Description: A dune landscape with figures and dogs, with monogram (lower left) black chalk on paper, 15,6x23 cm Exhibited: -Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, ‘Nederlandse tekeningen der zestiende en zeventiende eeuw’, 5 April-19 May 1968, no. 45. -Apeldoorn, Gemeentelijke Van Reekum Galerij, ‘Landschappen en stadsgezichten uit vier eeuwen', 11 November-10 December 1972, no. 21. -Amsterdam, Kunsthandel Gebroeders Douwes, ‘Esaias van de Velde, schilder: 1590/91-1630, Jan van Goyen, tekenaar: 1596-1656: tentoonstelling van een 60-tal landschappen uit de traditie van het Noordnederlands realisme tussen 1615 en 1655’, 12 March-12 April 1981. Literature: -Hans-Ulrich Beck, ‘Jan van Goyen (1596-1656), Ein Oeuvreverzeichnis’, The Hague 1987, Vol I ‘Katalog der Handzeichnungen’, p. 204, no. 612A, Vol III ‘Ergänzungen zum Katalog der Handzeichnungen und Ergänzungen zum Katalog der Gemälde’, ill. p. 104, no. 612A. Jan van Goyen is one of the most gifted landscape painters of the early seventeenth century in The Netherlands. He began his apprenticeship at the age of ten and studied under six different painters, yet only one master influenced him deeply: Essaias van de Velde (1587-1630). This pioneer of naturalism in Dutch landscape painting introduced him to a realistic style, away from the mannerist Flemish tradition. The impact of Van de Velde’s new way of painting is clearly visible in Van Goyen’s early production of the 1620’s, when he depicted landscapes with a strong attention to detail, vivid spots of colour and crowded compositions. In 1632 Van Goyen moved to the The Hague where he would stay the rest of his life. About this time, Van Goyen started to develop his own individual style of naturalistic landscape painting in which he used a tonal atmospherically technique and simplified the composition, traditionally he also lowered the horizon to create a greater sense of spaciousness. This spontaneous sketch shows many of Van Goyen’s qualities as a draughtsman. The subtle, yet rapid use of black chalk to depict the landscape and figures gives a great atmospherical impression of a day in the dunes. Above all Van Goyen excels in simplicity, the pillar of this composition is the balance between the activities on the higher left end and the emptiness and low horizon on the right. Hans-Ulrich Beck stated that this is an original drawing by Jan van Goyen, but the monogram in the lower left corner is not by the hand of the artist and was added later. The quality of this drawing however is unquestionable and the present lot is a beautiful example of Jan van Goyen’s spontaneous drawing technique.