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The Eighteenth-Century Gentleman Dealer Willem Lormier and the International Dispersal ofSeventeenth-Century Dutch PaintingsAuthor(s): Everhard Korthals AltesSource: Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Vol. 28, No. 4 (2000 - 2001),pp. 251-311Published by: Stichting voor Nederlandse Kunsthistorische PublicatiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3780967 .

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251

The eighteenth-century gentleman dealer Willem Lormier and the international dispersal of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings*

Everhard Korthals Altes

In I752, a catalogue was published describing the 376 paintings belonging to the art collector and dealer Willem Lormier (i682-I758). The 36-page booklet served as a guide for visitors to his collection. Among his treasures were works which are now in the finest museums and private collections in the world, such as Gerard ter Borch's "Paternal admonition " (fig. i), A boy blowing bubbles by Frans van Mieris the Elder (fig. 2) and Rem- brandt's Holy Family with a curtain (fig. 3).

Two copies of the book are in the collection of auction catalogues in the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) in The Hague.' What makes them so special is that they contain Lormier's handwritten records of the paintings he bought between roughly I737 and 1752 (figs. 4, 5). He noted down the names of his suppliers, the sales at which he bought works and the prices he had paid. In addition, the back of one of the catalogues contains his accounts for the period I748-58 (see Appendix A, figs. 39-43), from which it emerges that Lormier sold 6o of his best paintings in that decade, many of them to foreign buyers. He carefully recorded the names of the purchasers, the price they had paid and his profit on each transaction.

This exceptional source makes it possible not only to

I Gerard ter Borch, "The paternal admonition". Amsterdam, Rijks- museum

* An abridged version of this article was delivered as a paper at the symposium The shifting image of the Golden Age organized by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam on 29 and 30 May 2000; see Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 49 (2001), pp. 2-99. I am grateful to everyone who helped in the preparation of the article, and especially to Peter Hecht, adviser for my PhD research into the international dispersal of seventeenth-century paintings from the Dutch Republic in the eighteenth century. The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and the Research Institute for History and Culture of the University of Utrecht enabled me to make visit Germany and France. The article was translated from the Dutch by Michael Hoyle.

The following abbreviations have been used: HdG = C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis

der Werke der hervorragendsten hollandischen Maier des XVIL Jahrhun- derts, i0 vols., Esslingen & Paris 1907-28. Lugt = F. Lugt, Repertoire des catalogues de ventes, 4 vols., The Hague I938-87. RKD = Netherlands Institute for Art History, The Hague.

I The annotated copy of the catalogue of Lormier's collection containing his accounts for I748-58 is on loan to the RKD from the Mau- ritshuis in The Hague. At the front of the book is an inscription by Hofstede de Groot stating that he bought the catalogue at the C. Telders sale in i89i and suspected that it had once belonged to Carel Vosmaer. The other annotated copy in the collection of the RKD can be consulted on microfiche (Lugt I307).



252 EVERHARD KORTHALS ALTES

I -I.,

2 Frans van Mieris the Elder, A boy blowing bubbles. The Hague, Mauritshuis

3 Rembrandt, The Holy Family with a curtain. Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsamm- lungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister,

Schloss Willemshohe

CATALOGUS VAN

SCHILDERYEN, van den Heer A G E N T

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duim. D. Q. Haring, Brood, Ajuyn, Olver fcheakkan, glazen, O.4'... . Li-

br. av. 6d., h. iv.mtod. P. MAicbiel Angelo de la Bataille.

Ee Landfchap, op de voorgrond 8 & I9 figuuren, - AL.

_ en een Verkopiag van Druyven, br. 2 v. 5 d., h.

Flueele Breugel. dEen Undchap met beelden eynde de giot aa V4+ 0L * * O.

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4 The catalogue of Willem Lormier's paintings, with the purchase prices in pen, 752 The Hague, Netherlands Institute for Art His-

tory



The eighteenth-century gentleman dealer Willem Lormier 253

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5 Page I 7 of Lormier' I 1752 catalogue, with the names of the sales and former owners on the left and the purchase prices on the right. The Hague, Netherlands Institute for Art History

form an idea of the dealings of an eighteenth-century art speculator but also tells us more about the way in which seventeenth-century paintings left the Dutch Republic. It is known that foreign collectors sent their agents and advisors to Holland to buy paintings at auction or privately from collectors or dealers. However, because private sales are rarely documented, there is little specific information on how Dutch seventeenth-century paintings became dispersed throughout Europe. The remarkable aspect of Lormier's records, then, is that everything he bought and sold can be tracked fairly precisely. The document also shows which paintings did well on the international market. Despite, or perhaps because of, the keen foreign interest in Dutch art, there

were still a considerable number of collectors in the Re- public around I750. Lormier's accounts also make it clear that paintings could be a very profitable investment.

BACKGROUND AND REPUTATION Willem Lormier, whose ancestors came from the north of France, was born in The Hague in i682.2 He was the eldest son in a family of eight children, and followed in his father's profession of solliciteur militair, a not uncommon official in the eighteenth century, whose job was something like that of a banker. Solliciteurs administered the money of private individuals, which they supplied to army offi- cers to pay mercenary forces. The solliciteur's income

2 G.H.C. Breesnee, "De Haagse kunstverzamelaars Adriaan Leonard van Heeteren en Willem Lormier, en hun voorgeslacht,"

Jaarboek Die Haghe I948-49, The Hague I949, pp. ii8-38, traces the genealogy of the van Heteren-Lormier family.




came from the interest the money earned.3 Lormier was particularly active in Flanders during the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and may have established foreign contacts there which later stood him in good stead in his art business. In addition to his profession as solliciteur he was the Dutch agent of several foreign rulers, looking after the financial and commercial interests of those of Hesse- Darmstadt and Saxony-Meiningen.4

Lormier married in 1707 and had a son, who died young in 1735. His wife died five years later. He remar- ried in 174i but died childless in 1758, at the age of 75, and was buried in the Kloosterkerk in The Hague.5 The Lormiers were closely related to the van Heteren family. Willem's sister Margaretha married Hendrik van Hete- ren (i627-I749), a councillor of The Hague, who was likewise a solliciteur militair as well as being the agent of the landgraves of Hesse-Kassel. Van Heteren was a great lover of paintings.6 He had 127 in his collection, most of which remained in the family after his death until they were bought by King Louis Napoleon in i809 for the Koninklijk Museum in Amsterdam, the forerun- ner of the Rijksmuseum. It is possible that Lormier's slightly older brother-in-law encouraged him to collect art.7

Lormier's job must have been very lucrative, for he belonged to the higher income groups in The Hague. His wealth came from the profits he and his father made as solliciteurs and not from his later dealings in art. The surviving records of a tax levied in 1742, known as the Personele Quotisatie, make it possible to compare incomes in the city.8 They show that Lormier earned the considerable sum of Dfl. 9,ooo a year. Other well- known local collectors were far richer. Govert van Slin- gelandt and Johan Hendrik van Wassenaer van Obdam,9 had estimated annual incomes of Dfl. 50,000 and Dfl. 30,000 respectively. Lormier's brother-in-law van He- teren earned around DMI. 8,ooo. The incomes of painter- dealers like Philip van Dijk, Jacques de Roore and Ge- rard Hoet were considerably lower at roughly DMI. 3,500, i,ooo and 700.'?

At the time of the 1742 Personele Quotisatie, Lormier owned two adjoining houses on the Lutherse Burgwal in The Hague, not far from the Grote Markt. " In order to accommodate his collection of some 400 paintings the walls must have been large and hung to the ceiling. In- terestingly, his catalogue lists the room in which each painting was to be found.'2

Lormier inherited Dfl. 8o,ooo upon the death of his mother, Ida Blonck, in 1737, and it appears that he be-

3 For the office of solliciteur militair see 0. van Nimwegen, De sub- sistentie van het Staatse leger (diss.), Amsterdam 1995, p. 40. The I742

Personele Quotisatie for The Hague recorded 24 solliciteurs. Part of Lormier's business correspondence in this function can be found in the van Heteren family archive (Algemeen Rijksarchief, archiefnr. 3.20.24, inv. nr. I29). The Hague City Archives also has some of Lormier's business correspondence (Notarieel Archief 269I, p. 74).

4 See 0. Schutte, Repertorium der buitenlandse vertegenwoordigers, residerende in Nederland I584-i8io, The Hague i983, pp. 231-32, 239-

40. It is not known whether Lormier also bought paintings for these rulers.

5 Lormier's first wife was Cornelia van Thiel. After her death in I740 he married Henrica Cunera van Olden (I70i-85).

6 For Hendrik and his son Adriaan Leonard van Heteren see C. Bille, De tempel der kunst of bet kabinet van den beer Braamcamp, 2 vols., Amsterdam i96i, vol. I, pp. io8-i I; T.L.J. Verroen, "'Een verstandig ryk man': de achttiende-eeuwse verzamelaar Adriaan Leonard van Heteren," Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 4 (i985), pp. 17-62. Adriaan Leonard van Heteren (1724-i800) married a daughter of Willem Lormier's brother.

7 See E. W. Moes and E. van Biema, De Nationale Konstgalery en het Koninklzjk Museum, Amsterdam i909, p. I92. According to them, Hendrik van Heteren bought his first painting on 6 April I729. Van Heteren's name also appears in the margin of the Schuylenburch auction catalogue of 1735 (Lugt 453). He bought many of his paintings at sales where Lormier was also a successful bidder. His son Adriaan van

Heteren bought eight pictures from Lormier's collection after his death, all of which are now in the Rijksmuseum: Frans van Mieris, Tuning the lute (inv. nr. A 262), Paulus Potter, Orpheus charming the beasts (inv. nr. A 317), David Teniers, Guardroom (inv. nr. A 398), Philips Wouwerman, The stag hunt (inv. nr. A 480), Gabriel Metsu, Man and woman sharing a meal (Inv. nr. A 249), Melchior d'Honde- coeter, Two peacocks threatening a hen with chicks (inv. nr. A 174), Ge- rard ter Borch, "The paternal admonition" (inv. nr. A 404), Adriaen Brouwer, Peasant brawl (inv. nr. A 65; on loan to the Mauritshuis, The Hague).

8 See The Hague City Archives, Personele Quotisatie I742, 'S-

Gravenhage. 9 For these Hague collectors see H.E. van Gelder, "Haagsche

verzamelaars voor i900," Die Haghe. Jaarboek 1942, The Hague 1942, pp. 1-36; Bille, op. cit. (note 6), vol. I, pp. 107-15 and I4I; T. Wijsen- beek-Olthuis, Het Lange Voorhout: monumenten, mensen en macht, Zwolle i998, pp. 136-44.

I0 See The Hague City Archives, Personele Quotisatie I742,

's-Gravenhage. ii See The Hague City Archives, Personele Quotisatie I742,

's-Gravenhage. 12 Cat. Lormier 1752 (Lugt 1307), with locations like "Oude Eed-

saal" ("Old dining room"), "Witte Keuken" ("White kitchen"), and so on. There are also abbreviations like "O.K.W.M.", which probably stands for "Oude Kamer, West Muur" ("Old chamber, west wall").




gan collecting that year.'3 He may even have used his in- heritance to finance his collection of coins, medallions, semi-precious stones, and above all paintings.'4 In I752, the year his catalogue was published, he owned 376 of them, and he must have had even more, around 400, a few years before. It was one of the largest collections in the Republic. The Hague painter and artists' biographer Johan van Gool (i685-1763) said in his Nieuwe schouburg of I750 that it was the most famous in the whole of Holland.'5 Lormier's accounts show that he spent a total of more than Dfl. i io,ooo on his pictures, but in the last ten years of his life he also began selling. All his further purchases were of lesser quality. In 1763, five years after his death, the 362 paintings remaining in his estate were sold at auction.

One thing that stands out from a study of Lormier's catalogue is that his collection was wide-ranging and varied. He did, however, have certain preferences, as shown by the large groups of paintings by a few masters. The largest was the 22 works by Philips Wouwerman, followed by Melchior d'Hondecoeter with I5 and Jan Steen with 12. He had i i paintings each by Jan van Huysum, David Teniers and Gerard Dou, and 9 by

Godfried Schalcken. Herman Saftleven, Adriaen van de Velde and Eglon van der Neer were represented with eight works each. There was also a strikingly good showing of Flemish artists, notably Jan Brueghel the El- der with 13 paintings, and artists from his circle (ii works by Jan Brueghel in collaboration with painters like Hans Rottenhammer, Hendrick van Balen and Gonzales Coques).

Approximately 70 percent of the works were Dutch, around 20 percent Flemish, and the remainder Italian, French or German. The Caravaggisti and Mannerists were poorly represented in the Dutch group, and there were few works by Rembrandt pupils. Portraits and large religious pieces were almost entirely absent.'6

Lormier paid more than Dfl. i,ooo each for eight of his paintings. The most expensive were two flower still lifes by his contemporary Jan van Huysum at Dfl. 2,000 and Dfl. i,500, followed by an Entombment by Rem- brandt, a landscape with dancing peasants by David Te- niers, a Vertumnus and Pomona by Carel de Moor, a painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder, an Adriaen van der Werff, and finally Paulus Potter's Orpheus charming the beasts for Dfl. i,000 (fig. 6).17 Only io percent of the 376

13 See The Hague City Archives, Personele Quotisatie I742,

's-Gravenhage, 5456. It appears from cat. Lormier I752 (Lugt 1307) that he bought his first paintings in 1737.

14 Lormier had a collection of 1,787 medallions from the period 1415-1748 which G. van Loon used for his Beschrijving der Nederland- sche historiepenningen, 5 vols., The Hague 1723-3I. Lormier also had antique medallions and a collection of objets d'art, including rare semi- precious stones. These collections were auctioned in The Hague on I October I759 (Lugt i062, i063 and i064: annotated copies in the Rijksmuseum Het Koninklijk Penningkabinet, Leiden). Lormier's paintings were not sold until 1763 (Lugt I307). Lugt also mentions an auction of one johan Willem Lormier (Lugt 44i8), who will not be dis- cussed here. He was a son of Willem's brother Claudius, who was a burgomaster of Rotterdam.

I5 J. van Gool, De nieuwe schouburg der Nederlantsche kunstschilders en schilderessen, 2 vols., The Hague 1750-5I, vol. I, p. 239; see also J.C. Weyerman, De levensbeschryvingen der Nederlandsche konst-schilders en konst-schilderessen, 4 vols., The Hague & Dordrecht I729-69, vol. 4, p. I5, who speaks of "Mr Willem Lormier, agent of various foreign princes, residing in The Hague.... Not only The Hague but almost all the principal Dutch cities are convinced that this art-loving gentleman has a choice art cabinet enriched with the most select and precious artistic jewels of the most celebrated Dutch heroes of the brush" ("...den heer Willem Lormier, Agent van onderscheide uitheemsche vorsten, zyn verblyf houdende in 's-Gravenhage.... Niet alleenlijk 's-Gravenhage, maar genoegzaam alle voornaamste Hollandsche ste- den zyn overtuigt, dat dien konstlievende Heer een puik Konstkabinet bezit, verrijkt met de keurlykste en dierbaarste konstjuweelen der ineest beroemde Nederlandsche Penseelhelden").

i6 Portraits rarely formed part of an art collection. In Lormier's case the "old dining room" was hung with portraits of his parents by Willem van Haansbergen and of his son by Richard or Pieter van Bleeck. They were inventoried separately in the I752 catalogue (p. 38) and were not auctioned off with the rest of the collection. There is no known portrait of Willem Lormier himself.

17 Cat. Lormier I752 (Lugt 1307): nr. 127a, Jan van Huysum, Vrugten en Blommen (Fruit and flowers), for Dfl. 2,000; nr. I27,Jan van Huysum, Bloemen op een bruyne grond (Flowers against a brown background), for Dfl. I,500; nr. 23i, Rembrandt, De Graftlegging, en verscheyde bee/den, en ligten (The Entombment, with various figures and lights), for Dfl. I,038 (Dresden, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister), see J. Bruyn et al., A corpus of Rembrandt paintings, in progress, The Hague, Boston & London i982-, vol. 3, pp. 277-78, nr. A 126, copy 4; nr. 284, David Teniers, Een Landschap, gebouwen, vrolyke maaltyd, dansende boere en boerinne vol beelden (A landscape, buildings, merry meal, dancing peasant and peasant woman, full of figures), for Dfl. 1,020; nr. I 78, Carel de Moor, Pomona en Vertumnus, hond, mantje met bloeme (Pomona and Vertumnus, a dog, basket of flowers), for Dfl. I,020, see van Gool, op. cit. (note 15), vol. 2, p. 436; nr. 17,Jan Brueghel the Elder and Hans Rottenhamer, Een Landschap vol Beelden, te Voet en te Paard, Ossen Schaapen, en veel ander berwerk, zynde de ontmoeting van Jacob en Esou (A landscape full of figures on foot and on horseback, oxen, sheep and many other accessories, being the meeting of Jacob and Esau), for Dfl. 1,015; nr. 359, Adriaan van der Werff, Een Vrouw met een Boek in de Hand, en twee naakte Kindere die speelen (A woman with a book in her hand, and two naked children playing), for Dfl. i,oio (Potsdam, Sanssouci), HdG 5 i, and C. Sommer (ed.), Die Bildergalerie in Sanssouci, Berlin & Milan i996, p. 236, nr. 26i, copy; nr. 2I9, Paulus




6 Paulus Potter, Orpheus charming the beasts. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum

SOL

works, however, cost Lormier more than Dfl. 6oo, which appears to warrant the conclusion that only a relatively small part of the collection belonged to the top segment of the art market of the day.

Although Lormier may have regarded paintings as a good investment, he was also an art-lover who owned works by many relatively unknown artists.18 When the German connoisseur Karl Heinrich von Heinecken visited the cabinet in 1754, he was particularly interested in the works by artists he had never heard of, including a Pieter Codde, which Lormier had identified as such,

Adriaen Oudendyck, Bartholomeus Matton and the now totally forgotten Ursela, who must have been a pupil of Frans van Mieris.'9 When Lormier bought Codde's Guardroom (fig. 7) for a mere Dfl. 36, it was described in the auction catalogue as "a most meticulously painted cabinet piece depicting several figures playing cards and sleeping, not inferior to Metsu in its artistry, by C.P." Lormier evidently knew that the letters should actually be read as P.C., for he recognized the hand of Pieter Codde.20

According to von Heinecken, Lormier's collection

Potter, Berg, Landschap, en Boomen, waar in Orpheus met de Dieren (Mountain, landscape and trees, in which Orpheus with the animals), for Dfl. I,OOO (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), HdG 3.

i8 Van Gool calls him "the art-loving Mr Lormier" ("den Kunst- lievenden Heer Lormier"); see van Gool, op. cit. (note 15), vol. I, p. 36, and vol. 2, p. 146.

I9 C.H. von Heinecken, "Beschreibung einer Reise nach Nieder- sachsen, Westphalen und Holland hauptsachtlich in Betrachtung der Kunstwerke und Kunstler," Nachrichten von Kunstlern und Kunst- sachen, 2 vols., Leipzig 1768-69, vol. 2, p. 63: "Da ich gewohnt bin, in allen Cabinettern diejenigen Schildereyen anzumerken welche von Guten, doch bisher gar nicht, oder wenig bekannten Meistern sind, als habe ich auch in genannten Lormierischen in I754. Als ich es gesehen,

folgende gefunden: Ein Gesellschaft-Stuck von Soldaten mit dem Nahmen Pieter Codde, Zwey Bilder: Ein Junge der Seifenblasen macht, und eine Frau die naht, von Ursela, einem Schuler des alten Franz Mieris, Eine Frau mit einem Lichte, Matton bezeichnet, und eine Landschaft von Adrian Oudendyk." For Codde's Guardroom and the Oudendyck see J. 'Lauts, Katalog Alte Meister bis i8oo: Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, 2 vols., Karlsruhe i966, p. 83, nr. 243, and p. 234, nr. 293.

20 Lormier bought the Codde at the Countess of Albemarle sale, The Hague, 26 October i744 (Lugt 6o6), nr. iI: "Een uytvoerig geschilderd Cabinet-stukje, verbeeldende eenige met de Kaart spee- lende en slapende Figuren, niet minder in konst als Metzu, door C.P." Lormier wrote in the margin: "door Pieter Codde, W.L. 36: I0".




7 Pieter Codde, Guardroom. Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunst- halle

contained inferior works as well as good ones. Most of the nine Italian paintings, for instance, were probably copies. He wrote: "I have noticed that the Dutch, who most certainly have a great love of painting and an exceptional knowledge of the Dutch school, understand very little about Italian paintings. When foreign connoisseurs are shown pictures in their cabinets by Raphael, Correggio, Titian and the like, they are at a loss for words. I recall the cabinet of Willem Lormier, for example, as could be seen here formerly. In it he showed one a Raphael, a Leonardo, a Paolo Veronese, which were not even painted by their pupils. On the other hand, one found many treasures of the Dutch school which made this one of the best collections in Holland."2"

The Hamburg art dealer Gerhard Morell went so far as to accuse Lormier of sharp practice as regards his trade in mediocre works, but then Morell had commercial reasons for talking the collection down. He said that Lormier had sold second-rate paintings and even copies to inexpert foreigners for a great deal of money. "De- spite the renown and luster of this cabinet one must be very much on one's guard against acquiring any pieces from it, for the late Lormier was in fact really a dealer in paintings and other curiosities. He always had lime ready for any bird of passage, especially those from Eng- land and Germany who had more money than knowledge. There is a great deal of mixed merchandise in that collection, good pieces and bad, copies, retouched work, and very mediocre pieces by well-known masters; you

2i Von Heinecken, op. cit. (note 19), vol. 2, p. 63: "Ich habe uber- haupt angemerket, dass die hollander, welche doch gewiss viel Liebe zur Mahlerey und eine ungemeine Kentniss in der Niederlandischen Schule haben, von den Italienischen Bildern sehr wenig verstehen. Wenn sie einem Fremden Kenner in ihren Cabinettern Raphaels, Cor- reccio, Tizians und dergleichen zeigen, so weiss man nicht was man sagen soll. Ich erinnere mich bey dieser Gelegenheit des Cabinets von

Wilhelm Lormier, so ehemals hier zu sehen war. In selbigem zeigte man einen Raphael, einen Leonard da Vinci, einen Paul Veronese, die nicht einmal ihre Schuler gemahlt hatten, hingegen fand man Schatze in der Niederlandischen Schule, und konnte sothane Sammlung mit den Besten in Holland um den Rang streiten." See also Bille, op. cit. (note 6), p. I I 3.




can find everything there. Unfortunate, then, are the foreigners who fall into the clutches of that type of Dutchman."22

AUCTIONS, AGENTS AND SUPPLIERS, 1737-48 In I75I, van Gool wrote in his biography of Adriaen van der Werff that his paintings had fallen in value at one stage but were now rising again. "What an amazing re- versal there has been in the estimation and regard for his art," van Gool remarked, before giving several instances of the low prices being paid for his painting since the late I730s. "Yet," he continued, "this did not continue for long, for the French, falling on his noble and delicate paintings with a justifiable zeal, came to Holland to buy anything they could obtain."23 According to van Gool, the main reason for that temporary fall in prices was the lack of domestic interest. "Furthermore, no one should think it strange that fickle artistic fashion has treated the man's artistic brush with such inconstancy.... Rem-

brandt's work and that of at least ten other masters has undergone the same rise and fall in the prices for art in my time, which is not attributable to their art, which always remains the same, but solely to the capricious pas- sion of art-lovers and to the uncertain ebb and flow of taste."24

Other factors apart from changes in taste probably played a part as well. At the end of the 1730s and for much of the 1740s the country's art market seems to have gone through a crisis. Up until then the prices for paintings had risen steadily because wealthy foreign buyers had kept driving them up. Van Gool says that it had become "princely" to buy pictures.25 The top market segment had simply become too expensive for many Dutch collectors, leading to a sharp drop in their numbers.26 Van Gool wrote that a Dutch art-lover could put together an important cabinet of paintings for Dfl. i0,ooo around 1700, but that since then the prices for work by artists like Gerard Dou, Gabriel Metsu, Frans

22 This correspondence, conducted in I763 between Morell and Caroline Louise, Margravine of Baden, is cited in Bille, op. cit. (note 6), p. I I4: "...malgre la renommee et le brillant de ce cabinet il faut &re bien sur ses Gardes pour s'approprier quelques morceaux car le defunt Lormier n'ayant &e qu'un marchand masque des tableaux et autres cu- riosites, il y avait toujours de la Glue prepare pour tout oiseau passager, sur tout pour ceux qui venoit des Cotes d'Angleterre et d'Allemagne mieux partage en argent qu'en Connoissance. Cela fait que se trouve tant de la marchandise mele dans cette collection bon, mauvais, copie, ouvrage retouche ou fort mediocre des maitres mentionnes tout s'y trouve, malheureux donc les Etrangers qui tombent entre les pattes des hollandois interesses."

23 Van Gool, op. cit. (note 15), Vol. 2, pp. 394-99: "Welk eenen wonderlyken zwaei heeft de schatting en achting van zyne kunst genomen" and "Doch zulks duurde niet lang, want de Franschen, met eenen rechtmatigen yver op zyn edel en teder schilderwerk vallende, quamen in Hollant al opkopen, wat zy machtig konden worden."

24 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 399: "Voorts moet het niemant vreemt dunken, dat de wispelturige kunstmode zulk een veranderlyke rol met 's mans kunstpenseel gespeelt heeft.... Het zelve hoog en laeg gaen der kunst- pryzen, heeft Rembrants kunstwerk ook moeten ondergaen en dat van wel tien andere meesters by myn tyt: het geen niet aen hunne kunst is te wyten, die altyt zich zelf gelyk is, maer enkel aen de ongestadige drift der liefhebbers, en van de onzekere stroom der verkiezinge afhangt." See also van Gool, vol. 2, p. 6.

25 J. van Gool, Antwoordt op den zoo genaemden brief aan een vrient, [The Hague, ca. 1750], pp. 24-25, reprinted in L. de Vries, Diamante gedenkzuilen en leerzaeme voorbeelden: een bespreking van Johan van Gools Nieunwe schouburg, Groningen 1990, p. 233: "...dat de schilderyen tot zodanige prys gestygert zyn, door 't verzenden naer buitenlandsche hoven, omdat het prinselyk geworden is schilderyen te koopen... zo dat een liefhebber, die voor dezen genegen was een duizent guldens of tien aan schilderyen te besteden, om een fraei kabinetje te vergaren, nu niet

eens in aenmerking komt, om zulks te doen van de eerste meesters. De naemen, die ik reets hier voor gemeldt hebbe, zyn niet noodig te her- haelen maer om myn gezegde noch nader te bevestigen, zal ik er toch noch eenige by voegen. By voorbeeld: een Dou van 5 of 6 hondert guldens, I 5 a i 6 hondert guldens; een Metzu van 250, 6oo guldens; een Ostade van 700, 2I hondert guldens; Frans van Mieris, Slingelandt, Netscher, Zachtleeven, Wouwerman of wat maer van Meesters is, die eenigszins gezocht worden, scheelt het ten minsten drie of vier mael de waerde.... Schoon er nu veel machtige luiden in ons landt zyn, zoo strekt elk zyne neiging niet, om voor 50 of 6o duisent guldens aen schilderyen tot een doodt kapitael aen den wandt te hangen, tenzy dat er eene beooging van interest plaets heeft; dit is de waerachtige reden, dat de liefhebbery zoo algemeen in 't landt niet is" ("...that paintings have become so costly is due to their dispatchment to foreign courts, because it has become princely to buy paintings,... so that an amateur who was formerly inclined to expend ten thousand guilders on paintings in order to acquire a fine cabinet is now no longer able to do so for the masters of the first rank. It is not necessary to repeat the names I have already mentioned, but in order further to confirm what I say I will yet add a few to them. For example, a Dou for 5 or 6 hundred guilders, I5 to I6 hundred guilders; a Metsu for 250, 6oo guilders; a van Ostade for 700, 2I hundred guilders; while the value of Frans van Mieris, van Slingeland, Netscher, Saftleven, Wouwerman or any master who is at all sought after differs by at least three or four times.... Al- though there are now many wealthy people in our country, not everyone is inclined to hang paintings worth 50 or 6f thousand guilders on the wall as dead capital unless there is an intention to make a profit. This is the true reason why the avocation is so generally lacking in the land").

26 See also L. de Vries, "De gelukkige schildereeuw: opvattingen over de schilderkunst van de Gouden Eeuw in Nederland 1700-1750," in F. Grijzenhout and H. van Veen, De gouden eeuw in perspectief; Nij- megen & Heerlen 1992, p. 69.




van Mieris and Adriaen van Ostade had tripled or quadrupled. Although, he said, there were many rich people in the Republic, the general feeling was that an investment which had grown to Dfi. 5o,ooo was too much, unless the object was to speculate in art.

It is possible that foreign demand dropped temporar- ily in response to the threat of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48), leading to a stagnation in the prices of many paintings.27 It was at the very time when that war crippled much of Europe financially that Willem Lormier, who found himself in the possession of a large amount of disposable capital on his mother's death in 1737, acquired many of his pictures relatively cheaply.

It can be seen from Lormier's accounts that he purchased roughly one-third of his paintings at auction and the remainder from collectors and art dealers. What one also notices is that he bought a great deal from Flemish dealers. His chief agent and supplier was the painter and dealer Jacques de Roore (i686-I747), who came from Antwerp but lived in The Hague and frequently returned to his birthplace to buy paintings. De Roore had entered into a partnership with Gerard Hoet (i698- I760), another painter-dealer in The Hague.28 Hoet, too, regularly sold works to Lormier, as did the Hague dealer Gerrard Block. In Amsterdam, Lormier often bought from David and Pieter Ietswaart, and in Leiden

from the dealer and innkeeper Pieter Boetens, and from someone called Monje'.9 Unfortunately, he did not mention in his records when he bought a painting from a dealer, so it is impossible to trace the entire evolution of his collection. Also, it is often unclear whether dealers sold to Lormier from their own stock or on behalf of a third party.

As far as can be made out, Lormier acquired paintings at 36 auctions, principally in The Hague (i8), in Amsterdam, which was the center of the international art trade (6), and in Rotterdam (6). He also bought in cities like Leiden (2), Delft (i), Dordrecht (I), Antwerp (i) and Brussels (i). In The Hague, he was often the successful bidder at the public auctions of the Confrerie Pictura, but it is not known whether he was a member of that artists' society, although his brother-in-law Hen- drick van Heteren certainly was.30

Lormier kept the catalogues of the sales he attended, and often noted the names of other buyers in the margins, so in many cases it can be inferred which paintings and buyers interested him.3' Almost the entire collection of Lormier's auction catalogues is now in the Netherlands Institute for Art History in The Hague.32 Such collections are extremely rare, the only compara- ble one from the period in question being that of Johan Aegidiusz van der Marck (Paris, Bibliotheque Na- tionale).33

27 See M.E. Anderson, The War of the Austrian Succession I740- I748, London & New York 1995.

28 On de Roore and Hoet see van Gool, op. cit. (note 15), vol. 2, pp.

92-102. Lormier bought a total of 76 paintings from de Roore and i0 from Hoet. His records show that other suppliers included Jan Baptist Cockx (i6 works) and P.H. Gelys (7), both of Antwerp. For Hoet see Wijsenbeek-Olthuis, op. cit. (note 9), pp. 136, 54i and 270-7i, and Lugt I I 09.

29 Johan van der Marck says that Gerrard Block (Lugt 452), who sold Lormier 28 pictures, was also a bookseller; see the annotated Drabbe sale catalogue (Lugt 574), nr. 82. For David Ietswaart, who sold Lormier 13 works, see also the auction of his stock of more than 9oo paintings on 22 April I749 (Lugt 704), and Bille, op. cit. (note 6), p. 201. For Pieter Boetens see the Personele Quotisatie of 1742 in Lei- den, and the sale catalogue of his paintings (Lugt 1288, copy in Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale), from which it emerges that he was an innkeeper. As a dealer he sold Lormier nine paintings (Lugt 594). "Monj6" may be the painter Louis de Moni, or possibly the person called Monnier who sold several pictures from Lormier's collection to Frederick the Great in 1763; see Sommer, op. cit. (note 17), p. 244.

30 See the minutes of the Confrerie Pictura, The Hague City Archives, Archief van de Confrerie Pictura, inv. nr. 2, pp. 22 and 68

(some of the minutes are missing). See Bille, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 154- 55, for the Pictura auctions in The Hague.

3Y Lormier bought around o50 pictures at sales in the period 1737- 57. The evolution of his collection can be reconstructed in part on the evidence of his own copies of the 1752 catalogue of his collection (Lugt 1307) and annotated sale catalogues, some of the jottings being in his own hand. Two sales in Rotterdam, in August I738 and on i8 April 1743, are not in Lugt.

32 Lormier's collection of sale catalogues includes Lugt 474 (The Hague City Archives), Lugt 66i (Paris, Bibliotheque d'Art et d'Archeologie), and Lugt 480, 482, 490, 537, 540, 555, 576, 58o, 582, 588, 6o6, 636, 638, 659 (RKD, on loan from the Rijksmuseum, Am- sterdam). In addition there are Lugt 137, 406, 5o8, 525 (possibly), 578, 6s8, 638, but Lormier did not buy at those auctions (RKD, on loan from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). This collection of sale catalogues was bought from Martinus Nijhoff of The Hague in March i892 by J.P. van der Kellen, director of the Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam, who was also in charge of the library of the Rijksmuseum (inv. nrs. 3272-35I in the manuscript inventory books of the Rijksmuseum library).

33 A. van der Willigen, Naaml4st van Nederlandsche kunst-catalogi, veelal met derzelver pr4zen en namen, Haarlem 1 873.




8 Gerard ter Borch, Maid milking a cow in a barn. Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum

The first sale at which Lormier is known to have bought work was held in September I737, when the collection of the Hague burgomaster Samuel van Huls came under the hammer. He bid successfully for two paintings for a little under Dfl. 200: one by Pieter Verelst and Gerard ter Borch's Maid milking a cow in a barn (fig. 8). Both were cheap compared to the pictures by Adriaen van der Werff, Pieter van Slingeland, Philips Wouwerman and Adriaen van Ostade, each of which fetched more than Dfl. 6oo.34 Seven months later, in April I738, Lormier bought at two exceptional auctions in Amsterdam, when the collections of Ferdinand, Count of Plettenberg and Wittem, and Baron Schonborn came up for sale.35 Am- sterdam's reputation as a center of the art trade persuad- ed some foreigners to sell their paintings there rather than in their own countries. Lormier bought seven lots at the Plettenberg sale, among them the Musician angels by Peter Paul Rubens (Potsdam, Sanssouci), two small female nudes by Gerard Dou (figs. i9 and 20), Two boys blowing bubbles by Caspar Netscher (London, National Gallery), and Figures with horses by a stable by Paulus Potter (fig. 9).36 There were many expensive works in the sale, including an unidentifiable Last Judgment by Raphael, which found a buyer at the unprecedented price of Dfl. io,000.37 Paintings by masters like Guido

34 Van Huls sale, The Hague, 3 September 1737 (Lugt 474). Lormier bought nrs. 65 and i i9: Gerard ter Borch for Dfl. 140 (Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum), and Pieter Verelst for Dfl. 55. See also G. Hoet and P. Terwesten, Catalogus ofnaamlyst met derzelven prijzen, 3 vols., The Hague 1752-70, vol. I, pp. 478-79, nrs. 87 and 142. The paintings which went for more than Dfl. 6oo were nr. 4, Adriaen van der Werff, Dfl. 975 (Potsdam, Sanssouci), see Sommer, op. cit. (note 17), p. 236, nr. i6i, copy; nr. i i, Pieter van Slingeland, Dfl. I,090 (London, Buckingham Palace), HdG iii, as Dou; nr. 21, Philips Wouwerman, Dfl. 68o, which Lormier later acquired from Gerrard Block (The Hague, Mauritshuis), HdG 937; and nr. 32, Adriaen van Ostade, Dfl. 6oo (London, National Gallery), HdG 397.

35 Plettenberg sale, Amsterdam, 2 April I738 (Lugt 480): Catalogus van het zeer befaamde, uytmuntent heerlyk en Vorstelyk Cabinet Schilderyen, van de Beroemde Meesters; zoo Italiaansche, Fransche, als Nederlandsche.... Alles met veel kosten, vlyt en oordeel by een verzamelt, en Nagelaten door zyn excellentie Ferdinand, Grave van Plettenberg, en Wit- tem; Ridder van 't Gulden-V/ies, geheimen Raad van syn Keizerlyke en Catholyke Majesteit; en desze/fs gedesigneerde Ambassadeur te Romen. &cdc. Dewelke alle, zonder ophouden, zullen verkogt werden te Amster- dam, op Woensdag den 2. April 1738. For the Count of Plettenberg see B.P.J. Broos et al., exhib. cat. Great Dutch paintings from America, The Hague (Mauritshuis), San Francisco (The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco) & Zwolle 1990, pp. 365-66, and S. Wulff, "Zwischen Politik und Plaisir," in F.G. Zehnder (ed.), Das Ideal der Schonheit: Rheinische

Kunst in Barock und Rokoko, Cologne 2000, p. 254. Plettenberg had been the first minister of the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne. Schon- born sale, Amsterdam, i6 April 1738 (Lugt 482): Catalogus van een ongemeen fraay Cabinet... van Italiaansche en Fransche, dog meest van alle de beste Nederlandsche Meesters. Door een voornaam Liefhebber, met veele kosten en moeyte by een verzamelt. For this collection see K. Bott, "'La mia galleria Pommersfeldiana': die Geschichte der Gemalde- sammlung des Lothar Franz von Schonborn," in H. Maue and S. Brink (eds.), exhib. cat. Die Grafen von Schonborn: Kirchenfursten, Sammler, Mdzene, Nuremberg (Germanisches Nationalmuseum) I989, pp. I I8-20.

36 Plettenberg sale, Amsterdam, 2 April 1738 (Lugt 480). Lormier jotted down the letters "R" (possibly standing for de Roore) and "L" (possibly indicating himself) in the margin beside the paintings he bought, which were nr. 40, Rubens, Dfl. 320 (Potsdam, Sanssouci); nr. 5I, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Dfl. 1,020 (formerly Kassel, Gemaldega- lerie, lost in I807); nr. 58, Gerard Dou, Dfl. 380 (St Petersburg, Her- mitage); nr. 59, Gerard Dou, Dfl. 3I0 (St Petersburg, Hermitage); nr. 63, Caspar Netscher, Dfl. 125 (London, National Gallery), HdG 149; nr. 66, Paulus Potter, Dfl. I85 (Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art), HdG 156; nr. 76, Eglon van der Neer, Dfl. 295 (Kingston-upon- Hull, Ferens Art Gallery; with thanks to E. Schavemaker), HdG 92.

37 Plettenberg sale, Amsterdam, 2 April I738 (Lugt 480), nr. I, Raphael, Dfl. I0,000.



The eighteenth-century gentleman dealer Willem Lormier 26i

Reni and Claude Lorrain, which rarely came onto the market, were also expensive.8 Despite the presence of such good paintings, the sale as a whole was not a success, with many works being bought in and others going for prices way below those they had fetched at earlier auctions. Rubens's The meeting of David and Abigail (Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts), for example, had been sold for Dfl. i,400 a few years previously, but now went for a mere Dfl. 690. The Prodigal Son in the brothel by Adriaen van der Werff, which van Gool called the artist's "capital piece," had been purchased by the count for Dfl. 5,ooo but according to van Gool it was bought in at Dfl. I,400.39 Lormier profited from these relatively low prices. The two nudes by Dou, for instance, were as expensive as they had been at an auction in 1722, a mere Dfl. 300 each. That was remarkably low for a Dou, but perhaps it reflected the atypical subject matter.

Lormier bought just one painting at the Schonborn sale, Caspar Netscher's Company making music (fig. 35), which was one of the more expensive pieces at Dfl. 720. There was very little Italian art in the collection, but a reasonable showing of the Flemish school, with work by Rubens, Teniers and Jan Brueghel the Elder. Among the Dutch paintings, beau fini cabinet pieces by Frans van Mieris, Caspar Netscher and others, flower still lifes by Jan van Huysum, and works by Rembrandt, such as his Susanna surprised by the elders (Berlin, Gemaldega- lerie) were the ones that went for the highest prices.40

Jacques de Roore attended the important Fraula sale

9 Paulus Potter, Figures with horses by a stable. Philadelphia, Philadel- phia Museum of Art

38 Plettenberg sale, Amsterdam, 2 April I738 (Lugt 480). Nr. 3, Guido Reni, Dfl. 940 (Warsaw, Royal Palace, destroyed in the Second World War); and nr. 34, Claude Lorrain, Dfl. 715. Antonie Rutgers sent a detailed report on this sale to Landgrave Wilhelm v i i i of Hesse- Kassel; see C.A. von Drach, "Briefe des Kunstsammlers Antonie Rut- gers an den Landgrafen Wilhelm VIII. von Hessen," Oud Holland 8 ( I890), pp. I 87-202. Among other things, Rutgers wrote that collectors in the Republic preferred small Dutch paintings to large Italian ones, which made the latter relatively cheap. Good, authentic works by such painters, however, rarely appeared on the market; ibid., p. i91 . See also F. Lugt, "Italiaansche kunstwerken in Nederlandsche verzamelingen van vroeger tijden," Oud Holland 53 (1936), pp. 97-134, esp. pp. 132- 34-

39 Plettenberg sale, Amsterdam, 2 April 1738 (Lugt 480). The Rubens, nr. 37, had gone for Dfl. I,400 at the Jaques Meyers sale on 9 September 1722; see J.G. van Gelder, "Het kabinet van de heerJaques Meyers," Rotterdamsjaarboekje 2 (1974), pp. i67-83, esp. pp. i68 and

172; R.-A. d'Hulst and M. Vandenven, Rubens: the Old Testament (Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, vol. 3), New York i989, nr. 42, pp. I36-38. The van der Werff was nr. 53, and was bought in at Dfl. 4,000 (formerly Potsdam, Sanssouci, presumed lost in 1945), see B. Gaehtgens, Adriaen van der Wergif 659-I 722, Munich I987, nr. 87, pp. 339-40; van Gool, op. cit. (note 15), vol. 2, p. 396, however, states that the bidding only reached Dfl. 1,400. The pictures which had been bought in were reauctioned in I 743 (Lugt 578), when the van der Werff realized Dfl. 2,800.

40 Schonborn sale, Amsterdam, i6 April 1738 (Lugt 482). Lormier bought nr. 35, Caspar Netscher, for Dfl. 720 (The Hague, Maurits- huis), HdG II5, writing "R." (de Roore) and "L." (Lormier) in the margin. The paintings which sold for more than Dfl. 6oo were nrs. 8 (Rubens), I3, I4 (Jan Brueghel the Elder), 20 David Teniers), 23, 24, 25 (Frans van Mieris), 30 (Pieter van Slingeland), 34 (Adriaen van der Werff), 35 (Caspar Netscher), 6o, 6i (Jan van Huysum), 67 (Rem- brandt; Berlin, Gemaldegalerie, HdG 55).




io Adriaen Brouwer, Peasant brawl. The Hague, Mauritshuis (on loan from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

in Brussels on 2I July 1738 to bid on Lormier's behalf.4' He bought nine, mostly cheap paintings, including a Flight into Egypt by Jan Brueghel the Elder, a portrait by Anthony van Dyck, and Adriaen Brouwer's Peasant brawl (fig. io). Needless to say, the Flemish masters were well represented at this sale, but there were many

Dutch paintings to be had as well. No fewer than i 6 had Rembrandt's name attached to them. Lormier managed to acquire pictures by Jan van Huysum, Adriaen van der Werff and Frans van Mieris, whose Boy blowing bubbles cost him Dfl. 780 (fig. 2). He was also present at several sales in The Hague and Rotterdam that and the following year, where the offerings were mainly of works below Dfl. ioo. His purchases included a Portrait of a man by Rembrandt for a paltry Dfl. 33, and Frans Hals's Shrovetide revelers for Dfl. 7 I, which was a great deal for a Hals at the time.42

Lormier bought many paintings for fairly low prices in the I740s at auctions of celebrated collectors like Bicker van Zwieten, Seger Thierens and Lopez de Liz of The Hague, and Hasselaer and Hoogenbergh of Am- sterdam. The Gerard Bicker van Zwieten sale in I74I was not an unqualified success.43 The relatively low prices paid for the paintings by Adriaen van der Werff prompted Johan van Gool to write: "In the year 1741, Mr Van Zwieten had his entire art cabinet sold at auction, with everything that did not raise enough money being bought in, including the Entombment at Dfl. 2,000 and the Shepherd and shepherdess at Dfl. I,300. Mr Bisschop bought The incredulity of Thomas for Dfl. 1,400, which gave those envious of the man's art cause for merriment."'" All the same, van der Werff's paint-

41 Fraula sale, Brussels, 21 July 1738 (Lugt 488). No fewer than 425 of the paintings found new owners. See also Lugt 549 for a second auction of Fraula's pictures. In 1738 Lormier bought cat. Lormier I752 (Lugt 1307), nr. 4, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Dfl. 450; nr. 38, Adriaen Brouwer, Dfl. 48 (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), HdG i66 (through van Heteren); nr. 75, Anthony van Dyck, Dfl. ioo; nr. 130, Jan van Huy- sum, Dfl. 550; nr. 13I, Jan van Huysum, Dfl. 550; nr. I35, Jan van Huysum, Dfl. 175; nr. 136, Jan van Huysum, Dfl. 175; nr. 173, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dfl. 780 (The Hague, Mauritshuis), HdG 229; nr. 36i, Adriaen van der Werff, Dfl. 266 (Berlin, Gemaldegalerie), see Gaehtgens, op. cit. (note 39), pp. 356-57, nrs. 100 (2) and ioi.

42 Herman Schuurman sale, Rotterdam, 2 April 1739 (Lugt 5oi). Lormier bought nr. i5, Rembrandt, Dfl. 33, HdG 787g, which is not mentioned in either cat. Lormier 1752 or the list of paintings sold; nr. I7, Frans Hals, Dfl. 7I, cat. Lormier 1752 (Lugt 1307), nr. 107, for Dfl. 75, HdG I37g. The latter work does not match S. Slive, Frans Hals, 3 vols., London & New York 1974, vol. 3, cat. nr. 5 (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Most of the approximately 30 paintings by Hals listed in Hoet and Terwesten, op. cit. (note 34) for the period i676-1752 cost Dfl. 20 or less. Lormier also bought at the A.L. sale in Rotterdam in August I738 (not in Lugt): cat. Lormier 1752 (Lugt 1307), nr. 77, Abraham Diepraam. At the Joan de Vries sale, The Hague, 13 October 1738 (Lugt 490), he acquired cat. Lormier I752 (Lugt 1307), nr. i44, Melchior d'Hondecoeter. His acquisitions at the

Ben Johan Furly sale, Rotterdam, 3' March I739 (Lugt 500) were nr. 7, Philips Wouwerman, and cat. Lormier 1752, nr. 87, Marcus Gee- raerts the Younger. A sale in Rotterdam on 8 April 1739 (Lugt 502) yielded cat. Lormier 1752 (Lugt 1307), nrs. 42, Nicolaes Berchem, and 309, Ursela.

43 The remaining paintings went into a second auction after the death of Gerard Bicker van Zwieten (i687-1753), once again with dis- appointing results. The first sale was held in The Hague on 12 April I741 (Lugt 537), the second on 4 April 1755, also in The Hague (Lugt 874); see Hoet and Terwesten, op. cit. (note 34) vol. 3, p. I I4-21. The Bicker family originally came from Amsterdam; see S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, "Een nieuwe generatie Bicker-de Graeff geportreteerd," Maand- bladAmstelodamum 88 (2001), pp. i-i6, esp. p. 15.

44 Van Gool, op. cit. (note I5), vol. 2, p. 396: "In 't jaer I74I liet de Heer Van Zwieten zyn gansch Kunstkabinet veilen, en ophouden al wat niet genoeg gelden mocht, onder anderen de Graflegging voor 2000 gulden, en den Harder en Harderinne voor I 300 guldens. De ongelovi- gen Thomas kocht de Heer Bisschop voor 1400 guldens, hetgeen den benyders van 's Mans Kunst stof tot lagchen gaf." For the paintings by van der Werff mentioned by van Gool see Gaehtgens, op. cit. (note 39), pp. 303, 343-44 and 250-5 i. They are now in the Hermitage, St Peters- burg, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the collection of Alfred Ba- der, Milwaukee, Art Museum.




ii Anthony van Dyck,Johan ofNassau-Siegen and hisfamily. Trustees of the Firle Estate Settlement Trust

i2 Gerard Dou, The kitchen maid. Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle

ings were still the most expensive in the sale. Only a very large canvas by Anthony van Dyck, Johan of Nas- sau-Siegen and his family (fig. i I), and The artist's studio cost more, at Dfl. 5,ooo and Dfl. 2,500 respectively.45 Considerably cheaper than most of the van der Werffs were Rubens's Bathsheba at the fountain (Dresden, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister) and Rembrandt's large Equestrian portrait of Frederick Rihel (London, National Gallery) which went for Dfl. 7oo and Dfl. 90.46 Both

paintings had been sold three years previously and had not since risen in price. At the auction, a well-known connoisseur, Anthonie Rutgers, had advised his client, Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel, on possible purchases, and said that the unusual painting by Rembrandt was not worth a second's attention.47

Lormier bought mainly cabinet pieces by the Dutch Feinmaler at the van Zwieten sale: three by Frans van Mieris and one each by Dou, Netscher, Schalcken, van

45 Bicker van Zwieten sale, The Hague, 12 April 1741 (Lugt 537), nr. 22, Anthony van Dyck, Dfl. 5,000. Lormier added a note in the margin in pen: "van dyk voor graaff Maurits van Nassau" (Trustees of the Firle Estate Settlement Trust); see C. Brown and H. Vlieghe (eds.), exhib. cat. Van Dyck I599-1641, Antwerp (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten) & London (Royal Academy of Arts) 1999, p. 268, nr. 76. Nr. 51 in the sale, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dfl. 2,500, is not the painting lost in Dresden in 1945; see 0. Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635-1681) the Elder, 2 vols., Doornspijk i98i, vol. I, p. 2I, nrs. I9a

and c. 46 Bicker van Zwieten sale, The Hague, 12 April 1741 (Lugt 537),

nr. 34, Rubens, Dfl. 700 (Dresden, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister), see d'Hulst and Vandenven, op. cit. (note 39), vol. 3, pp. 140-42, nr. 44; nr. I35, Rembrandt, Dfl. go (London, National Gallery), see HdG 772, the Equestrian portrait of Frederick Rihel. Both paintings had been auctioned three years previously at the Plettenberg sale of 2 April I738 (Lugt 480), nrs. 38 and 130.

47 See von Drach, op. cit. (note 38), p. 195.




13 Caspar Netscher, The masquerade. Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsamm- lungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe

14 Willem Lormier's coat of arms o rim er

| 5 I Antoine Watteau, [The embarkation for Cythera. Berlin, Schloss Charlotten- burg, Stiftung Preussische Schlosser und Garten Berlin-Brandenburg

der Werff and van Tol.48 Of these, only van Mieris's Death of Lucretia, Dou's Kitchen maid (fig. I2) and Netscher's Masquerade (fig. 13) were expensive, but a few years later Lormier sold the latter two at a considerable profit. On the back of the Death of Lucretia is a seal with Willem Lormier's coat of arms, which is also af- fixed to other paintings from his collection (fig. 14).49

In I74i Lormier also succeeded in acquiring several paintings which had belonged to the Antwerp dealer Ja-

48 At the Bicker van Zwieten sale, The Hague, I2 April 1741 (Lugt 537), Lormier bought nr. 50, Jan Brueghel the Elder and Hendrick van Balen, Dfl. 225; nr. 52, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dfl. 875 (London, Johnny Van Haeften Ltd), see Naumann, op. cit. (note 45), nr. i I6; nr. 54, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dfl. 570 (Paris, Louvre), see Naumann, op. cit. (note 45), nr. I 14; nr. 57, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dfl. 425 (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), see Naumann, op. cit. (note 45), nr. I I9; nr. 66, Gerard Dou, Dfl. 1,290 (Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle); nr. 75, Adriaen van der Werff, Dfl. 290 (formerly Potsdam, Sanssouci), see Gaehtgens, op. cit. (note 39), p. 269, nr. 44, copy i; nr. 85, Caspar Netscher, Dfl. 875 (Kassel, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister); nr. 153, Godfried Schalcken, Dfl. 435; nr. I90, Willem and Adriaen van de Velde, Dfl. 104; and nr. 237, Dominicus van Tol, Dfl. 139.

49 On the wax seal with Willem Lormier's coat of arms are three elms (lorme being the French for elm) and the letters W and L; see A. Rietstap, Armorial general, 3 vols., Gouda I887, vol. 2, p. 98. Frans van Mieris's Tuning the lute (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) and Rembrandt's Holy Family with a curtain (Kassel, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister) also have this seal. See note Ioi.




como de Wit, an uncle of the painter Jacob de Wit.50 His purchases at that auction included a Stag hunt by Philips Wouwerman (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), who was the best represented of the Dutch artists with 12 works. A year later he also did good business at the sale of the Amsterdam collector Hasselaer,51 buying the only expensive lot, Gerard ter Borch's Duet (Aylesbury, Wad- desdon Manor), which was a very celebrated piece at the time. He also acquired works byJacobJordaens, Gabriel Metsu, Adriaen van Ostade, Carel de Moor, Nicolaes Berchem, Jan Steen and Adriaen van Gaesbeeck.52 Not a single painting in the 1743 auction of the insolvent estate of the Portuguese-Jewish collector Jacob Francesco Lopez de Liz fetched much money, although it did contain important works.53 The only one that Lormier bought was The embarkation for Cythera by Antoine

Watteau (fig. I5).54 Eighteenth-century French works were rare in the Republic, and the presence of such a Watteau in a Dutch sale was quite exceptional. Even so, it only cost Dfl. 485, but perhaps Watteau was not that famous in Holland at the time.

In that same year Lormier bought nine fairly cheap paintings from the collection of Floris Drabbe, among them the Beach scene with fishermen by Ludolf Bakhuy- sen (London, National Gallery) which cost only Dfl. 5 ', and Gabriel Metsu's Man and woman sharing a meal (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) for Dfl. I90.55 A few days later he bought two more Metsus at the Isaak Hoogen- bergh sale: The Prodigal Son (St Petersburg, Hermitage) for Dfl. ioo, and A woman washing her hands (fig. i 6) for no less than Dfl. 8oo, the most expensive lot in the auction.56 This high-quality painting was praised in the

5o For Jacomo de Wit see G. van den Hout and R. Schillemans (eds.), exhib. cat. Putti en cherubi/ntjes: het religieuze werk van Jacob de Wit (i695-i754), Amsterdam (Museum Amstelkring) & Haarlem I995, pp. I9-20 and 29. At the Jacomo de Wit sale, Antwerp, 15 May 1741 (Lugt 540) Lormier bought nr. Io6, Adriaen Brouwer, Dfl. 140, marginal annotation: "WL 140"; nr. 117, Philips Wouwerman, Dfl. 234, marginal annotation: "WL 234" (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), see HdG 614 (through van Heteren); nr. I26, Gerard Dou and Carel de Moor, Dfl. 200, marginal annotation: "WL 200" (Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle), see HdG s95e, and Lauts, op. cit. (note I9), p. 2I5, nr. 284 (as de Moor).

51 For Hasselaer (1701-43) seeJ. van der Veen, "Galerij en kabinet, vorst en burger: schilderijencollecties in de Nederlanden," in E. Bergvelt et al. (eds.), Verzamelen: van rariteitenkabinet tot kunstmuseum, Heerlen I993, pp. I6I-63.

