A Forest Interior, with a Seated Figure

Prints and Drawings

n.d.

Herman Saftleven
Dutch, 1609-1685

In this charming landscape study, a seated figure appears nestled among tree roots at the bend in a stream or river. The water’s gentle course seems in harmony with the irregularly formed trees and their fluttering leaves. Black chalk lines anchor the structure of the landscape elements while the varied application of brown wash in different densities contributes the more atmospheric qualities of light and moving air. Saftleven was born into a family of artists, and his penchant for landscape subjects may have been formed by his travels along the Rhine and Moselle Rivers.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Herman Saftleven
Title: A Forest Interior, with a Seated Figure
Place: Netherlands (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1629–1685
Medium: Black chalk and brush and brown wash, with touches of black crayon and traces of opaque white watercolor, ruled in pen and black ink at edges, on ivory laid paper
Inscriptions: Signed, lower right: "HSL; inscribed verso, lower margin, in brown ink: "13" (upside down)
Dimensions: 18.5 × 13 cm (7 5/16 × 5 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
Reference Number: 2013.1021
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/210894/manifest.json

Laurens J. Bol and George S. Keyes, Netherlandish Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of F.C. Butôt, (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981), p. 26, pp. 140–41, cat. 53 (ill.).
W. Schulz, Herman Saftleven, Berlin/New York 1982, p. 419, cat. 1143, fig. 106.
I. Fechter, “Munich: Die Sammlung F. C. Butôt,” Weltkunst 59, no. 12 (June 15, 1989): 1768.

London, Alfred Brod Gallery, Old Master Dawings, Jan. 28–Feb. 20, 1965, cat. 92 (illus.).
Amsterdam, Kunsthandel Gebr. Douwes, Vijf Eeuwen Schilderijen, Aquarellen en Tekeningen, winter. 1966, n.p., cat. 48 (ill.).
Salzburg, Museumpavillon in Mirabellgarten, July 12–Sept. 12, 1972; Niederländische Kunst aus dem Goldenen Jahrhundert: Gemälde und Zeichnungen im Umkreis grosser Meister aus der Sammlung F. C. Butôt, 118–19 (ill.); also Münster, Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Nov. 26, 1972–Jan. 14, 1973.
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Hollandse en Vlaamse Kunst uit de 17e eeuw, Feb. 16 –Apr. 1, 1973, 120–21 (ill.).
Munich, Sotheby’s, A Selection of Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of F.C. Butôt, June 1989, no cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, The Thrill of the Chase: Drawings for the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection, Mar. 15–June 15, 2014, no cat.
The Art Institute of Chicago, “Rubens, Rembrandt, and Drawing in the Golden Age”, September 28, 2019 - January 5, 2020, pp. 259, 261 (ill.), 262, 315, cat. 106, cat. by Victoria Sancho Lobis, et. al.

[Two unidentified collector’s marks, verso]. Professor Einar Perman, Stockholm. Alfred Brod Gallery, London, by Jan. 1965 [London 1965]. Kunsthandel Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam, by Dec. 1966 [Amsterdam 1966]; sold to Frans C. (known as F.C.) Butôt (1902–1992), Amsterdam; sold, Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, Nov. 16, 1993, lot 95, to a private collector; sold, Sotheby’s, London, July 7, 2011, lot 75, to Dorothy Braude Edinburg, Brookline, MA; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.