Lot 260: WILLEM VAN DER HAGEN

WILLEM VAN DER HAGEN THE HAGUE 1680 - 1745 DUBLIN AN EXTENSIVE RIVER LANDSCAPE WITH FIGURES RESTING BESIDE CLASSICAL RUINS signed and indistinctly dated lower right : W v. hagen / 1733 oil on canvas 140 by 124.5 cm.; 55 by 49 in.

A Dutch émigré who moved to Ireland, William van der Hagen's style became synonymous with the sophistication of early Georgian Irish taste. Initially famed for his topographical views and decorative schemes, Van der Hagen turned his hand to capriccio landscapes in the early 1730's, of which this painting is a rare example.

Painted in the same year that Van der Hagen was working in Smock Alley (working on the critically acclaimed scenery for Cephalus and Procris), this work shows an artist utilising his experience of theatrical set design. Constructing a framework of architectural and vegetative coulisses, the artist skilfully creates a compositional window through which the sky and distance emerge to take centre stage. Assorted props, such as the classical ruins, mountainous scenery and vista replete with distant townscape recall the seventeenth century Dutch-Italian tradition as exemplified in works by Nicholas Berchem, Jan Both and Jan Weenix.

Van der Hagen's set piece - a decaying classical temple façade of magnificent proportions, is drawn into sharp relief by the humble activities of the assembled cast. The variety of stock characters such as a reclining shepherd with attendant dog and flock beyond, likewise serve to lend anecdotal charm to the whole. Fresh vivid colours predominate, applied in thin feathery brushstrokes to evoke the effect of dappled evening sunlight. Although meditative in mood, this painting shows a rococo virtuosity hitherto unseen in Irish painting and proves that Van der Hagen was equal, if not superior to his continental counterparts. The marriage of native tradition to Italianate form that Van Der Hagen convincingly conjures up in this poetic evocation of a 'golden age', creates a pastoral arcadia designed to appeal to Anglo-Irish Grand Tour taste.