Lot 135: Dirck van Delen (Heusden 1604/5-1671 Arnemuiden)

Dirck van Delen (Heusden 1604/5-1671 Arnemuiden)
Elegant figures in a courtyard
signed and dated 'D van Delen 1628' (lower center, on the column's base)
oil on panel
36 3/8 x 61¾ in. (92.3 x 156.8 cm.)

T. T. Blade, The Paintings of Dirck van Delen, Ph.D. diss., University of Minnesota, 1976, pp. 135 and 216, no. 20, fig. 19.

Lawrence Currie, Combe Warren, Surrey; Christie's, London, 17 December 1926, lot 145, as dated '1620' (33 gns. to Leger).
Slatner collection; sale, Prague, 11-13 June 1927, lot 23.
Singewald collection; sale, Bangel, Frankfurt, 11 October 1927, lot 24. Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 18 May 1994, lot 8.
Acquired by the present owner in 1994.

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION

This architectural fantasy was painted by Dirck van Delen in 1628, the year that he settle in Arnemuiden, near Middelburg. The staffage has been attributed by Blade (loc. cit.) to Dirck Hals, a frequent collaborator of Van Delen. An adaptation of this composition was produced by the two artists again in 1633 (s'-Hertogenbosch, Noodbrabants Museum).