GROENEWEGEN, Gerrit.
Verscheide soorten van Hollandse vaartuigen geteekent en gesneeden door G. Groenewegen 1786 ... | Plusieurs sortes de batiments hollandoise dessiné et gravé par G. Groenewegen ...
Rotterdam, 1801. Oblong 4to (19.5 x 24.5 cm). 84 etched plates in 7 parts of 12 plates each, numbered A-F/1-12 and 1-12, each with a Dutch caption below. With:
(2) GROENEWEGEN, Gerrit. [Seascapes with ships]. [Rotterdam, J. van den Brink?], "1795" [= 1829?]. Set of 6 numbered etchings, signed and dated "G. Groenewegen 1795". 2 works in 1 volume, the first in 7 parts. Late 19th-century cloth, gold-tooled title on front board.
€ 17,500
Rare and very attractive series of etchings, illustrating the ships and boats in use in Holland. Groenewegen (1754-1826) was trained as a ships carpenter, but lost a leg in an accident as a young man. He then took drawing lessons and made a career as an artist. Unlike most artists, he therefore had hands-on experience with shipbuilding. His drawings and etchings, for the greater part of ships and harbours, were famous at the time. Indeed, Groenewegen was "the most specialized artist in the field at the end of the eighteenth century" (De Groot & Vorstman).
The series of Dutch ships was originally published over a period of 15 years (from 1786 on) in 7 instalments of 12 plates each, illustrating both the inland shipping and the oceanic trade. The present plates are in the second state (the first was unnumbered), printed on a single paper stock, watermarked fleur-de-lis above a small beehive = C. & I. Honig. J. van den Brink also published the series with a new title: Verzameling van vier en tachtig stuks Hollandsche schepen, circa 1830.
Ad 2: a series of seascapes also showing various kinds of ships, but now at sea and by the shore, in stormy and fair weather, and with smaller boats, background scenery, and people hoisting sails, preparing fishing nets, rowing boats, sitting or standing on shore with their baskets, etc. All six plates include his name, the date 1795 and the series number. Printed on unwatermarked wove paper, they most likely formed the first part of a posthumous collection, titled Schepen door G. Groenewegen. 1e zestal , published by J. van den Brink, Rotterdam, 1829. Cat. Ned. Hist. Scheepv. Mus. p. 751; De Groot & Vorstman 191-202; Thieme-Becker XV, pp. 66-67 .
Related Subjects:
