Lot 205: Adriaan de Lelie (Tilburg 1755-1820 Amsterdam) and Egbert van Drielst (Groningen 1745-1818 Amsterdam)

Group portrait of a gentleman and a lady, the latter seated on a bench, with their two children and dog in the park of Elswout, Overveen, a pond and cupola beyond signed and dated 'A. de Lelie ft 179.' (centre, on the bench) and indistinctly signed and dated 'E. Van Drielst ft 17.9' (lower left) oil on canvas 80.7 x 110.6 cm. probably painted in 1799. PROVENANCE Abraham van Twist, The Hague; (+) sale, C.S. Roos, Amsterdam, 11 September 1822, lot 53 (100 guilders to C.S. Roos). By descent to the present owners since 1850. LITERATURE J. Knoeff, Tusschen Rococo en Romantiek, The Hague, 1943, p. 55 J.W. Niemeijer, Egbert van Drielst: 'de Drentse Hobbema' 1745-1818, Assen, 1968, p. 5 and note 14. B. Gerlagh and E. Koolhaas-Grosfeld, Egbert van Drielst 1745-1818, Zwolle, 1995, p. 57. NOTES The present lot is one of three recorded collaborations between the two artists; its whereabouts were until now unknown and it was considered lost in the existing literature. The others two collaborations are a painting from 1795 of Generaal Daendels taking leave of Luitenant Colonel C.R.Th. Krayenhoff, 18 January 1795 (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) and an allegory from 1800 painted in memory of the artist Jacobus Johannes Lauwers (present whereabouts unknown). The estate at Elswout near Haarlem became the property of Jacob Boreel (1746-1794) in 1781. He had the park transformed into an English-style landscape garden and it soon became a source of inspiration for many landscapists, including Van Drielst. In 1796 he made a coloured drawing depicting the same view as the present lot (Leiden, Prentenkabinet). This drawing was part of a series of four views of the park at Elswout by Van Drielst, which were soon afterwards engraved by Hendrik Schwegman. The sitters in the present lot have as yet not been identified. Although the majority of the contents of the sale at C.S. Roos in 1822 were from the estate of Abraham Twist, it is not known whether the present lot was part of his collection. Considering the inclusion of depictions of a previous generation in the present lot (the seated lady is wearing a portrait miniature and a gentleman's profile is visible in the monument on the right) - which may point to dynastic ambitions - it is surprising that the painting was put up for auction so soon after its execution. Further genealogical research towards the identity of the sitters has shown that the sitters cannot represent either one of the two children of Jacob Boreel. His son was not yet married in 1799, whilst his daughter had married the owner of Castle Marquette and it would seem logical that if they had had their portrait painted, they would have chosen to be depicted in front of their own residence. In 1805, Elswout was sold to Willem Borski; he and his wife had four children by 1799. Although they were not yet owners of the park, they may already have been renting Elswout at that time, this is however not known. If the painting was part of the collection of Abraham van Twist, it is also not possible that the present lot depicts Van Twist's family as he was a childless widower by 1796. As pointed out by Niemeijer in 1968 ( loc. cit. ), the sale of the art dealer Christiaen Josi, which Knoef ( loc. cit. ) considered to be the earliest provenance of the present lot, did not contain any paintings at all and therefore should be considered an erroneous provenance. We are grateful to Drs R.J.A. te Rijdt for his help in cataloguing this lot.