52 At the Hasselaer sale, Amsterdam, 26 April 1742 (Lugt 555) Lormier bought nr. 2, Jacob Jordaens, Dfl. 95, marginal annotation in pen: "de Roore 72 W.L. 95" ('s Hertogenbosch, Noordbrabants Muse- um), see R.A. d'Hulst, Jacob Jordaens, Stuttgart I982, p. 142; nr. 5, Gabriel Metsu, Dfl. 300, marginal annotation: "de Roore voor W.L. 300" (Montpellier, Musee Fabre), HdG 35, see F.W. Robinson, Gabriel Metsu (I629-I667): a study of his place in Dutch genre painting of the golden age, New York I974, p. I63, fig. I05; nr. Io, Adriaen van Os- tade, Dfl. 490, marginal annotation: "de Roore voor W.L. 490"; nr. I I, Gerard ter Borch, Dfl. 670, marginal annotation: "de Roore voor W.L 670" (Aylesbury, Waddesdon Manor), HdG 140; nr. i6, Carel de Moor, Dfl. I65, marginal annotation: "de Roore voor W.L.I65"; nr. I7, Nicolaes Berchem, Dfl. I90, marginal annotation in pen: "de Roore 135 W.L. I90"; nr. 22,Jan Steen, Dfl. 300 (St Petersburg, Hermitage), HdG 797; nr. 26, Adriaen van Gaesbeeck, Dfl. 200, marginal annotation: "de Roore i 6o W.L. 200". Lormier bought six pictures at the sale of Michiel van Hoeken and Theodoor Hartsoeker, The Hague, I May 1742 (Lugt 556, copy in Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, annotated by Johan van der Marck): nr. I, Philips Wouwerman, nrs. 3 and 5, Jan Brueghel the Elder, nrs. i I and I2, Nicolaes Berchem, and nr. i8, Ge- rard de Lairesse. See Hoet and Terwesten, op. cit. (note 34), vol. 2, pp.

54-63. 53 Lopez de Liz sale, The Hague, 12 March I743 (Lugt 572). See E.

van Biema, "Episoden uit het leven van Francesco Lopez de Liz, naar bescheiden uit de archieven,"_Jaarboek Die Haghe I914-I5, The Hague 1915, pp. i63-225.

54 The Watteau, which Lopez de Liz had bought in France, was nr. 369 in his sale. See G. Jansen, "Franse schilderkunst in Nederlands bezit," in P. Rosenberg et al., exhib. cat. Franse schilderkunst uit Neder- lands bezit, i6oo-i80o, Rotterdam (Museum Boijmans Van Beunin- gen) 1992-93, pp. 23 and 39-40.

55 Floris Drabbe sale, Leiden, I April 1743 (Lugt 574: copy in Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, annotated by Johan van der Marck). Lormier bought nr. 8, Philips Wouwerman, Dfl. i95, HdG 13; nr. 13, Gabriel Metsu, Dfl. igo, marginal annotation: "De Hr Lormier f igo" (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), HdG i67, see Robinson, op. cit. (note 52), p. I41, fig. 72; nrs. 14 and 15, Carel de Moor; nr. ig, Adriaen van de Velde, Dfl. 255, marginal annotation: "De Hr Lormier f 255,-"; nr. 28, Jan van der Heyden and Adriaen van de Velde, Dfl. i65, marginal annotation: "De Hr Lormier f i65,-", HdG 40; nr. 32, Carel de Moor, Dfl. 27, marginal annotation: "De Hr Lormier f 27,-"; nr. 35, Johannes Lingelbach, marginal annotation: "De Hr Lormier"; nr. 5i, Ludolf Bakhuysen, Dfl. 5I, marginal annotation: "De Hr Lormier f 5i,-", see HdG 230, and C. Brown, The Dutch school, i6oo-i900, 2 vols., London 199i, nr. 8i8.

56 Lormier bought nrs. 9, i8, 22, 24, 34, 38, 43, 52, 57 at the Hoogenbergh sale, Amsterdam, io April 1743 (Lugt 576), writing "W. Lormier" in the margin in each case. Nr. 9, Hans Rottenhammer and Jan Brueghel the Elder, Dfl. I90, unidentified; nr. i8, Gabriel Metsu, Dfl. 8oo, (private collection; with thanks to A. Waiboer), see HdG I 89, and Robinson, op. cit. (note 52), p. 182, fig. 136; nr. 22, Adriaen van de Velde, Dfl. 380, unidentified; nr. 24, Carel de Moor, Dfl. 205, unidentified; nr. 34, Gabriel Metsu, Dfl. ioo (St Petersburg, Hermitage), HdG i87, Robinson, op. cit. (note 52), p. I09, fig. i6; nr. 38,Jan Steen, Dfl. o50 (The Hague, Mauritshuis), HdG 130; nr. 43, Jan Steen, Dfl. I90 (Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland), HdG 285; nr. 52, Adriaen van de Velde, Dfl. 46, unidentified; nr. 57, Herman Saftleven, unidentified. On i8 April 1743 Lormier bought two paintings attributed to Veronese at a Rotterdam sale not mentioned in Lugt; cat. Lormier 1752 (Lugt 1307), nrs. 302 and 303 for Dfl. 98 and Dfl. 70, unidentified.




i6 Gabriel Metsu, A woman washing her hands. Private collection




auction catalogue as "painted most delicately and nobly" ("uytnement teder en eel geschildert"). Metsu's touch could be both delicate and loose, and in general his elegant, detailed works were more expensive than the creamy ones. Another factor which may have driven the price up is Houbraken's description of the picture when it was in the famous van Schuylenburg collection.57

In I743 Lormier also attended the auction of the smallish collection of Cornelis van Lill of Dordrecht, where his purchases included The calling of Matthew by Nicolaes Berchem and Jan Baptist Weenix (The Hague, Mauritshuis).58 A much larger auction held that year was that of Seger Thierens in The Hague. Among the 377 paintings on offer were several Italian works in which Lormier was very interested, and he added a Venus and Cupid attributed to Raphael to his collection for Dfl. 300, along with a so-called Veronese for Dfl. 200.59 He was almost the only buyer at a small auction in The Hague in 1744, purchasing i I of the 14 pictures on offer, not one of which cost him very much. Gerard Dou's Boy with a mouse-trap (fig. I7) and Paulus Pot- ter's Cattle near a sheep-byre (fig. i8) were knocked down for Dfl. 200 and Dfl. i 8o respectively, but he only paid Dfl. 57 for Jacob van Ruisdael's Sluice (Los Ange- les, The J. Paul Getty Museum), which reflected the contemporary lack of appreciation for that master.6o

Lormier still bought paintings regularly in the period I744-48, but after that his collecting activities de-

I7 Gerard Dou, Boy with a mouse-trap. Present whereabouts unknown

57 A. Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konst- schilders en schilderessen, 3 vols., Amsterdam 1718-2I, vol. 3, p. 41.

58 At the sale of the paintings of Cornelis van Lill in Dordrecht on i8 June I743 (Lugt 580), Lormier bought nr. i, Jan Baptist Weenix and Nicolaes Berchem, Dfl. 550, marginal annotation: "WL 550" (The Hague, Mauritshuis), see F.J. Duparc, "Een teruggevonden schilderij van N. Berchem en J.B. Weenix," Oud Holland 94 (ig8o), pp. 37-43, and B. Broos, Meesterwerken in het Mauritshuis, The Hague i987, pp. 46-53; nr. 6, Nicolaes Berchem, Dfl. 250, marginal annotation: "WL 250"; nr. 7, Adriaen van de Velde, Dfl. 275, marginal annotation: "WL 275"; nr. 8, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Dfl. 350, marginal annotation: "WL 350"; nr. 12, Godfried Schalcken, Dfl. 205, marginal annotation: "WL 205", HdG 59a; and nr. 13, Godfried Schalcken, Dfl. 200, marginal annotation: "WL 200", HdG i85.

59 Lormier passed up the chance to acquire Jan Steen's Feast of St

Nicholas, which was bought by his brother-in-law van Heteren for Dfl. 695. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

6o Auctioneer's sale, The Hague, 25 February 1744 (Lugt 588), Catalogus Van een Uytmuntend Partytje Konstige en Plaisante Schilderyen van voorname Nederlandsche Meesters... de welke in 's Hage verkogt sullen werden op Dinsdag den 25. Februari I 744 Ten huyse van den Vendumeester Hendrik Verheyden,... De Catalogus zyn te bekomen ten Huyse van den Vendumeester. Lormier bought nrs. i-6 and 8-I2, all apart from nrs. I and 4 costing him less than Dfl. ioo. Lormier jotted down his initials and the price he had paid in each case. Nr. i, Gerard Dou, Dfl. 200; nr. 4, Paulus Potter, Dfl. i8o (Manchester, City Art Galleries), HdG i i9; nr. 6,Jacob van Ruisdael, Dfl. 57, see cat. Lormier 1752 (Lugt I307), nr. 237 (Los Angeles, TheJ. Paul Getty Museum). None of the 65 or so paintings by Ruisdael listed in Hoet and Terwes- ten for the period i676-I752 cost more than Dfl. 8o.




i8 Paulus Potter, Cattle near a sheep-byre. Manchester, Manchester City Art Galleries

clined.6' The reason for this is unclear. There are no in- dications to be gleaned from the archives, but his age may have played a part, for he was now 66. His collection had grown to some 400 paintings, and perhaps he no longer had the means to carry on buying. He did at-

tend a few auctions in the last ten years of his life (1748- 58), but generally bought no more than a single work, and rarely one of any importance.62 He may also have been put off by the fact that the prices of paintings rose rapidly after the end of the War of the Austrian Succes- sion. For instance, when the famous cabinet of Johan Hendrik van Wassenaer van Obdam (i683-1745) was sold in I750, the prices were driven up sharply by the keen interest. The most expensive paintings went for prices between Dfl. 875 and Dfl. 2,i60.63

LORMIER 'S FOREIGN CLIENTS: VOYER D ARGEN-

SON, 1748 Foreign buyers seem to have been driven away from Dutch auctions of paintings by the War of the Austrian Succession, but after I748 the names of dealers and collectors from abroad once again begin appearing with some regularity in the margins of auction catalogues and documents relating to art transactions. People from Germany, France, England, Russia and elsewhere came to the Republic to buy paintings.

At the same time, Dutch dealers were exporting art. Gerard Hoet noted around I750 that, in contrast to the sluggish domestic demand, foreign interest was very high. "...and the profits I make in the domestic trade are so meager that they would barely amount to ioo

6i At the sale of the Countess of Albemarle in The Hague on 26 Oc- tober 1744 (Lugt 6o6), Lormier bought nrs. i i, Pieter Codde; and 23, Gerard de Lairesse and Bertholet Fl1mal. At the van Dishoek sale, The Hague, 9June 1745 (Lugt 620), he bought nrs. 13, Peter Gysels; i4 and i5, Philips Wouwerman; i8 and i9, Jan Steen; 57, Godfried Schal- cken; and possibly 117, Karel Breydel. At the C. van Wolffen sale, Lei- den, 3i August I745 (Lugt 62X), he bought nrs. i and 4,Jan Steen; 14, Jacob Ochtervelt; and 44, Roelant Savery. His acquisitions at theJacob Boreel sale, Amsterdam, 2i April 1746 (Lugt 636), were nrs. 7 and 8, Philips Wouwerman; and 25, Sebastiaen Vrancx. At the Cloribus sale, The Hague, 27 July I746 (Lugt 640) they were cat. Lormier 1752, nrs. 55 and 56, Karel Breydel; 59 and 6o, Herri met de Bles; io6, Hans Hol- bein the Younger; 272 and 273, Herman Saftleven. His purchases at the de la Faille sale, The Hague, 5 October 1746 (Lugt 644) were nrs. 35, David Vinckboons; 40, Daniel Vertangen; and 41, Adam Elsheimer and Lucas van Leyden (?). At the Francis Trimble sale, Rotterdam, 5 April 1747 (Lugt 659), Lormier bought nr. 7, Melchior d'Honde- coeter: At the Franqois van Hessel sale, Amsterdam, i April I747 (Lugt 66i) he bought nr. i, Jan Steen. At the Jacques de Roore sale, The Hague, 4 September I747 (Lugt 672) he bought nrs. 94, Jan van Staveren; 133 and 134, Nicolaes Veerendael.

62 After the Pieter van Buytene sale, Delft, 29 October 1748 (Lugt 69i), Lormier bought nr. 4, Philips Wouwerman. At the Netscher and Schouman sale, The Hague, i5 July 1749 (Lugt 707) he bought cat. Lormier 1752, nr. 265,Jan Steen. At the Count van Wassenaer van Ob- dam sale, The Hague, ig August 1750 (Lugt 736), he bought nrs. 40,

Adriaen van Ostade and II i4, Joachim Wtewael. At the Philip van Dijk sale, The Hague, 13 June 1753 (Lugt 813), he bought cat. Lormier 1752, nr. I22a, Melchior d'Hondecoeter added by him in pen. At the van Haensbergen sale, The Hague, I9June I755 (Lugt 883), he bought cat. Lormier 1752, nrs. 7ia, Gerard Dou, and s56a, Luca Giordano, which he added to the catalogue in pen. At the Borwater sale, The Hague, 2I July 1756 (Lugt 927), he bought cat. Lormier 1752, nrs. 6ia, Jacob Bogdani; I 87c, Jan Mortel; 33 I a and b, Arie de Vois, all added by him in pen. At the Terwesten sale, The Hague, 20 September 1757 (Lugt 970), he bought cat. Lormier 1752, nrs. i 87d and e, Jan Mortel, both added by him in pen.

63 Govert van Slingelandt wrote to Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel on the occasion of the van Wassenaer sale: "Tout y a &6 d'une chert6 affreuse"; see E. Herzog, Die Gemaldegalerie der Staatlichen Kunst- sammilungen Kassel, Kassel i969, p. 26. The highest prices at the sale, The Hague, I9 August 1750 (Lugt 736) were paid for nr. i6, Gerard Dou, Dfl. 1,710 (Paris, Louvre), HdG I79; nr. 21,Jan Brueghel the El- der, Dfl. iI6o; nr. 25, Philips Wouwerman, Dfl. 875 (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), HdG 476 or possibly 5o6; nr. 26, Adriaen van der Werff, Dfl. 750; nr. 37, Adriaen van Ostade, Dfl. gio (London, Nation- al Gallery), HdG 397; nr. 39, Adriaen van Ostade, Dfl. 2,I60 (in the collection of Leopold de Rothschild in igio), see HdG 799 or 8oo; nr. 67, Hans Rottenhammer and Jan Brueghel the Elder, Dfl. I,51o (The Hague, Mauritshuis), see B. Broos, Intimacies and intrigues: history painting in the Mauritshuis, The Hague 1993, pp. 291-97 (as Rotten- hammer and Bril).




guilders were I to draw up the balance. I actually buy more from the art-lovers than they from me. If one asks: Where are the paintings, if it is true that the demand is so low here at home? It should be known that I do most of my business abroad."64

For some collectors, Willem Lormier among them, the foreign demand was probably the reason for selling paintings for a profit. Van Gool strongly disapproved of the practice, and praised the true lovers of art who would not dream of selling their treasures to a foreigner. He was afraid that the art of the most famous Dutch masters would be lost to the country for good as a result of the growing exports, which made him one of the first to be concerned about the preservation of the nation's cultural heritage. "I consider the noblest lovers of art... to be those who do not sell their artistic marvels for any price, the most excellent among them being those who have the power and means to refuse a thousand guineas for two pieces as compensation, so that the art of the most celebrated masters will not be sent out of the country, which is to be feared, forcing us to go to others to search for that which we once owned ourselves."65

It can be seen from Willem Lormier's meticulous records of his art transactions (see Appendix A, figs. 39-

43, for that document, and Appendix B for a catalogue of the paintings he sold) that between 1748 and his death in I758 he disposed of 6o of the 400 or so paintings he had acquired in the previous decade. They made him a total profit of Dfl. 45,ooo. His own purchases in this period were few and far between.66

Lormier's main customer was the Frenchman Marc- Rene Voyer, marquis d'Argenson (1722-82). At the beginning of the eighteenth century, only a few aristocratic French collectors were interested in Dutch paintings, one being the comtesse de Verrue.67 Al- though paintings had been exported from the Republic to France since the seventeenth century, most of them ended up in bourgeois collections.68 It was only with the major sale of the comtesse's collection in I737, and especially after the end of the War of the Austrian Succes- sion, when aristocrats who had been involved in the occupation of Flanders took Dutch paintings back to Paris, that there was a strong and growing interest in Dutch art among aristocratic collectors.

French dealers regularly traveled north to buy art, like the well-known Parisian Edme-Fran~ois Gersaint, who visited the Republic five times between I733 and 1740.69 The war then made the import of paintings difficult, but the demand continued unabated. In the I750s,

64 G. Hoet, Brief aan een' Vrient, The Hague ca. I751, p. 25,

reprinted in de Vries, op. cit. (note 25), p. 225: "...ook is de winst die ik met den binnelandschen handel doe zoo gering, dat ze naaulyks hondert guldens zoude bedragen indien ik het opmaakte. Zelfs koop ik hier meerder van de Lieffiebbers dan zy van my. Zal men des vragen, waar blyven de Schilderyen zoo 't waar zy dat den trek hier te lande zoo gering is? moet men weten dat ik myn' meesten handel buiten 't Lant dryve."

65 Van Gool, op. cit. (note 25), p. 7, reprinted in de Vries, op. cit. (note 25), p. 228: "Maer de edelmoedigste Liefhebbers oordeel ik..., die hunne kunstwonderen tot geen prys te koop houden, waer onder uitblinken, die de kracht en 't vermogen bezitten om duizent guinea's voor twee stukken te kunnen weigeren, ter vergoeding, dat de Kunst der beroemtste Meesters, gelyk te duchten is, niet ten enemael uit het Landt verzonden werdt, en wy by anderen zullen moeten gaen zoeken, dat wy zelfs bezeten hebben." See also van Gool, op. cit. (note 25), pp. I9 and 23 for passages dealing with the export of Dutch art.

66 The 29 paintings which Lormier bought in the period I748-58 are also listed in his accounts. One of the most remarkable acquisitions from that period was Gerard Houckgeest's Tomb of William the Silent in Delft (The Hague, Mauritshuis), which he bought in 1757 for Dfl. 94.

67 A. Thibaudeau, "Lettre a l'auteur," in C. Blanc, Le Tresor de la curiosity tire des catalogues de vente, 2 vols., Paris I857, vOl. I, pp. i- cxxxiii, esp. pp. xliv and cxii-cxxii; H. Gerson, Ausbreitung und Nach- wirkung der holldndischen Malerei des IT. Jahrhunderts, Amsterdam

i983 (ed. princ. Haarlem 1942), pp. 61-75: "Hollandische Bilder in Franzosischen SammIungen"; E. Duverger, "Reflexions sur le com- merce d'art au xv i i ie siecle," in Stil und Ueberlieferung in der Kunst des Abendlandes: Akten des 2I. Internationalen Kongresses fur Kunst- geschichte in Bonn i964, 3 vols., Berlin i967, v01. 3, pp. 65-88; K. Pomi- an, Collectors and curiosities; Paris and Venice 1550-i800, Cambridge 1990, pp. 139-68; B. Scott, "The Comtesse de Verrue, a lover of Dutch and Flemish art," Apollo 97 (I973), pp. 20-24; D. Hempelmann (ed.), exhib. cat. Jean Simnon Chardin, i699-I779: Werk, Herkunft, Wirkung, Karlsruhe (Staatliche Kunsthalle) 1999, p. 59, gives a brief survey of the "first generation" of French collectors of Dutch art in the years I720-30.

68 See G. Wildenstein, "Le goat pour la peinture dans le cercle de la bourgeoisie parisienne autour de 1700," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 98 (I956-II), pp. 113-95, esp. pp. 124 and I33-34.

