River landscape with Figures in a Boat
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Research by Susan Auty
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Jacob de Heusch was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in 1656 and became known for his Italian landscape paintings. Primary influences on his work were Salvator Rosa and Jan Both, along with his uncle, Willem de Heusch, who was also his teacher. Indeed, attribution of his paintings is made difficult by the fact that he signed his work in the manner of his uncle, using the same initial letter; this painting was formerly attributed to Circle of Salvator Rosa and also to Willem de Heusch and newly attributed to Jacob to Heusch.
In 1675 he is thought to have travelled to Rome, where he became associated with the vedute (Italianate landscape) style of painting. He returned to Utrecht and continued to paint scenes that were often of harbours. The influence of Claude is also thought to be important, and occasionally his work has been attributed to the 'school of Claude'. The influence of Rosa can also be found in his compositions. In addition to painting in oils, Jacob de Heusch was a printmaker, perhaps explaining the relatively small body of paintings known today. He died in 1701, apparently suffering the effects of a fall from a carriage. What little information there is about his life derives mostly from a 1718 report by one of his pupils, Houbraken, who mentions Rosa as de Heusch's main inspiration. De Heusch's experience as an etcher shows in his detailed rendering of the trees in our painting, River Landscape with Figures in a Boat. The composition, especially with its finely detailed figures in the foreground for scale and focus, is probably derived from his admiration for the school of Claude. Here an interesting feature is the way the tree echoes the forward slant of the fisherman, drawing the eye away from the boat coming into harbour. The rather mystical and generalised background with its sharp angles is emphasised by the use of light and shadow. |
REFERENCES
Simiolus, E B, Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Vol 7, No 2 (1974), pp101-103 Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_de_Heusch Christopher Wright's commentary on de Heusch's Classical Landscape with River and Figures in the National Inventory of Continental European Paintings: http://www.vads.ac.uk/flarge.php?uid=83460 |