trained in Dordrecht by the marine painter Martinus Schouman, and rose to become one of the leading maritime artists of his day in Holland. He was an experienced sailor in his own right, and was particularly admired for his depiction of the sea in all its moods and his ability to capture effects of light. Alongside Schouman, Schotel may be credited with reviving the art of marine painting in Holland in the 19th century, following a decline in the previous century. He was a member of the artist’s society Pictura in Dordrecht, and exhibited in Haarlem, The Hague and Amsterdam. He also produced a number of lithographs, and near the end of his life travelled to France and Belgium. His son, Petrus Johannes Schotel (1808-1865), was also active as a painter of seascapes.



The 20th century art historian Pieter Scheen notes that J. C. Schotel produced 214 paintings and around 275 drawings and watercolours. Paintings by the elder Schotel are in the museums of Amsterdam, Dordrecht, Haarlem, Otterlo and Rotterdam, as well as in Hannover, Munich, Nancy and Stuttgart. A large number of drawings by the artist, numbering around a hundred sheets, is today in the Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam, while other groups of drawings are in the Teylers Museum in Haarlem and the Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.

Provenance

Iohan Quirijn van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam (his posthumous sale stamp [Lugt 4617] stamped on the verso) By descent to his wife, Augusta Louisa Wilhelmina van Regteren Altena, née van Royen, Amsterdam, until 2006 Thence by family descent until 2014.

Johannes Christiaan SCHOTEL

A Seated Woman with a Basket