69 V.L. Atwater, A catalogue and analysis of eighteenth-century French prints after Netherlandish Baroque paintings (diss.), 4 vols., Uni- versity of Washington I988, vol. I, pp. 302-03. Commencing in the 1720S, the Mercure de France carried reports about dealers and collectors who brought art to France from the Republic. For the purchases of paintings and shells which Edme-Francois Gersaint made in the Netherlands see, for instance, the Mercure of 1735, p. 2460, and of 1739, pp. 2440-42. Duverger, op. cit. (note 67), pp. 73-79, discusses Gersaint's activities, but see also J. Heidner, "Edme-Francois Ger- saint: neuflettres au comte Carl Gustav Tessin 1743-I748," Archives de l'Art Franfais 26 (I984), pp. I85-96.




putting together a collection of Dutch cabinet pieces became a craze with the Parisian nobility, although this was not to everyone's liking. "Almost all our cabinets nowadays are filled with these small Flemish and Dutch paintings, and although they are admirable for their delicate manner of execution and charming palette, the mind finds nothing in them to truly occupy it. The beauty is merely superficial and fleeting. But do not fear that this fashion will take firm root; it will pass and make way for a more refined and purer taste."70

The best-known French collections of the I 750s were those of the duc d'Orleans, the comte de Vence, Blondel de Gagny, the duc de Choiseul and Jean de Julienne. According to the artists' biographer J.-B. Descamps, the French had become better acquainted with Dutch and Flemish painting during the occupation of Flanders in I 746-48.7

An early collection of Dutch and Flemish art which has been largely overlooked in the literature belonged to Marc-Rene Voyer d'Argenson, a son of the minister of war under whom the French occupied Flanders.72 The young Voyer served in the French army there. He is mentioned frequently in Descamps's La vie des peintres flamands, allemands et hollandais, which in addition to the biographies of artists contains extensive lists of paintings by many Dutch artists and their whereabouts. From this it can be deduced that Voyer must have had a large collection in his house at Asnieres near Paris. His name also appears regularly in the Galerie des peintres flamands, hollandais et allemands by the Paris art dealer J.-B.-P. Lebrun, which was published 40 years later.

I9 Gerard Dou, Nude woman in a landscape. St Petersburg, Hermitage

Lebrun regarded him as one of the people who had introduced the fashion for Dutch art in France. "During the last war in Flanders and Germany, the marquis Voyer, who served in our army, brought back several

70 P. Remy and J.-B. Glomy, Catalogue raisonne des Tableaux, sculp- tures... qui composent le Cabinet defeu Monsieur le Duc de Tallard, Paris 1756, p. 4 (Lugt 9IO): "Presque tous nos Cabinets ne sont presente- ment remplis que de ces petits Tableaux Flamands & Hollandois, admirable i la verite par la finesse de l'execution, & le gracieux du coloris; mais dans la composition desquels l'esprit ne trouve point i s'occuper solidement, ils ne lui presentent que des beautes superficielles & mo- mentanees. Mais ne craignons pas que ce gout de mode jette de plus fortes racines; il passera & sera place i un gouit plus suir & plus epure."

71 Many French collectors, such as the duc d'Orleans, also had good Italian paintings. See C. Stryienski, La Galerie du Regent Philippe Duc d 'Orleans, Paris I 913. J.-B. Descamps, La vie des peintresflamands, allemands et hollandais, 4 vols., Paris I 753-64, vol. I, p. vii: "On ne con- noissoit avant la derniere guerre qu'une partie des Peintres Flamands, Allemands & Hollandois. Le sejour que nos Troupes ont fait en Flan- dre, a donne lieu aux Amateurs d'etendre leurs connaisances & de rechercher les Tableaux des plus celebres Maitres." See also A.J.

Dezallier d'Argenville, Abrigi de la vie des plus fameux peintres, 3 vols., 1745-52, vol. 3, pp. iv-v, and idem, Abregi de la vie des plusfameux peintres, 4 vols., Paris I762, vol. 3, p. 179, who brought Dutch art to wider notice. It is noteworthy that both d'Argenville and Descamps, writing in the 1750s, said that Dutch art had not been collected for long in France, whereas one gets the impression from archival research, such as that of Wildenstein, op. cit. (note 68), that Dutch paintings, albeit mainly by unknown artists, were entering Paris collections by around 1700.

72 Marc Rene de Voyer Marquis d'Argenson was "Marechal des Camps et Armees du Roy, Lieutenant General de la Haute et Basse Al- sace, Inspecteur General de la Cavalerie"; see Dictionnaire de biographic franfaise, vol. 3, Paris I939, pp. 54I-43. A.-J. Dezallier d'Argenville, Voyage pittoresque des environs de Paris, Paris 1762, pp. 8-9. Voyer's father was minister of war and his uncle minister of foreign affairs; see Anderson, op. cit. (note 27), pp. I 56 and 158-59.



The eighteenth-century gentleman dealer Willem Lormier 27I

20 Gerard Dou, Nude woman combing her hair. St Petersburg, Hermitage

2i Gerard Dou, Male nude. St Petersburg, Hermitage

masterpieces by Dutch artists to France. The comtesse de Verrue had already collected a number which were sufficiently well chosen for that art to be appreciated. But what was seen when the marquis Voyer returned finally opened people's eyes."73

On 21 June 1748, Lormier sold Voyer d'Argenson I7 paintings for the huge sum of Dfl. 2I,525. It was his largest and most successful transaction. He had paid only Dfl. 12,369 for them, so he made a profit of more than Dfl. 9,ooo. Almost all of the paintings were the pick of the collection, and included works by Dou, Metsu,

Rembrandt, ter Borch, Netscher, Jan van Huysum and Philips Wouwerman. This choice of mostly very delicately painted cabinet pieces and a single supposed Rembrandt mirrored the taste of the day.74

One of the six paintings by Dou which Voyer bought was The kitchen maid (cat. nr. 9, fig. 12). Despite paying the sizable sum of Dfl. i,290 for it at the van Zwieten sale in I741, Lormier sold it to Voyer for Dfl. I,950, SO it made him a very healthy profit. The small work was praised in the I741 catalogue for its detail and "fine accessories."75 It seems that the more detailed and varied

73 J.-B.-P. Lebrun, Galerie des peintresflamands, hollandais et allemands, ouvrage enrichi de deux cent une planches avec un texte explicatif; 3 vols., Paris & Amsterdam 1792-96, vol. I, p. viii: "...ce fut i 1' epoque des dernieres guerres de Flandres et d'Allemagne, que le marquis de Voyer, qui servait dans nos armees rapporta en France plusieurs chefs- d'oeuvre de ces artistes habiles. Deja la comtesse de Verrue en avait rassemble un nombre assez bien choisi pour les faire apprecier. Ce qu'on vit au retour du marquis de Voyer, acheva de faire ouvrir les

yeux." 74 B. Cornelis, "Arnold Houbraken's Groote schouburgh and the

canon of seventeenth-century Dutch painting," Simiolus 26 (i998), pp. i44-6i .

75 Van Zwieten sale, The Hague, 12 April I741 (Lugt 537), nr. 66: "Een seer konstig en uytvoerig stuk, verbelende een Vrouw die Vis schrapt, en een Jonge met een Haas, met veel fraay Bywerk, boven rond, door Gerard Douw, in denJaere i652."




the accessories, the greater a painting was admired. This aspect was singled out in the manuscript catalogue of 1749 of the paintings owned by Voyer, which is now in the Voyer family archives in Poitiers, along with the delicate and detailed brushwork which Dou used when painting the most varied subjects. "All these details make this small painting very rich. However much one examines the mortar or the cabbage or the bands of the tub or the wicker basket, the feathers of the cockerel or the fur of the hare from all sides, everything is delicately finished and detailed. The milk-ewer, however, is what attracts the eye most, because of the beauty of the reflections, which appear to be due not so much to the artist's patience as to his skilful touch."176 Voyer must have sold the painting on not long after buying it, for in 1754 Descamps saw it in the cabinet of the Paris collector Louis-Jean Gaignat, the secretary to the king of France. When his paintings were auctioned in 1769 it was bought for a large sum by Caroline Louise, Margravine of Baden, for her collection in Karlsruhe.77

Dou's two female nudes and his Male nude (cat. nrs. 2-4, figs. I9-2i) are today in the Hermitage in St Peters- burg. After coming into Gaignat's possession they were bought by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. The most expensive of the three had cost Voyer no less than Dfl. i,900 in 1748, and the other two also cost more Dfl. Iooo apiece. These were not exceptional prices for a Dou, for throughout the entire eighteenth century his paintings were in the top segment of the market. That is what makes it so surprising that Lormier got two of them so cheaply at the Plettenberg sale, paying only a little more than Dfl. 300 for each. The reason for the un- typically low price in 1738 may have been the subject, which was unusual for Dou, but it seems that by the middle of the century in France the very fact that Dou so seldom painted nudes enhanced their value. That, at least, can be inferred from Descamps's description of these works. "The very beautiful and unique paintings,

each with a scene of a nude figure. Two women who have just bathed, the other depicting a man who is also nude.... This painter may never have produced another painting with nude figures. These pictures, the finish, touch and coloring of which have the same beauty as Dou's other work, make it regrettable that he never painted more."78 They proved to be an outstanding investment for Lormier, tripling in value in ten years. Voyer's catalogue gives an explanation for the differ- ence in price between the two female nudes. "The pose of the woman in the second [painting] is less piquant, and she is not as elegant as the first one. The model is less successful; Gerard Dou gave her no charm. He painted the blond as she was, and below her knees one sees very full evidence of his truthfulness to life in the form of the impression of the garters which severely dis- figure her beautiful legs. One does not encounter such an error in the models used by our painters in Paris."79

That Dou was among the most expensive of Dutch artists is demonstrated by a comparison of the prices for his works with the relatively low sums of Dfi. 300-500 paid for two of Lormier's Metsus and for a Caspar Netscher (cat. nrs. 5-7, figs. 44-45). The Dfl. 1,150 for a third Metsu, on the other hand, was high, but it was for one of his best-known paintings, the Woman washing her hands (cat. nr. 17, fig. i6). As mentioned above, Lormier had bought it for Dfl. 8oo at the Hoogenbergh sale in 1743. In Voyer's manuscript catalogue it is praised above all for its delicate execution. "Everything has that beautiful finish of which so few masters are capable. The satin of the woman's gown is particularly striking. It is as true to life as the most exquisite paintings of Frans van Mieris.,,8o The wide range in prices for Metsu can probably be attributed to the differences in the brushwork, for sometimes his style was delicate and detailed and sometimes much looser the latter being far less to the taste of eighteenth-century collectors.

A succession of owners treated Metsu's Woman wash-

76 The manuscript catalogue of the paintings owned by Voyer d'Argenson is in Poitiers, Bibliotheque Universitaire, Voyer d'Argen- son archive, inv. nr. D 415, section v. For the full French text see Ap- pendix B, cat. nr. 9.

77 Lauts, op. cit. (note I9), p. I07, nr. 266. 78 Descamps, op. cit. (note 7I), vol. 2, p. 225: "Tableaux fort beau

& singulier, chacun represente une figure nue. Deux Femmes comme sortant du bain; l'autre est un Homme aussi nud: I1 y a des fonds admirable & pleine d'harmonie: Ce peintre n'a peut-etre jamais fait d'autre Tableau avec des figures nues. Ceux-ci, dont le fini, la touche &

la couleur sont de la beaut6 de ses autres Ouvrages, font regretter qu'il n'en ait pas fait davantage."

79 See note 76. For the full French text see Appendix B, cat. nr. 4. See the critical remarks by Andries Pels in M.A. Schenkeveld-van der Dussen (ed.), A. Pels, Gebruik in misbruik des toneels, Culemborg 1978, p. 77, line I I Io; quoted by Houbraken, op. cit. (note 57), vol. s, p. 268. See also S. Slive, Rembrandt and his critics, i630-I730, The Hague I953, pp. 83 and 102. Jan de Bisschop and Samuel van Hoogstraten expressed similar criticism.

8o See note 76. For the full French text see Appendix B, cat. nr. 17.




22 Gerard ter Borch, The glass of lemonade. St Petersburg, Hermitage 23 Jan Steen, The drawing lesson. Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum

ing her hands as a pendant to a painting by Gerard ter Borch, The glass of lemonade (cat. nr. i6, fig. 22).81 Lormier was the one who brought them together, and they continued to hang as a pair in the collections of Voyer, Gaignat and the duc de Choiseul. In 1772, however, they were separated again, with the ter Borch entering the museum in St Petersburg at the beginning of the nineteenth century while the Metsu remained in private French collections. The glass of lemonade was listed in Lormier's records simply as "three figures" ("drie beelden"). He had bought it at the Hasselaer sale in 1742 for Dfl. 670. The Dfl. 0oo that Voyer paid for it was a large sum for a ter Borch.

It appears that one of the reasons why Voyer wanted both the Metsu and the ter Borch was the amorous subject matter. In his manuscript catalogue he not only dwells on their brushwork, palettes and convincing re-

cession into depth, but also on the way the subjects were depicted, in particular the interrelationship of the figures. He wrote of the ter Borch: "A painting by ter Borch that serves as the pendant to the large Metsu.... This painting is one of the master's most capital pieces. It contains three figures and depicts what people in his country call a gallant subject. One sees a good Dutch- man handing his beautiful wife a glass in which he is stirring the peel of a lemon. Her head is remarkable for the intent in her gaze and the beauty of the reflections. Moreover, the artist did not embellish his model but painted her as he saw her. The woman's head is naive in character. She is coifed in a manner that pleased the painter, as can be seen in many of his other paintings, and is indeed fairly successful. He has his own way of painting hair which is very inventive. One sees that the old woman leaning over the young one is the mother of

8i S.J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard Ter Borch, 2 vols., The Hague 1959-60, vol. 2, pp. i87-89, nr. I92. Descamps, op. cit. (note 71), vol. 2, p. 128.




24 Rembrandt (circle of), Scholar in a room with a winding staircase. Paris, Musee du Louvre

25 Salomon Koninck, Scholar in a room with a winding staircase. Paris, Musee du Louvre

this beauty, or is passing herself off as such. And she is obliging enough not to intrude too much on the tete a tete."82

Paintings by Jan Steen were in general not yet as expensive as those by Metsu or ter Borch, let along a Dou, but appreciation for his work was growing apace.83 Out of the 13 Steens which Lormier owned, Voyer chose the delicately brushed Drawing lesson (cat. nr. I4, fig. 23). It is now one of the artist's best-known paintings, but in I747 Lormier only had to pay Dfl. 255 for it, selling it to Voyer the following year for Dfl. 450.

Voyer paid Dfl. 525 for a purported Rembrandt, Scholar in a room with a winding staircase (cat. nr. 8, fig. 24),84 adding it to what was then believed to be its com- panion piece of another scholar (fig. 25), which he already owned.85 Uniting them made it possible to see the

marked differences in manner and handling of light, as explained in Voyer's catalogue. "One can only enable the viewer to understand the merits of [these paintings] by comparing them with each other. A good painter who is a master of his palette does not always display that merit in the same way. He is nevertheless assured of success. Persuasive evidence that the gift to delight can never be acquired other than through profound knowledge and great mastery. Rembrandt wishes to convince us of this in these two masterpieces. He succeeds in ex- citing the art-lover's admiration through the contrast of a beautiful finish and a beautiful effect."86 Neither work is now attributed to Rembrandt. The Dfl. 525 which Voyer paid for the picture was quite high for a Rem- brandt, whose paintings could sell for widely differing prices. An anonymous portrait, a head, or a painting

82 See note 76. For the full French text see Appendix B, cat. nr. i 6. 83 Van Gool, op. cit. (note 25), p. 20, reprinted in de Vries, op. cit.

(note 25), p. 232: "Jan Steen komt ons als een armen bloet voor, wiens kunst nu tot een bovenmatige prys, van guldens tot honderden, gereezen is" ("Jan Steen appears to us to have been a poor man whose art has now risen to an excessive price, from guilders to hundreds of guilders"). See also Dezallier d'Argenville, op. cit. (note 71), I762 edi- tion, vol. 3, p. vii; and M. Westermann, The amusements ofjan Steen, Zwolle 1997, p. 71.

84 See Bruyn et al., op. cit. (note 17), vol. 2, pp. 638-44, nr. c 5I;J. Foucart, cat. Peintres rembranesques au Louvre, Paris (Mus&e du Lou-

vre) i988, pp. 23-27, gives a different provenance from Bruyn et al. 85 W. Sumowski, Gemalde der Rembrandt-Schuler, 6 vols., Lan-

dau/Pfaltz i983-[94], vol. 3, p. i649, nr. I I33 (Salomon Koninck). See also HdG 233 and 234. Voyer probably sold both works to the comte de Vence between I 748 and 1754, who then commissioned prints of them by Louis Surugue under the titles Philosophe en miditation and Philosophe en contemplation. For paintings attributed to Rembrandt in French collections see M.V. Roscam Abbing, Rembrant toont syn konst: bijidragen over Rembrandt-documenten uit de periode I748-i756, Leiden I 999, pp. 15 I -98 and 224-39.

86 See note 76. For the full French text see Appendix B, cat. nr. 8.




26 Philips Wouwerman, A riding school in the open, with a coach with six horses. Aylesbury, Waddesdon Manor, The National Trust

(ANAU RS DI' AANEGE

27 Jean Moyreau after Philips Wouwerman, A riding school in the open, with a coach with six horses, engraving

with very loose brushwork could go for as little as Dfl. 6o, while a detailed history painting would fetch more than Dfl. 2,500.87

The Rembrandt cost Voyer considerably less than two paintings by Philips Wouwerman, who was enjoy- ing a vogue at the time: A riding school in the open, with a coach with six horses (fig. 26) and A company on horseback (cat. nrs. 14, 15). The first painting is probably identical to a Wouwerman at Waddesdon Manor, of which Moyreau made a print with an inscription which shows that it was then in Voyer's collection (fig. 27).88 The painting is extolled in the manuscript catalogue of his collection for the way in which depth is suggested with- out having recourse to the usual method of sharp con- trasts between light and shaded passages. Above all, though, Wouwerman was admired for his delicate touch. "A landscape by Wouwerman in which the main

subject is a coach to which are harnessed six horses of a slate-gray color, remarkable for their beauty and ani- mated with the fire which the painter expresses with so much talent, both in the eyes and in all the movements of these animals. This painting is from his good period and in his most exquisite manner. The coachman, the postilion and the nobleman with one knee on the ground who appears to be fastening on his spurs, are figures which are correctly drawn and finished most delicate- l. )i8q

Finally, Lormier sold Voyer two paintings by his contemporary van Huysum, a flower piece and a still life with fruit, which were carried off to France for the gi- gantic sums of Dfl. 3,600 each (cat. nrs. 12, I3). Apart from these two paintings, Lormier only parted with seventeenth-century works. It is extraordinary that Voyer had to pay so much more for these two contemporary

87 Christ and the woman taken in adultery (London, National Gallery) fetched Dfl. 2,5 IO at the Willem Six sale in 1734; see Hoet and Terwesten, op. cit. (note 34), vol. I, p. 41 I, cat. nr. 5, and Brown, op. cit. (note 55), vol. I, pp. 328-30. Many portraits and heads ascribed to Rembrandt made only Dfl. 6o, but so did the fragment of The conspira- cy of Claudius Civilis (Stockholm, Nationalmuseum), which is now one of Rembrandt's most famous paintings. See C. Bille, "Rembrandt's Claudius Civilis and its owners in the i8th century," Oud Holland 7' (1956), pp. 54-58.

