Albertus BRONDGEEST
(Amsterdam 1786 - Amsterdam 1849)
Studies of a Plow, Baskets and Agricultural Implements
Sold
Black chalk, brown ink and brown wash.
Numbered 55(?) at the upper left.
Further inscribed DB in red ink and numbered 45 in green ink on the verso.
303 x 455 mm. (11 7/8 x 17 3/4 in.)
Numbered 55(?) at the upper left.
Further inscribed DB in red ink and numbered 45 in green ink on the verso.
303 x 455 mm. (11 7/8 x 17 3/4 in.)
The collector’s mark ‘D. P. Brondgeest’ that appears on the verso of the present sheet, together with the handwritten initials DBin red ink and what may be an inventory number 43, would suggest that the drawing was inherited by a descendant of the artist. Nothing further is known of D. P. Brondgeest, however. Other drawings with this stamp are in the Frits Lugt collection at the Fondation Custodia in Paris, as well as in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, MA.
Born into a wealthy family in Amsterdam (his mother was the great-granddaughter of the painter Ferdinand Bol), Albertus Brondgeest’s interest in art was sparked by a visit, as a young boy, to the auction of the collection of Cornelis Ploos van Amstel in 1800. Apprenticed to the painter Pieter Gerardus van Os, Brondgeest made an intensive study of the work of 17th century Dutch artists – primarily drawings - that could be seen in the Amsterdam collections of his day. In 1817 he began working as an art dealer, broker and auctioneer, while continuing to paint and draw in his spare time. He was a member of the Amsterdam drawing society known as Zonder Wet of Spreuk (‘Without Law or Motto’), and each summer until around 1828 he made drawings from nature on sketching trips lasting several weeks, visiting sites in Germany, Belgium, France and England. Around 1840 he bought a country estate on the river Zuiderspaarne near Haarlem, where he continued to work from nature, although by this time his style was somewhat old-fashioned. A leading figure in the Amsterdam art market in the middle of the 19th century, Brondgeest was also a noted art collector.
As Robert-Jan te Rijdt has written, ‘As an artist, Albertus Brondgeest is today an all but forgotten figure. And yet...some of his subtly wrought landscape drawings are of exceptional quality...Impeccable taste, a discerning reticence, and a particularly fine technique formed the basis of his drawing style. Like almost all the draughtsmen of his generation, he never seems to have attempted large, stirring, or exceptionally ambitious drawings, but instead consistently strived for a certain ‘decorum’ in his work.’
Drawings by Brondgeest are today in the Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam, the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, MA, the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, the Frits Lugt Collection at the Fondation Custodia in Paris, the Boijmans- van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, and elsewhere.
Provenance
By descent to D. P. Brondgeest (Lugt 4331), with his stamp in purple ink and associated numbering No43 in pencil on the verso
Iohan Quirijn van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam (his posthumous sale stamp [Lugt 4617] stamped on the verso)
Thence by descent until 2015
Van Regteren Altena sale, Amsterdam, Christie’s, 13 May 2015, lot 64.
Iohan Quirijn van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam (his posthumous sale stamp [Lugt 4617] stamped on the verso)
Thence by descent until 2015
Van Regteren Altena sale, Amsterdam, Christie’s, 13 May 2015, lot 64.
