JAN VAN GOYEN
108 A Village Festival
with Musicians Playing
outside a Tent
Black chalk and gray wash; H: 17 cm (6ZI/i6 in.); W: 27.7
cm (io^7 /s in.)
85.00.296
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left corner,
signed and dated VG1653 in black chalk; collection mark
of Defer-Dumesnil (L. 739); at bottom right corner, col-
lection mark of Marius Paulme (L. 1910).
PROVENANCE: Pierre Defer, Paris; Henri Dumesnil,
Paris (sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 10, 1900, lot 71);
Leonce C. Coblentz (sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, Decem-
ber 15, 1904 , lot^1 49); Marius Paulme, Paris (sale, Galerie
Georges Petit, Paris, May 13, 1929, lot 94); sale, Sothe-
by's, Amsterdam, November 26, 1984, lot 107; art mar-
ket, London.EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: H.-U. Beck, Jan van Goyen: 1596-1656
(Amsterdam, 1972), vol. i, no. 385.THIS IS ONE OF MANY ELABORATE DRAWINGS VAN
Goyen made as independent works in his studio; they are
often signed and dated. There are well over two hundred
such drawings dating from 1653 alone. Among them,
this example falls within the group of village market
scenes (Beck 1972 , vol. i, nos. 373~393a) in which the
artist took full advantage of the proliferation of diverse
action and form to create a lively and entertaining com-
position. In addition to portraying various individuals
selling their wares, he included both elegant and ordinary
shoppers as well as musicians at the left background who
stand on a ladder, playing their instruments for a gath-
ered audience. The energetic and varied use of black
chalk accentuates the animated feeling of the drawing.244 DUTCH SCHOOL • VAN GOYEN