88 Atwater, op. cit. (note 69), vol. 4, p. 1579, nr. 2052; HdG 62. For

the paintings by Wouwerman which were rated highly in the eighteenth century see P.C. Sutton, "A brief history of the collecting of Dutch landscapes," in exhib. cat. Dutch landscapes, The Hague (Hoog- steder & Hoogsteder) & Zwolle i99i, pp. I 6-29. For the importance of reproductive prints for the growing appreciation and dissemination of Dutch painting see G. Wuestman, "Nicolaes Berchem in print: fluctu- ations in the function and significance of reproductive engraving," Simiolus 24 (I996), pp. 19-53, esp. pp. 3 I-43.

89 See note 76. For the full French text see Appendix B, cat. nr. 14.




paintings than for those from the heyday of the seventeenth century. Johan van Gool, in his Nieuwe schouburg, observed that van Huysum's paintings were among the rare examples of contemporary work which had risen sharply in price in a short space of time, and cited the purchase and rapid sale of Lormier's two as evidence of his success. "In the meantime, as a result of these rumors, the prices of his [van Huysum's] marvels of art rose each time, and he had yet more pieces, two especially, which were marvelously fine in their arrange- ment and detail and were painted in his best period, for which he would never accept less than a thousand ducats. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr Lormier already had four fine scenes with flowers and fruit in his celebrated cabinet, as well as some landscapes, these cir- cumstances encouraged him to acquire them for a high price five or six years ago, and some time later he sold them at the request of a French count together with some other paintings for an even higher price."90 It can be seen from his other transactions that Lormier rarely bought paintings in order to sell them on rapidly. Apart from the short-term investment in the painting by Jan Steen mentioned earlier, he only sold works he had had for years. The van Huysums are described at length in Voyer's manuscript catalogue. "It is hard to persuade oneself that all the objects are merely the image of nature; one believes that it is nature itself. How can one fail to be astonished to see such a lifelike depiction of the translucency of the grapes or the currants, the skin of the peach and even the hairiness of the raspberries? What patience the painter had, above all what skill. What a marvelous finish, but even more than that, what

a faithfulness to life. If it be said that the paintings in this genre are cold then those are the mediocre ones, for these were made to be the ornament of cabinets of every kind."9' The sale of I7 paintings en bloc to Voyer for more than Dfl. 20,000 must have been exceptional, for few Dutch collectors would have relinquished so many high-quality paintings in one go-not while they were alive, at least. One important question is how Voyer and Lor- mier got to meet. Unfortunately, nothing is known of a possible visit of his to the Republic prior to 21 June 1748, the day he bought the paintings from Lormier. However, his regular supplier of paintings, the art dealer Franqois-Louis Colins, who was born in Brussels but lived in Paris, had visited the Republic while the French were still occupying Flanders.92 Acting on Voyer's in- structions, he made a vain attempt in 1746 to acquire two expensive paintings from the Leiden collector Al- lard de la Cour, Adam and Eve in Paradise by Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder (The Hague, Mauritshuis) and Dou's Grocer's shop (Paris, Louvre), for which he offered the princely sum of Dfl. 11,550 for the two.93 It is particularly after the end of the War of the Austrian Succession that one comes across Colins's name in con- nection with the export of paintings from the Republic to France. Among other things, he found himself in competition with Landgrave Wilhelm viii of Hesse- Kassel over the sale of Valerius Rover's cabinet of paintings.94 In addition to acting for Voyer, Colins must have supplied paintings to the Paris collector Gaignat with some regularity.95

Voyer sold several of the Lormier paintings to Gaig-

go Van Gool, op. cit. (note 15), vol. 2, p. 2I: "Ondertusschen wier- den, door deze geruchten, de pryzen zyner kunstwonderen, van tyt tot tyt, hoger; en hy had noch eenige stukken, daer onder twee, die ver- wonderlyk fraei van schikking en uitvoerig waeren, die hy in zynen besten tyt geschildert had, en nooit minder wilde geven als duizent ducaten. Deze omstandigheden spoorden den Heer Lormier aen: niet- tegenstaende hy reets vier fraeje Tafereelen met bloemen en vruchten, benevens eenige lantschappen, in zyn luisterrijk Kabinet had, om, een jaer vyf of zes geleden, hier op af te gaen, dus hy dezelve tot eenen hogen prys machtig wiert, en die eenigen tyt daer na op aenzoek van eenen Franschen Graef, benevens noch eenige andere schilderyen, tot noch hoger prys weeder verkocht."

9I See note 76. For the full French text see Appendix B, cat. nr. 13. 92 For Colins see Pomian, op. cit. (note 67), pp. 156-58, and L.

Courajod (ed.), Livre-journal de Lazare Duvaux: marchand-bijoutier du roy 1748-I758, Paris I965, pp. lxxxvi-lxxxix. See also Poitiers, Biblio- theque Universitaire, Voyer d'Argenson archive, inv. nr. P I42, letter from Colins to Voyer dated 21 March I757.

93 See T.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer et al. (eds.), Het Rapenburg: geschiedenis van een Leidse gracht, 6 vols., Leiden I986-92, vol. 2, pp.

387, 442, on Colins and the collection of Allard de la Cour; p. 442, nrs. 2 and 3: "anno 1746 heeft i Fransman genaamd Collijn die commissie hadde van de marquis Dargenson mij voor dat geboden... f I I550."

94 It emerges from a letter from Wilhelm viII of Hesse-Kassel to Govert van Slingelandt that the former regarded Colins as one of the possible purchasers of Rover's cabinet; see W. von Both and H. Vogel, Landgraf Wilhelm VIII. von Hessen-Kassel, Marburg I964, p. 142.

Colins, or an intermediary acting for him, bought numerous paintings at auctions in the Republic, among them the David Ietswaart sale in 1749 (Lugt 704: copy in Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale). Someone called Molliere bought for Colins at the van Wassenaer sale in 1750 (Lugt 736, copy in Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale). See also C.A. von Drach, "Nachtrag zur Geschichte der Galerie," in 0. Eisenmann, Ka- talog der Kig. Gemdldegalerie zu Cassel, Kassel I 888, p. liv.

95 See, for instance, the Gaignat sale catalogue (Lugt I734), p. Vi,

and Courajod, op. cit. (note 92), p. lxxxvi.




28 Philips Wouwerman, The large stable. Kassel, Staatliche Kunst- sammIungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe

nat, which suggests that he too was a collector who occasionally sold his acquisitions on. This is borne out by his correspondence with Wilhelm v i ii of Hesse-Kassel and Frederik II of Prussia.96 Lormier, Colins, Voyer d'Ar- genson, Wilhelm viii of Hesse-Kassel and Frederick the Great were part of an international network of collectors and dealers who regularly sold paintings to each other and occasionally found themselves competing. The number of such international transactions rose

sharply in the 1750S. The trade in Dutch paintings flourished in Paris, and the number of picture auctions rose rapidly.97 In the I760s it took over Amsterdam's role as the center of the international art market.

OTHER FOREIGN BUYERS, 1748-58 Other buyers of Lormier's paintings were the German landgrave, Wil- helm vIII of Hesse-Kassel (i682-I760) and his son and successor Friedrich II (I72o-85).98 The first time that he sold a painting to them was in February I748, when Friedrich bought The large stable by Philips Wouwer- man (cat. nr. I, fig. 28). One year later the Hague collector Govert van Slingelandt (i694-1767) wrote telling Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel about the state of the Dutch art market. He said that the prices of paintings had risen recently, and that there were only a few good ones for sale. He added that Lormier had a large and important collection but that he had played havoc with the market since his sale to Voyer d'Argenson, because now he was only prepared to let a picture go for an excessive price.99 All the same, Wilhelm, was very interested in Lormier's paintings, as shown by a list of 23 of them which he wanted (fig. 29).IOO Lormier asked almost Dfl. 20,000 for the group, and that sum must have been the reason why Wilhelm eventually limited himself to only eight paintings in 1752. They did, however, include some of the most famous works in the collection, such as Caspar Netscher's Masquerade (cat. nr. 23, fig. I3), which Lormier sold for a hefty Dfl. 1,155, and Rembrandt's Holy Family with a curtain (cat. nr. 25, fig. 3), which cost

96 For Voyer and Wilhelm VIII of Hesse-Kassel see E. Herzog, Die Gemaldegalerie der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Kassel, Kassel I 969, p. 33. Voyer also advised Wilhelm on the building of a picture gallery during a visit to Kassel, see B. Schnackenburg, "Der Kasseler Gemaldegaleriebau des i8. Jahrhunderts und Neuentdeckte Plane dazu von Frangois de Cuvillks d.A," Munchnerjahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst 49 (1998), pp. i63-84. For the paintings which Voyer sold to Frederick the Great see Sommer, op. cit. (note 17), cat. nrs. 92, I03 and i io, and Poitiers, Bibliotheque Universitaire, Voyer d'Argenson archive, inv. nr. D 415, section VI, letter from Voyer to Mettra, Frede- rick the Great's agent, dated 25 May 1756.

97 Bille, op. cit. (note 6), pp. i6o-6i. Between 175i and 1760 there were, on average, four auctions a year, but between I76i and I770 there were no fewer than 13. Bille suggests that Gersaint introduced art sales in Paris, but from the research carried out by Schnapper it is clear that they were already being held there in the seventeenth century; see A. Schnapper, "Probate inventories, public sales and the Parisian art market in the seventeenth century," in M. North and D. Ormrod (eds.), Art markets 1400-1800, Aldershot & Brookfield I998, pp. 131-41. Ger- saint was, however, the first to produce very detailed sale catalogues.

For Gersaint see, for instance, Duverger, op. cit. (note 67), p. 73. 98 See Both and Vogel, op. cit. (note 94), for biographical sketches

of Wilhelm VIII and Frederick ii, an account of Hesse's role in various eighteenth-century wars, and the collection of paintings in Kassel. For the history of the Gemaldegalerie in Kassel see Drach, op. cit. (note 94), esp. pp. xxxvi-lxxi, Herzog, op. cit. (note 96), and B. Schnacken- burg, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel: Gesamtkatalog, 2 vols., Mainz I996.

99 Marburg, Hessisches Staatsarchiv, inv. nr. 4a, 79 (nr. 12): letter from Govert van Slingelandt to Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel dated I 3 december 1749: "V.A.S.... par les lettres de Freesen [the Kassel court painter Georg von Freese], a quel prix les Tableaux sont montes. La RaretE en est si grande que je ne scaij plus ou en trouver; Lormier en a beaucoup et de bons, mais Mr. D'Argenson en a si fort gate le march6, qu'il n'y a plus moyen d'en acheter chez luij, qu'en prix excessif."

Ioo The list, which may have been drawn up by Freese, is in the Gemaldegalerie in Kassel and must have been written before i752, for the numbering does not correspond to that in Lormier's catalogue of that year. My thanks to Dr B. Schnackenburg for drawing my attention to this list.




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32 Adriaen van Ostade, Merry company before a farmhouse. Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe

30 Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Sts Peter andjohn in a landscape with ruins. Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe

3i Bartholomeus Breenbergh, The punishment of the schoolmaster of Falerii. Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe

Dfl. 73510 Wilhelm was also prepared to pay more than Dfl. i,ooo for two other pictures, a battle scene by Philips Wouwerman (cat. nr. 24) and a landscape by the much sought-after Jan Brueghel the Elder (cat. nr. 26). Two paintings by Breenbergh were considerably cheaper (cat. nrs. 27, 28, figs. 30, 3 I). Finally, there was Adri- aen van Ostade's Merry company before afarmhouse (cat. nr. 29, fig. 32). A second Wouwerman, The haywain (cat. nr. 30), only arrived in Kassel in the autumn of I752. Lormier's books show that he was paid more than Dfl. 6,500 for the transaction, giving him a profit of almost Dfl. 3,ooo. That Wilhelm did not buy any more was due not only to the high asking prices but also un- doubtedly to the fact that he had made some of his most expensive purchases in the previous few years.'02 The peak of his collecting activities lay in the period 1748- 56, between the end of the War of the Austrian Succes- sion and the start of the Seven Years' War. In that fairly brief interval he augmented his collection, which con- sisted mainly of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings, to such an extent that it acquired international fame. His agents scoured the German, Dutch and French markets, buying at sales as well as privately. Wilhelm scored some successes at the auctions of famous Dutch collections, like that of van Wassenaer van Obdam in 1750, and his attempts to buy paintings from private owners were also largely rewarded. Although the negotiations to buy several paintings from Lormier's brother-in-law van Heteren broke down, that failure paled into insignifi-

IOI Freese acted as Wilhelm's agent for this transaction. On the back of the Holy Family with a curtain is a seal with Lormier's coat of arms; see note 49. My thanks to both Dr B. Schnackenburg and M. Franken for this information. Lormier had another Holy Family which was also attributed to Rembrandt at the time; it is now in the Hermitage in St Petersburg. See cat. Lormier 1752 (Lugt 1307), nr. 230: "Een Vallend ligt in een vertrek waarin de heylige familie, br. I V. 9 d., h. i v. 4 en een half d. P.[aneel," = 55 x 43 cm]. See R. Loche (ed.), exhib. cat. De Genive d lErmitage: les collections Franfois Tronchin, Geneva (Mus&e Von Rath) 1974, p. 107, nr. 2I3.

102 See von Drach, op. cit. (note 94), p. lviii, for Wilhelm's reaction to the arrival in Kassel of the pictures from Lormier's collection.




cance compared to the arrival in Kassel in 1750 of 64 pictures which had belonged to Valerius Rover.'03 The purchase of this cabinet, one of the most famous in the Republic, was among the most spectacular picture transactions of the entire century. It cost the landgrave Dfl. 40,000. In one swoop it added such paintings to his collection as Rembrandt's Portrait of Saskia van Uylen- burgh, Portrait of Nicolaes Bruyningh (both Kassel, Gemaldegalerie) and The risen Christ appearing to Mary Magdalen (London, Buckingham Palace), Paulus Pot- ter's Urinating cow (St Petersburg, Hermitage) and Jan Steen's Twelfth night (Kassel, Gemaldegalerie).

Wilhelm's interest in and acquisition of Dutch art was due in part to his family ties to the House of Orange and his associated contacts in the Republic, whom he had cultivated during his long stay in the Netherlands. He had commanded a Dutch regiment in the War of the Spanish Succession, and later became a cavalry general and governor of Breda and Maastricht. Many of the people he got to know in these years were very much at home in the Dutch art market, among them the Hague painter and art dealer Philip van Dijk (i683-1753), who went on to become court painter in Kassel and a supplier of paintings to Wilhelm. '04 The landgrave also struck up a friendship with Govert van Slingelandt, a collector with a choice cabinet of 41 masterpieces, which was

bought en bloc after his death by Stadholder Willem v and later formed the core of the Mauritshuis collection. "5 In addition, Gerard Hoet was involved in buying paintings for Wilhelm in the Republic, Antwerp and Paris. Van Slingelandt and Hoet were among the best connoisseurs of Dutch painting of their day.

Wilhelm and Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel were not the only German rulers who were putting together picture collections with a strong Dutch component at this time. ,6 There had been a great demand for seventeenth-century Dutch paintings at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and good ones had been sought throughout the Republic.'07 The German aristocracy was quicker off the mark than its French counterpart in collecting Dutch art on a large scale. Important collections of the seventeenth-century masters were formed in Braunschweig, Dusseldorf, Dresden, and later in Schwerin. In the seventeenth century itself, the devas- tating wars long made it impossible to collect on any scale, but even before 1700 that tide had turned in Ger- many.

There had been an abundance of Dutch art in England since the I740s. o8 In London there was a rise in the number of paintings from the Republic offered at auction. For England, too, the end of the War of the Austri-

103 See Both and Vogel, op. cit. (note 94), p. 137, for the negotiations with van Heteren. For the Rover collection see E.W. Moes, "Het kunstkabinet van Valerius Rover te Delft," Oud Holland 31 (1913), pp. 4-24. Surprisingly, no one has so far questioned why Rover's cabinet was not sold until i I years after his death in I739. It is possible that the heirs were waiting for better times. Selling the collection en bloc was quite a coup for them, because it was not easy to find a buyer as wealthy as Wilhelm.

104 For Philip van Dijk see Herzog, op. cit. (note 96), p. i6; Both and Vogel, op. cit. (note 94), pp. 132-33; and Broos, op. cit. (note 63), pp. i08-12.

105 For van Slingelandt see Both and Vogel, op. cit. (note 94), pp. 136-37, and C.W. Fock, "De schilderijengalerij van Prins Willem v op het Buitenhof te Den Haag (I)," Antiek I I (1976-77), pp. I I3-37, esp. p. 120.

io6 See K. Woermann, Katalog der Koniglichen Gemdldegalerie zu Dresden, Dresden i892, pp. 7-17. August iII of Saxony's influential minister, Count Bruhl, also had a large collection containing Dutch masters which was sold en bloc to Catherine the Great of Russia in I765; see G. Heres, Dresdener Kunstsammlungen im i8. Jahrhundert, Leipzig I99I, pp. 125-30. See also H. Borsch-Supan, "Friedrich der Grosse als Sammler von Gemalden," in exhib. cat. Friedrich der Grosse, Sammler und Mdzen, Munich (Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kuturstiftung) 1992, pp.

96-103. See Sommer, op. cit. (note I7), pp. 220-37, for a reconstruc-

tion of Frederick's collection and the provenance of his paintings. Eight of Lormier's works came to Berlin: Sommer's nrs. s00, 102, I04,

105, I07, io8, I35 and i6i. 107 For a good general survey see G. Calov, "Museen und Sammler

des 19. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland," Museumskunde i8 (i969), pp. i- 62; also A. Fink, Geschichte des Anton- Ulrich-Museums in Braunschweeig, Braunschweig i967; K. Mohlig, Die Gemdldegalerie des Kurfirsten Jo- hann Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg (i658-I7i6) in Dusseldorf (diss.), Cologne 1993, pp. 26-37. Recent research has also been done on Ger- man sale catalogues, see T. Ketelsen, "Art auctions in Germany during the eighteenth century," in North and Ormrod, op. cit. (note 97), pp. 143-52.

io8 F. Simpson, "Dutch paintings in England before 1760," The Burlington Magazine 95 (1953), pp. 39-42; I. Pears, The discovery of painting: the growth of interest in the arts in England, i68o-I768, New Haven & London i988, p. 93 and the tables on pp. 207-1o; D. Ormrod, "The origins of the London art market, i660-1730," in North and Ormrod, op. cit. (note 97), pp. I67-86, esp. p. I82 and note 87. Accord- ing to Pears and others, the late rise of the trade in foreign art in Eng- land was due to legal restrictions on imports. Ormrod, however, feels that too much emphasis is placed on this aspect, and points to other possible factors, such as the high level of import duty. In addition, he says, England only developed a taste for foreign art at a relatively late date.



