Details
PAULUS CONSTANTIJN LA FARGUE (1729-1782)
View of Rijnsburg
signed and dated 'P.C. La Fargue del 1764.'
traces of pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour, brown ink and pencil framing lines, watermark Strasbourg lily
9⅝ x 13¾ in. (24.8 x 35.1 cm.)

Provenance
Private collection, Amsterdam, 1951.
Hans van Leeuwen, Amsterdam (1911-2010); Christie's, Amsterdam, 24 November 1992, lot 299.
Dr J.A.M. Smit (1935-2006).
Exhibited
Arnhem, Gemeentemuseum, Collectie H. van Leeuwen te Amsterdam, Tekeningen van 17e-19e eeuw, 1958, no. 42.
Zeist, Slot Zeist, Nederlandse Kuststichting Zeist, Twee Eeuwen Tekenkunst, 1960, no. 19.
Laren, Singer Museum, Nederlandse Tekeningen, Collectie H. van Leeuwen, 1963, no. 45.
Utrecht, Centraal Museum, Nederlandse Tekeningen uit drie Eeuwen, 1978, no. 43, ill.
Special notice
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.
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Lot Essay

This delicately executed watercolour depicts the church of Saint Lawrence viewed from the road into Rijnsburg from the south-west, the route into the town from La Fargue's native city, The Hague. Originally a Romanesque Benedictine abbey, founded in 1133, the building was destroyed in 1574 and rebuilt as a new church. However, as we can see from la Fargue's careful drawing, part of one of the original abbey towers was retained, giving the church spire its slightly unusual Romanesque appearance. This was evidently a view that appealed to the artist, as there are also two known oil on panel versions of the scene; one larger version, signed 'P.C. la Fargue', sold at Dobiaschofsky, Bern, 26 October 1967, lot 259, in which the staffage is less complex - the nine figures of the present drawing are reduced to a single mounted figure conversing with a man in the centre of the street and a pack mule waiting with a dog. The second, which shows only a mother and child disappearing down the road, was formerly attributed to Emanuel Murant, and is now tentatively given to La Fargue by Charles Dumas, (sold at Sotheby's, New York, 22 April 2015, lot 43). However, Dumas has pointed out that this work has been heavily overpainted, making it difficult to confirm the attribution.

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