GERARDUS VAN VEEN
CIRCA IÓ2O-CIRCA 1683
108 Standing Ruff
Pen and brown ink, watercolor, and gouache over black
chalk; H: 23.3 cm (cVioin.); W: 27.1 cm (lO'Vioin.)
86.GG.i 5
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left corner,
signed and dated Gerardus van Veen fee: I Ao i6jj: in
brown ink.
PROVENANCE: Art market, London.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.
THE BIRD SHOWN IN THIS DRAWING IS A RUFF (Pm-
lomachus pugnax), a species of sandpiper. The static,
rather flat profile view sets off the patterns and textures
of its plumage, which have been meticulously rendered
with the point of the brush. It is among the most finely
executed of the artist's rare surviving drawings, most of
which are studies of birds. It is likely that this study was
made for a wealthy amateur naturalist such as Agnes
Block, who probably commissioned similar bird studies
by Gerardus now in the Frits Lugt Collection, Institut
Néerlandais (inv. 1407-31, 1407-47, 1407-48) .*i. W. Schulz, "Blumenzeichnungen von Herman Saftleven
d. J.," ZeitschriftjurKunstgeschichte4O, pt. 2 (1977), p. 141, n. 28.252 DUTCH SCHOOL • VAN VEEN