The eighteenth-century gentleman dealer Willem Lormier 28i

an Succession removed trade barriers, and more money was spent on luxury goods like paintings."'9 The rich English middle classes and nobility appear to have become increasingly interested in Dutch art in the course of the eighteenth century. Entire collections were exported to London and sold there, such as the stock of Lormier's agent Jacques de Roore, part of which was bought up after his death by one John van Spangen and auctioned in London in I748.110

Lormier's records also reflect this export of Dutch paintings to England. The London dealer Robert Bragge visited Lormier three times in the I75os, buying a total of seven pictures."' The first time was in I750, when Bragge bought two landscapes by Jan Griffier the Elder and Meindert Hobbema (cat. nrs. 19, 20). These were very different from the kind of works acquired by Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel or Voyer d'Argenson, and were also much cheaper. Bragge paid only Dfl. I25 for the Griffier and Dfl. I75 for the Hobbema-an artist who later became popular in England but whose name is strikingly absent in the eighteenth-century literature on art." 2 Lormier's collection was so wide-ranging that it catered for customers with different budgets.

In I75i Bragge bought a painting of an odd subject, The lunatic asylum in Gouda, which is unfortunately unidentifiable (cat. nr. 2i). To this he added a religious scene by the Italian Carlo Cigniani, yet another very different kind of painting (cat. nr. 22). Bragge called on Lormier for the third time in I758, just before the latter's death, buying three pictures which also cannot be identified today: a Landscape with afamily and horses and Landscape with a company resting by afountain by Philips Wouwerman, and a View of Nijmegen with shipping on the river Waal by Jan van der Heyden and Willem van de Velde (cat. nrs. 58-6o).

Bragge regularly came to the continent, buying paintings in the Republic, France and Italy. In 1749, for instance, he was a buyer at the David Ietswaart sale in

33 Isaack Koedijck, A barber surgeon tending a peasant'sfoot. United States, private collection

Amsterdam, and in 1756 at the duc de Tallard sale in Paris, and he must have worked with the French dealer Pierre Remy on occasion. Bragge sold many of his paintings to English collectors or other dealers, and in the I740s and I 750S held auctions at which he offered work from his own stock."3

Lormier's books tell us that in I756 someone called Ga- litzin bought six paintings from him. This was very probably the Russian Prince Dmitri Alekseyevich Ga-

1og L. Lippincott, Selling art in Georgian London: the rise ofArthur Pond, New Haven & London i983, pp. 98-125, esp. p. II5, attributes the reduction in imports to the War of the Austrian Succession.

i Io Sale London (Cock), io February 1748 (Lugt 68i): Catalogue of the entire collection of curious pictures of Mr. John Van Spangen, late of Poland-street, deceas d; purchased by him lately in Holland, out ofthe celebrated collection ofMynheer De Roore.

iii Simpson, op. cit. (note io8), p. 4I; F. Hermann, The English as

collectors, London I972, p. 27; Pears, op. cit. (note io8), pp. 92-101.

112 The paintings by Jan Griffier the Elder were part of the 'Brueghel renaissance', as were those by Saftleven and others. Griffier made a name for himself in England, where he had worked. His 'delicate' paintings had always been fairly popular. See W. Stechow, Dutch landscape painting ofthe seventeenth century, London, pp. i64-66.

I 13 Pears, op. cit. (note io8), p. 93.




litzin (1734-I8o3)." 4 Galitzin, who was appointed Russian ambassador in Paris in 1765 and in The Hague three years later, numbered among his duties the purchase of paintings for Catherine the Great. He bought at auctions in Paris and the Republic, and was involved in the acquisition of the famous Crozat collection for the empress."I5 Galitzin had his own collection, and from Lormier he bought two works by Isaack Koedijck, A barber surgeon tending a peasant 'sfoot (cat. nr. 49, fig. 33) and The little nut thief (cat. nr. 50). He also acquired an unidentifiable painting by Gerard Dou, which is described in the catalogue of 1752 as "Een meijsje die een Lantaarn schuurt, en een Vrouw met 2 kinderen in 't verschiet" ("A girl scouring a lantern, and a woman with two children in the background"; cat. nr. 5 I). The other four works were two paintings by Adriaen van Ostade, Four peasants smoking and drinking and A hurdy-gurdy man with children (cat. nrs. 52, 53), a Peasant company by Hendrik Martensz Sorgh (cat. nr. 54, fig. 34) and Ge- rard ter Borch's Maid milking a cow in a barn (cat. nr. 55, fig. 8).

Galitzin paid Dfl. 2,700 for these seven paintings, which had cost Lormier around Dfl. i,900. Most of them were fairly cheap, apart from the unusually large and detailed Barber surgeon tending a peasant's foot. Van Ostade's reputation was growing rapidly abroad, but there were wide price variations within his oeuvre between paintings with a large number of figures and great attention to detail and the simpler, coarser work.",6 Ga- litzin's choice must have been dictated not just by the brushwork but also by the subjects. Many of the pictures he bought were genre scenes featuring peasants. This preference for peasant scenes was widespread, in the Republic as well. A discussion between the French art dealer Esme-Franqois Gersaint and the Dutch collector van Wassenaer van Obdam about a painting by van Ostade, which the French dealer Colins bought in I750 for the record sum of Dfl. 2,i6o, reveals precisely

34 Hendrick Maarten Sorgh, Peasant company. Present whereabouts unknown

what people found so attractive about such paintings in the eighteenth century. "Well now," van Wassenaer said to Gersaint, "when you in France see those superi- or paintings of our masters, in which nature is imitated with such finesse, truth and skill, how can we Dutch still be accused of being too attached to their work and of having not the slightest interest in art from other countries? We may be wrong, but we love works of this kind, which truthfully show us what we are accustomed to seeing every day. We recognize in them the customs, pleasures and cares of our peasants. Their simplicity, their amusements, their joy, their sorrow, their charac- ters, their passions, their attire. Everything is expressed in those paintings with the most precise truth. Nothing is obscured. The peasants are painted according to their nature. We believe that we see and hear them. Every-

I I4 It is stated in J. Vrieze (ed.), exhib. cat. Catharina, de keizerin en de kunsten, Amsterdam (Nieuwe Kerk) & Zwolle i996, pp. I04-09, that Galitzin was also involved in the purchases at the Braamcamp sale which were lost in transit to Russia. See Wijsenbeek-Olthuis, op. cit. (note 9), pp. I24-26, on Galitzin's time in The Hague. He bought paintings which had once belonged to Lormier at various auctions, including the Gaignat sale (Lugt 1734, nrs. 30-32).

115 M. Stuffmann, "Les tableaux de la collection de Pierre Crozat," Gazette des Beaux-Arts I I o (1 968-II), pp. 5- I 44.

i i6 See Gersaint in the sale catalogue of the Agran de Fontpertuis collection, Paris, 4 March I748 (Lugt 682), p. 2i6. He wrote, among other things: "On ne connoit en France le vrai merite de ces Tableaux que depuis ce tems, qu'on y en apporte de precieux, qui en ont etabli la reputation, & qui les font beaucoup rechercher" ("In France, the true value of these paintings was only known when the meticulously painted pieces were brought to the country and established his reputation, as well as making them greatly sought after").




thing is a speaking likeness; that is what delights us."" 7 Russians had been taking a serious interest in Dutch

art since the beginning of the eighteenth century. Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, in particular, put together large collections.",8 A group of aristocratic diplo- mats and government officials around the empress bought paintings for her abroad, as well as collecting for themselves. They were also well acquainted with the de- velopment of foreign tastes, particularly in France. One of them was Galitzin. It is not known where the works he bought from Lormier were hung, or what happened to them in the late eighteenth and the nineteenth century. The Galitzins were still among the best-known Russian collectors in the nineteenth century, but it is impossible to discover whether the paintings were still in the family.

LORMIER 'S DUTCH CLIENTS The literature on collecting in the eighteenth century often sketches a picture of a mass exodus of seventeenth-century paintings from the Republic. "9 That is incorrect. Despite the growing exports, the number of Dutch collectors remained high throughout the century. It was in that cen-

tury, though, that the idea of an exodus was born. Johan van Gool complained about it, and Govert van Slinge- landt was guilty of exaggeration when he said, on the occasion of the sale of Valerius Rover's collection, that the last major cabinet of paintings had disappeared abroad for good.'20 Although at times in the eighteenth century there was an economic downturn, or war or the threat of it, which would have depressed the domestic demand and prices for paintings, that does not seem to have been a reason for all collectors to stop buying pictures. The largest profits may have been made around 1748, thanks to foreign buyers, but there were still Dutch collectors prepared to pay princely sums for paintings, as can be made out from Lormier's accounts.'2' It is possible that some of them hoped to sell the pictures on when better times returned. The situation on the domestic market was already improving slightly in the course of the 1750s, and after the Seven Years' War (1756-63) the market rallied strongly.

Among the Dutch collectors to whom Lormier sold works were Govert van Slingelandt in The Hague and Pieter Leendert de Neufville and Johannes Lubbeling in Amsterdam.'22 Van Slingelandt was prepared to pay

II7 The conversation between Gersaint and van Wassenaer van Obdam was related by Gersaint in the catalogue of the Agran de Font- pertuis sale, Paris, 4 March 1748 (Lugt 682), pp. 213-14: "Eh bien, me dit-il, quand on voit chez vous de ces Tableaux superieurs de nos Maitres, oii la nature est rendue avec autant de finesse, de verite & d'art, que dans celui-ci, peut-on nous reprocher encore d'etre trop at- taches i leurs Ouvrages, & de ne point nous sentir piques du merite de ceux des autres Nations? Nous avons peut-etres tort, ajofita-t-il; mais nous aimons ces sortes de Pieces, qui nous representent, au vrai, ce que nous sommes dans l'habitude de voir tous les jours. Nous y reconnois- sons les usages, les plaisirs & le tracas de nos Paysans. Leur simplicite, leurs amusemens, leur joye, leurs peines, leurs caracteres, leurs passions, leurs vetements. Tout y est exprime dans la plus exacte verite. Rien n'y est farde. Ils y sont peints selon leur nature. Nous croyons les voir & les entendre. Tout y parle: Voili ce qui nous seduit." See also P. Hecht, exhib. cat. De Hollandse fiinschilders: van Gerard Dou tot Adri- aen van der Werff; Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum), Maarssen & The Hague I989, p. I20. The picture they were talking about was probably Adri- aen van Ostade's Dancing peasants and peasant women, which was in van Wassenaer's collection at the time (HdG 799 or 8oo). Hoet gave it an estimate of Dfl. 8oo before the van Wassenaer sale in 1750, but in the event the Frenchman Molliere, acting for Colins, bought it for the ex- ceptionally high price of Dfl. 2,I60 (Lugt 736, copy in Paris, Biblio- theque Nationale, nr. 39). It is possible that it entered the Gaignat collection through Colins.

ii8 J. van Veen, "De Amsterdamse kunstmarkt en de schilderij- aankopen voor Peter de Grote," in R. Kistemaker et al. (eds.), exhib.

cat. Peter de Grote en Holland, Amsterdam (Amsterdam Historisch Museum) & Bussum i996, pp. I32-39. See note I I4 for literature on Catherine the Great.

ii9 See H. Floerke, Studien zur niederldndischen Kunst- und Kul- turgeschichte: die Formen des Kunsthandels, das Atelier and die Sammler in den Niederlanden vom IS.- i8. Jahrhundert, Munich & Leipzig I905, p. 77, who claims that there was no longer any interest in Dutch painting in the Republic: "...diese Schatze, fur die man in den Niederlanden kein Auge mehr hatte." See also F. Grijzenhout, "Tussen rede en gevoeligheid: de Nederlandse schilderkunst in het oordeel van het buitenland i66o-i8oo," in Grijzenhout and van Veen, op. cit. (note 26), pp. 27-54, esp. pp. 35-46.

I20 Van Slingelandt spoke of "het laatste schilderijenkabinet van formaat in de Republiek" in a letter to Wilhelm viii of Hesse-Kassel; see Both and Vogel, op. cit. (note 94), p. 142. Van Gool, op. cit. (note 25), pp. 7, is and 23, reprinted in de Vries, op. cit. (note 25), pp. 228,

23 1-32.

12i Hoet complained about the lack of domestic demand; see Hoet, op. cit. (note 64), p. 25, reprinted in de Vries, op. cit. (note 25), p. 225.

I22 Bille, op. cit. (note 6), vol. I, pp. 97-I32. Chapter 5 of her book contains a survey of the main Dutch collections in the period I750-70, and covers those of van Slingelandt (pp. I07-08), de Neufville (p. I i6), Lubbeling (p. 1 17) and others. For the van Slingelandts' collection see also C. Hofstede de Groot, "Schilderijenverzamelingen van het ge- slacht Slingelandt," Oud Holland I0 (I892), pp. 229-37, and the sale catalogue of the Govert van Slingelandt collection (Lugt i683). For de Neufville see Broos et al., op. cit. (note 35), p. 34I .




35 Caspar Netscher, Company making music. The Hague, Mauritshuis

Dfl. I ,000 for Caspar Netscher's Company making music (cat. nr. 23, fig. 35), which was believed to be a portrait of Netscher himself with his wife and daughter.'23 The same collector bought two works by Nicolaes Berchem, Wild boar hunt (cat. nr. 38, fig. 36) and Stag hunt (cat. nr.

39), which had cost Lormier a total of Dfl. 675 and were now sold for Dfl. 975. Descamps wrote in 1754 that Berchem's paintings had become scarce and expensive, despite his relatively large oeuvre.'24 Van Slingelandt had a small but highly select collection which he wanted to keep that way while improving its quality, which meant that he was constantly selling and buying pictures. '25

De Neufville and Lubbeling in Amsterdam bought three expensive Wouwermans from Lormier through Hoet: a Horse market (cat. nr. 35) for more than Dfl. I,300, which made Lormier Dfl. 542 profit, and two paintings, no longer identifiable, of soldiers and peasants fighting (cat. nrs. 36, 37), which went for Dfl. 2,362, Dfl. 874 more than Lormier had paid for them. There is less information about two other clients, someone called Schmitt from Amsterdam, and a Count Van Linden. The former bought Gerard Dou's Three cardplayers by candlelight (cat. nr. 45, fig. 37), and the latter two landscapes with herdsmen and livestock by Paulus Potter (cat. nrs. 56, 57). Lormier had four Potters, three of which he sold. Potter, with his precisely elaborated paintings, Adriaen van de Velde, Jan Steen, Karel Du- jardin and Ludolf Bakhuysen, were the rapidly rising stars around 1750, which prompted van Gool's remark that they may "have been canonized after their deaths [but] were martyred while alive." 126 Potter's Figures with horses by a stable (cat. nr. 48, fig. 9), which Lormier had bought at the Plettenberg sale in 1738 for a mere Dfl. i 85, was sold to the Hague painter and dealer Jan Willem Frank for Dfl. 6oo in 1756.127 It is possible that

123 See the description of this picture in the Schonborn sale catalogue of 1738 (Lugt 482), nr. 35: "Een musicerend gezelschap, van Gasper Netscher, zynde Netscher zelfs met zyn vrouw en Dochter, ongemeen konstig en puyk; geschildert Anno I665, hoog i:6, breet I :3.

124 Descamps, op. cit. (note 71), vol. 2, p. 346: "Ses Tableaux tien- nent leur rang parmi les plus beaux dans les Cabinets choisis & malgre leur grand nombre, ils deviennents aussi rares & aussi chers que s' ils n'etoient pas communs." See Sutton, op. cit. (note 88), pp. 16-29, for the popularity of Berchem and other Italianate artists in the eighteenth century.

I25 Bille, op. cit. (note 6), p. 107-08. I26 Van Gool, op. cit. (note 25), p. 20, reprinted in de Vries, op. cit.

(note 25), p. 232: "...schoon na hun doodt gecanoniseert, by hun leeven gemartiriseert." See also Houbraken, op. cit. (note 57), vol. 2, p. I30, and Cornelis, op. cit. (note 74), p. 146. For the altered view of Potter see also J. Hoes, "Het vee zooals het is en niet anders," in C. Boschma (ed.), exhib. cat. Meesterlijk vee, Dordrecht (Dordrechts Museum)

i988, pp. 87-i00. The rapid rise in prices for Potter's paintings is well illustrated by the famous Large drove of oxen (HdG 107) from the Braamcamp collection which was lost at sea in 1771 on its way to Rus- sia. In 1707 it had cost only Dfl. 455, but the price rose to Dfl. 1,760 in 1734, Dfl. 3,110 in 1754, Dfl. 3,975 in 176i, and finally to the astro- nomical sum of Dfl. 9,050 in 1771. Paintings by Adriaen van de Velde showed a similar appreciation in value.

127 Jan Willem Frank (1720-6i) was a Hague painter and dealer who made copies after Berchem, Potter, Wijnands, Adriaen van de Velde and van Huysum. In 1754 Lormier bought four paintings from him which were done in the style of Jan van Huysum. The auction of Frank's paintings was held on 5 April 1762, Lugt 1212; see Hoet and Terwesten, op. cit. (note 34), vol. 3, p. 244. R.J.A. te Rijdt, "Een 'nieuw' portret van een 'nieuwe' verzamelaar van kunst en naturalien: Jan Snellen geportretteerd door Aert Schouman in 1746," Oud Holland II (1997), pp. 42-44, discusses the different kinds of eighteenth-century collectors, including the painter-dealer.




36 Nicolaes Berchem, Wild boar hunt. The Hague, Mauritshuis

Frank hoped to make a profit with it in his turn. He also bought a small Gerard Dou from Lormier, A boy with a mouse-trap (cat. nr. 47, fig. 17).

The activities of art dealers like Gerard Hoet of The Hague, Pieter Ietswaart of Amsterdam and Pieter Boetens of Leiden testify to the vitality of the Dutch art market in the 1750s. 28 They both bought paintings from Lormier as well as selling to him. Hoet bought relatively cheap pictures: still lifes by Abraham Mignon and Melchior d'Hondecoeter (cat. nrs. 34, 40), an inexpensive Netscher (cat. nr. 42), Small ships on a calm sea by Willem van de Velde (cat. nr. 43), and a cattle piece by Adriaen van de Velde (cat. nr. 44). The sums Lormier received for these works were low compared to those

paid by rich collectors, but these inexpensive pieces had often doubled in value in a short time, so were extremely lucrative investments.

Watteau's well-known Embarkation for Cythera (cat. nr. 46, fig. 15), one of the few foreign works in Lormier's collection, cost him Dfl. 485 in 1743. Thirteen years later, in 1756, he sold it for Dfl. I,I20 to the dealer Boetens.'29 The latter did not have it on his hands for long, for before I 765 it was in its final home in Berlin, in the collection of the Watteau enthusiast Frederick the Great.

