CORNELIS DUSART
Haarlem 1660 – 1704 Haarlem
A Corner of a Kitchen with a Pump and a Sink
Pen in brown ink, gray wash, over black chalk, traces of red chalk
18.2 x 18.8 cm
PROVENANCE
Provenance: Samuel, Graf von Festetits (verso, Lugt 926 with his inscription: AO 1847); Artemis Fine Art Ltd, London, in 1982; acquired by Jacobus A. Klaver (bears his mark on the mount, not in Lugt), Amsterdam (Sotheby’s), 10 May 1994, lot 96; his sale, Amsterdam (Sotheby’s) 5 November 2002, lot 69; acquired by Count Festetics de Tolna.
EXHIBITIONS
Amsterdam, Tekeningen van oude Meesters: De verzameling Jacobus A. Klaver, Rijksmuseum 1993, cat. no. 92; London, Master Prints and Drawings, Artemis Fine Art Ltd 1982, cat. no. 23 (as Jan Baptist Weenix).
DESCRIPTION
This splendid drawing of a kitchen interior, most likely drawn from life, was used by Cornelis Dusart as the source of a background motif for his painting A Mother and Child at the Window, signed and dated 1690, in the Rijksmuseum. The subject matter of a humble sink and pump is clearly Dusart’s own, although Isaak van Ostade made some drawings of related subjects, and the influence of Adriaen van Ostade is also present.
The technique in which the appealing drawing was executed clearly shows the work practice of the artist. First, Dusart used black chalk to set up the composition, after which he further elaborated the drawing in pen and brown ink and reworked some areas in red chalk. Finally, he applied a gray wash to add shade and depth and to accentuate important elements. With these techniques Dusart created a strong visual impression and made the drawing durable and suitable for keeping in a portfolio for further use.
The motif of our drawing recurs in a second work by Dusart, a highly finished drawing, presumably executed shortly after the painting discussed above as an artwork in its own right (the Netherlands, Private Collection). In both the painting and drawing, Dusart slightly rearranged the elements and appearance of the original study in order to fit the final composition.
The present drawing will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Cornelis Dusart’s drawings by Susan Anderson.