Jan Dirksz. Both, 
Dutch 1615-1652- 

A wooded landscape with travellers crossing a ford; 

oil on canvas, 71.9 x 92.2 cm. 

Provenance: 
David Garrick (1717-1779), London; 
his posthumous sale, Christie's, London, 23 June 1823, lot 11, (95 gns, 11 shillings to Rutley). 
T. Norris, near Manchester, by 1835. 
Anon. sale, Chevallier and Féral, Paris, lot 4 (probably late 19th century; according to a page from an auction catalogue on the reverse). 
with Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna, by summer 1962. 
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 17 December 2020, lot 230 (£18,750);   
where acquired by the present owner. 

Literature: 
J. Smith, 'Supplement to the catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish and French painters', London, IX, 1842, p.736, no.21. 
C. Hofstede de Groot, 'Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVii. Jahrhunderts', Esslingen and Paris, 1926, IX, p.443, no.74. 

Note: 
Both is often lauded for his central role in the development of Italianate landscape painting in the 17th-century Netherlands. His approach was heavily shaped by his time in Rome, where he studied the landscapes of the Classical artist Claude Lorrain (c.1600-1682). His landscapes combine familiar figures and motifs to capture the warmth and light of Italy, and the present work is an especially fine example of his style. Indeed the subject of travellers on a path surrounded by tall trees and mountains was a favourite of Both's, and these elements, along with the contrast between the shadowy foreground and well-lit road, appear in several of his works (see for example 'Rocky landscape with ox-cart' at the National Gallery, London [NG1917]). Both was clearly a master of depicting light, with the warm, golden tone of the sky here gently highlighting the form of the figures in the landscape and contrasting with the darkness of the earth below. Indeed, apart from these spots of light these figures are almost indistinguishable from the environment around them, creating a sense of harmony between figures and the land which they inhabit. For further examples of the artists work, see Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam [no.C109]; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [no.34.239]; Louvre, Paris [no.1065], and Statens Museum, Copenhagen [no.430].