Lot 576: Jacob de Wit (Amsterdam 1695/6-1754)

Jacob de Wit (Amsterdam 1695/6-1754)
A Seraph
signed 'J d Wit' (lower right)
black and red chalk, pastel, brown wash, grey ink framing lines, on paper, watermark device
246 x 300 mm.

J. Th. Cremer; Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 17 november 1980, lot 123.
Sieb Fontein.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, Amsterdam, 10 November 1997, lot 182.

PROPERTY OF JORIS VAN GLABBEEK AND MARLON ELFVERING (LOTS 576-644)

COLLECTORS LIVING THEIR DREAM
Follow your heart and trust your eyes

Having collected early 18th century landscapes on paper for over 25 years, the scholars and collectors Joris van Glabbeek and Marlon Elfvering are now taking the ultimate step following their passion for romantic nature. They are changing their The Hague city apartment for a mansion in the Belgian country side close to the Ardennes, living in the soft rolling hills, thick green forests and rugged skies their favorite artists depicted so strikingly. Because of realizing their lifelong dream, they are willing to part with framed versions of it. Christie's is delighted to sell their collection of 19th century drawings with a special focus on Josephus August Knip and his younger brother Matthijs Derk Knip.

'Even our first acquisition is for sale', Joris says, emphasizing that they will not hold any highlight back. 'It is a Isaac Moucheron, which we bought as an anonymous drawing but could date and attribute ourselves.' Marlon: 'Working together as trained scholars and passionate collectors, we were lucky to have more time at hand then most people in the business. It allowed us to focus primarily on art historical quality and relevance, i.e. works that are characteristic for a certain period, instead of having to rely on buying 'big' names. We always followed our hearts and eyes, trusting that we would be able to attribute an anonymous drawing to an artist, period or school at some point in the future." Joris laughs: "It became a bit of a sport. It often took us years, but in many cases we indeed succeeded in fitting those works into the oeuvre of known masters, thus adding our bit to art history." Marlon adds "Our attributions also enabled us to expand our collection, as we would regularly sell drawings for a sum substantially different from our purchase price. Equally, or maybe even more, satisfying is that several of our discoveries made it into museum collections, such as the Pier Francesco Guala graces the walls of the Museo Civico di Casale". Joris: "With us, it was always about the arts, never about investment. Friends therefore worry if we will really be able to live without the concise and cherished collection that we built up over two decades. But we are positive that we will cope very well with the loss. We will live the life we always dreamt of, even taking up small farmer activities next to turning our studies into articles, and our drawings will fly out to a new generation of collectors, bringing them the same joy they brought us."