Although it is impossible to discover whether Lormier was prepared to sell literally any painting in his collec-

128 See Bille, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 18 1-204, for a survey of the Am- sterdam art trade in Willem Lormier's day. She mentions Pieter Ietswaart on p. 20 1. See Lugt 1033 for the sale of his paintings.

i29 Lormier had acquired The embarkation for Cythera at the Lopez de Liz sale; see Jansen, op. cit. (note 54), pp. 23 and 39-40. See note 29

for Pieter Boetens, who is a good example of a dealer who exported many paintings, taking some to Paris to have them auctioned there. See Lugt 594, Catalogue dune belle collection de tableaux que le sieur Pierre Boetens a depuis peu apportd d'Hollande, ils sont la plus grande partie des Maitre recherchez.




37 Gerard Dou, Three cardplayers by candlelight. Salzburg, Residenz- galerie

tion, his clients seem to have a wide choice. His was a very diverse cabinet, and he also had large groups by several masters. Generally speaking, the collectors, many of them foreigners, went for his more expensive paintings, such as the good showing of genre pieces by

Dou, Metsu, ter Borch and Netscher. There were also plentiful offerings of battles, hunting scenes, or landscapes with livestock and herdsmen by Wouwerman and Berchem. The art dealers, on the other hand, tend- ed to concentrate on Lormier's cheaper pictures, most of which are now unidentifiable. They often bought work which was not yet in vogue, and may have been trying to meet the growing foreign demand for relatively inexpensive paintings by artists who were little known internationally. It is striking that in the course of the eighteenth century the names of more and more Dutch artists became familiar abroad. The number of artists sought after in the first half of the century expanded as time passed.'30 It is also noteworthy that the purchasers of Lormier's paintings did not warm to the Flemish art which was so well represented in his collection.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FAME In I752, Gerard Hoet published his two-volume Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, met derzelver pryzen, zedert een langen reeks van ]aaren zoo in Holland als op andere plaatzen in bet openbaar verkogt, which gathered together more than 200 catalogues of seventeenth and eighteenth-century painting auctions (from i676 to 1752) in a sometimes selective reprint. Hoet's purpose was to provide a service for art-lovers and dealers, who could use the book to see how much a painting had fetched at auction and then judge what a reasonable price would be if they wanted to buy or sell it.'3' It might also help a collector trace a provenance, which occasionally provided status.

At the back of volume 2 Hoet printed the catalogues of 2i existing collections, such as those of van Slinge- landt, de Neufville, Lubbeling and Braamcamp,'32

130 Cf. F. Haskell, Rediscoveries in art: some aspects of taste, fashion, and collecting in England and France, Ithaca 1976, pp. i6-23. See note 71 for d'Argenville's role.

131 See the introduction in Hoet and Terwesten, op. cit. (note 34), vol. i, pp. vii-xii. Hoet's publication was of course a profitable project in itself, and one of his aims, obviously, was to sell as many copies as possible.

132 Hoet and Terwesten, op. cit. (note 34) vol. 2, pp. 393-538: "Catalogus van eenige nog in wezen zynde schilderij-kabinetten." Hoet lists the cabinets of Mrs Rover, "verkogt aan zyn Doorl. Hoogh. Den Heere Prins van Hessen, voor de somma van 40.000 Guldens"

("sold to His Serene Highness, the Prince of Hesse, for the sum of 40,000 guilders"), of "His late Highness the Prince of Wales" ("wyle zyn Doorl Hoogheyd den Heere Prinse van Walles"), very probably a reference to Frederick, Prince of Wales, of van Wassenaer van Obdam, Govert van Slingelandt, Johan Diderik van Slingelandt, Hendrik van Slingelandt, Fagel, Lormier, Adriaan Leonard van Heteren, Bicker van Zwieten, Halfwassenaar, da Costa, Verschuring, van Bremen, van der Linden van Slingelandt, Braamcamp, de Neufville, Lubbeling, Bierens, Leers, Bisschop and van Cauwerven. Two striking omissions are the Leiden collections of van der Marck and de la Cour.




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which would make them better known. Lormier's collection is also listed. With the exception of the pagina- tion, the type matter is identical to that of Lormier's catalogue of 1752, SO it is not unlikely that the latter was drawn up for the purposes of Hoet's compilation.'33 Needless to say, the inclusion of Lormier's paintings in such a book considerably increased his chances of making sales.'34 A few years later, when the French artists' biographer Descamps mentioned where his readers could go and inspect paintings of the various artists whose lives he had sketched, Lormier's collection was among those referred to.'35 The publications of Hoet and Descamps made his paintings even better known at home and abroad, and expanded his potential market.

THE SALE AFTER LORMIER S DEATH Lormier's remaining paintings were not sold immediately after his death in 1758 but only in 1763, probably because of the Seven Years' War (1756-63). His widow cleverly mounted an extensive publicity campaign involving newspaper advertisements (fig. 38) and catalogues printed in Dutch and French which were obtainable in

all the major European cities. ,6 Prospective purchasers flocked to the auction from home and abroad, and many records were broken.'37 Lormier's paintings were dispersed all over Europe. French, English and German collectors and dealers were eager buyers. In the I760S the exports of Dutch art grew rapidly.

It was decided to commemorate the auction and Lormier's collection with a catalogue listing the price each work had fetched.'i8 It is stated on the title page that the book was envisaged as a sequel to Hoet's Catalo- gus of naamlyst. The production of a true sequel to Hoet's two-volume compilation of auction catalogues was left to Pieter Terwesten in 1770. It is clear from that book that despite the mass export of paintings from the Republic from the I 760s on, there were still many active Dutch collectors. Once exported, paintings rarely returned to the country, but the vast numbers of seventeenth-century paintings were not easily exhausted.

DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY

UNIVERSITY OF UTRECHT

133 It is difficult to make out whether Lormier or Hoet wrote the 1752 catalogue of his collection. In any event it was probably Lormier who footed the bill and had extra copies run off for his own use.

134 Hoet, being an art dealer, clearly also had a commercial interest in including contemporary collections in his book.

135 Descamps very probably copied the information about the locations of paintings in the Republic from Hoet, and he may well have consulted van Gool's Nieuwe schouburg for information about the collection of paintings in Dusseldorf; see van Gool, op. cit. (note 15), vol. 2, pp. 56o-66. Van Gool in his turn had used the catalogue by Gerhard Karsch, Ausfzihrliche undgrzindliche Specification derer vortrefflichen und unschdzbaren Gemdlden, welche in der Galerie der Churfuirsl. Residenz zu Dusseldorf in grosser Menge anzutreffen seynd, Dusseldorf 1719 (photo- copy in the RKD).

136 See Lugt 1307 for the advertisements placed by Lormier's widow, which listed the places where the sale catalogue could be obtained, and for the cost of printing the catalogues. See also Bille, op. cit. (note 6), vol. I, pp. i63, i65 and 171, and R. van Gelder in H.C. van

Stokkom (ed.), Geordend en gedrukt: vier eeuwen Nederlandse han- de/scatalogi, Amsterdam I985, p. 56.

137 French, English and German collectors, like August iII of Sax- ony, Frederick the Great and Caroline Louise von Baden, had agents buying for them at the Lormier sale, as did Stadholder Willem v. See, for instance, Bille, op. cit. (note 6), p. I I2; Fock, op. cit. (note I05), p. I I6; G. Kircher, Karoline Louise von Baden als Kunstsammlerin, Karls- ruhe 1933, pp. 150-51, andJ. Lauts, Karoline Luise von Baden, Karls- ruhe I980, pp. 195-96.

138 Lugt I307: Catalogus of Naaml/ist van het uytmuntent Cabinet Schilderyen nagelaaten en verkogt ten huiyze van den Heer Willem Lormier Op maandag den 4auly 1763 en volgende dagen benevens De Egte Pryzen waar voor elk stuk verkogt geworden is, als ook de geheele somme die van dit Cabinet gekomen is Strekkende Tot een Vervolg van de Naamlnyst of Cata- logus van den Heer Gerard Hoet. For catalogues of paintings as memori- als to a collector see, for instance, F. Haskell, The painful birth of the art book, London I987.




Appendix A

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Appendix B

List of paintings sold by Willem Lormier (1748-1758)

The following abbreviations have been used: Cat. I752 Catalogue of the collection owned by Willem

Lormier in 1752; The Hague, RKD (Lugt 1307). Descamps J.-B. Descamps, La vie des peintresflamands, alle-

mands et hollandais, 4 vols., Paris 1753-64. HdG C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches

Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten hol- l/indischen Maler des XVII. ]ahrhunderts, I0 vols., Esslingen & Paris 1907-28.

Hoet G. Hoet, Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderyen, met derzelver pryzen, zedert een langen reeks van Jaaren zoo in Holland als op andere Plaatzen in het openbaar verkogt, 2 vols., The Hague I752 (P. Terwesten, vol. 3, The Hague 1770).

Lugt F. Lugt, Repertoire des catalogues de ventes, 4 vols., The Hague 1938-87.

RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, The Hague

The paintings are listed in the same order as in Lormier's accounts (see Appendix A, figs. 39-43). The manuscript catalogue of Voyer d'Argenson is in Poitiers, Bibliotheque Universitaire, Voyer d'Argenson archive: inv. nr. D 415, sections Iv and v.

Philips Wouwerman, The large stable, panel, 46.8 x 68 cm Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe (fig. 28)

Literature HdG 479; B. Schnackenburg, Gema/degalerie Alte Meister Kassel: Gesamtkatalog, 2 vols., Mainz I996, vol. I, p. 331, fig. 148.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Stal met ii paarden, bought from an unknown owner for Dfl. 478; sold to Friedrich von Hesse-Kassel on 28 February 1748 for Dfl. 750; Paris i8o6-I5; Kassel, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister.

2

Gerard Dou, Male nude, panel, 25.5 x 19 cm St Petersburg, Hermitage (fig. 2 1)

Literature A. Somof, Catalogue de la galerie des tableaux, Ermitage Jmperi-

ale, 2 vols., St Petersburg I891-95, vol. 2, nrs. 910-12; W. Martin, Het leven en de werken van Gerrit Dou, Leiden I9OI, p. I72, nr. 6, and p. 243, nr. 358; HdG 262.

Provenance Probably Johan de Bye collection, Leiden, i665; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Naakte man- netie, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Voyer d'Argen- son on 27 June I748 for Dfl. I,900; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "Trois petits Gerard dous de la meme forme et de meme grandeur [our cat. nrs. 2, 3 and 4]. Deux pendants representant chacun une femme sortant du bain et un milieu representant un homme aussi sortant du bain. Ces trois tableaux sont peut estre ce qui existe de plus rare de ce maitre: il n'avoit pas coutume de peindre des figures entieres, bien moins encore du nu, par ce que sa grande partie n'etoit pas le dessein; ce sont les trois seuls de cette espece qu'il ait faits et il faut avouer qu'il s'y est surpasse. Les deux pendants ont tout le picquant de la nudite sans avoir rien de ce qui oblige de soustraire les tableaux de cette espece a des yeux scrupu- leux. Aussi n'estce pas toujours le nu qui fait la nudite, com- munement c'est l'intention du peintre.... Dans le tableau du milieu, la figure de l'homme est d'un dessein tres correct et dans une attitude de repos. C'est toujours meme touche, meme fonte de couleur, toujours un pinceau frais et un coloris admirable, toujours un accord ravissant du grand finy et du grand gout. Dans celui cy Gerard Dou a voulu montrer toute son intelligence dans la couleur et dans la partie du clair obscur qu'il tenoit de son maitre Rimbrand, les seules choses qu'il en avoit retenues, car d'ailleurs jamais disciple n'a 6te si different de son maitre. Les tons de la voute et des eaux sont de la plus grande verite, la chemise, l'habit, le chapeau, l'epee tout ce qui est sur le devant du tableau est peint avec un soin merveilleux, le fonds devient riche par la ville d'Amsterdam qu'on apercoit dans le lointain. Souvent les peintres font du petit dans du grand. Dans ces trois tableaux, Gerard Dou a fait du grand dans du petit. Les deux pendants viennent d'un Cabinet celebre a Cologne, celuy de M. le Baron de Plettenberg, le milieu de celuy de M. Lormier connu aussi dans la curiosite; Ils font aujourdhuy l'un des principaux ornements d'une belle collection ou tous est precieux. Et qui par le gout et le choix des tableaux qui la composent, est une des plus etonnantes qui ayent encore &te faittes." According to Descamps, vol. 2

(1754), p. 225, it was in the Gaignat collection together with our cat. nrs. 3, 4 and 9: "Chez M. de Gaignat, une Servante qui prend du poisson dans un baquet, un petit Garcon pr&s d'elle tenant un li[e]vre; & trois tableaux fort beau & singulier, chacun represente une figure nue. Deux Femmes comme sortant du bain; l'autre est un Homme aussi nud: I1 y a des fonds admirable & pleine d'harmonie: Ce peintre n'a peut-etre jamais fait d'autre Tableau avec des figures nues. Ceux-ci, dont le fini, la touche & la couleur sont de la beaute de ses autres




Ouvrages, font regretter qu'il n'en ait pas fait davantage." Gaignat sale, Paris, December I768 and I4-22 February 1769 (Lugt 1734), nrs. 30-32 (bought by Galitzin for Catherine the Great); St Petersburg, Hermitage.

3 Gerard Dou, Nude woman in a landscape, panel, 24.5 x 19 cm St Petersburg, Hermitage (fig. I9)

Literature HdG 263; W. Martin, Het leven en de werken van Gerrit Dou, Leiden I90I, p. 172, nr. 9, and p. 242, nr. 356; W. Sumowski, Gemdlde der Rembrandt-Schuiler, 6 vols., Landau (Pfaltz) I983- [94], vol. I, p. 537, nr. 305.

Provenance Probably Johan de Bye collection, Leiden, I665; Jaques Meyers sale, Rotterdam, 9 September 1722, nr. 93; collection of Fer- dinand Adolph, Count of Plettenberg, Cologne; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Naakt vrouwtie, bought at the Plettenberg sale on 2 April 1738 for Dfl. 380, see Lugt 480, RKD, Lormier's copy of the Pletten- berg sale catalogue, nr. 59: "Een weerga tot het voorgaande [our cat. nr. 4], van denzelven, hoog o:9 en een half, breet 0:7" (= 25 X 20 cm), in the margin: "R[oore?] L[ormier?] [Dfl.] 3IO"; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June 1748 for Dfl. I,150; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "...la femme est bien dessinee, la position est naturelle, mais ce qu'elle a de plus remarquable c'est le visage qui est charmant et de la plus grande finesse. On n'a pas besoin de loupe pour en apercevoir la beaute, mais il est necessaire d'y avoir recours pour en decouvrir et admirer le travail. Les cheveux, les yeux, tout y est fait avec un art qu'on a peine a concevoir et avec un gout que le grand finy ne detruit pas. Quelles belles chairs! Quel beaux reflets! Quelle magie dans la partie du clair obscur! Et ce qu'il y a de plus etonnant, c'est que touttes ces parties se trouvent egallement dans les trois tableaux." According to Descamps, vol. 2, (1754), p. 225, it was in the Gaignat collection together with our cat. nrs. 2, 4 and 9; Gaignat sale, Paris, December I768 and I4-22 February 1769 (Lugt 1734), nrs. 30-32 (bought by Galitzin for Catherine the Great); St Peters- burg, Hermitage.

4 Gerard Dou, Nude woman combing her hair, panel, 25 x 19 cm St Petersburg, Hermitage (fig. 20)

Literature HdG 262-64; W. Martin, Het leven en de werken van Gerrit Dou, Leiden I9OI, p. 172, nr. i6, and p. 243, nr. 357; W.

Sumowski, GemlIde der Rembrandt-Schuiler, 6 vols., Landau (Pfaltz) I983-[94], vol. I, p. 537, nr. 305.

Provenance Probably Johan de Bye collection, Leiden, I665; Jaques Meyers sale, Rotterdam, 9 September 1722, nr. 92; collection of Fer- dinand Adolph, Count of Plettenberg; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Naakt vrouwtie, bought at the Plettenberg sale on 2 April 1738 for Dfl. 310; see Lugt 480, RKD, Lormier's copy of the auction catalogue Plettenberg, nr. 58: "Een naakt Vrouwtje met Bywerk, van Gerard Douw, zyn goede soort; hoog o:9 en een half, breet 0:7 en een half' (= 25 X 20 cm); in the margin: "R[oore?] L[ormier] [Dfl.] 380"; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I748 for Dfl. I,05o; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "...l'attitude de la femme est moins picquante et elle n'est pas elle meme d'une nature aussy elegante que la premiere [our cat. nr. 3]. Le mod- elle etoit moins hereux, Gerard Dou ne luy a pas fait de grace, il a peint cette blonde telle qu'elle etoit, au dessous des genoux on voit une preuve bien complette de sa fidelite a rendre la nature, dans l'empreinte des jarretieres, qui gate de fort jollies jambes. Ce deffaut ne se trouveroit pas dans les modelles de nos peintres de Paris. Cette femme se peigne et elle est comme la premiere assise au pied d'un vieil trone d'arbre qui se retrouve encore dans le tableau du milieu et qui dans tous les trois [our cat. nrs. 2, 3 and 4] est rendu avec une verite qu'on ne peut trop admirer. Dans celuyci il y a quelques fleurs et en- tr'autres des chardons peints comme par Van Huysum." Ac- cording to Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 225, it was in the Gaignat collection together with our cat. nrs. 2, 3 and 9; Gaignat sale, Paris, December I768 and 14-22 February 1769 (Lugt 1734), nrs. 30-32 (bought by Galitzin for Catherine the Great); St Petersburg, Hermitage.

5 Caspar Netscher, Lady with a watch, panel, I6.2 X 13.7 cm London, The Wallace Collection (fig. 44)

Literature Descamps, vol. 3 (1760), p. 83: "Chez M. le Marquis de Voyer ... une femme qui tient sa montre"; HdG 63c and 378; M. Chiarini, Gallerie e musei statali di Firenze: i dipinti olandesi del seicento e del settecento, Rome I989, pp. 379-8i; M.E. Wiese- man, Caspar Netscher and late seventeenth-century Dutch painting (diss.), New York I991, pp. 313-14, nr. 36; J. Ingamells, cat. The Wallace Collection: catalogue of pictures, vol. 4, Dutch and Flemish, London 1992, pp. 240-4I.

Provenance Probably identical to a painting sold at an anonymous sale in Amsterdam on 9 August I739; see Hoet, vol. I (752), p. 596,




44 Caspar Netscher, Lady with a watch. London, Wallace Collection

nr. 9: "Een dame luysterende na haar Horlogie zittende by een Tafel, met Tapyt en ander bywerk, door den Ouden Gaspar Netscher I50-0"; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as vrouwtie met Horloge, bought from an unknown owner, no price mentioned; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I748 for Dfl. 3oo; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "Deux petits tableaux de Netscher. Le premier represente une femme qui ecoute le mouvement d'une montre qu'elle porte a son oreille, elle a le coude appuie sur une table couverte d'un tapis de Turquie. Tous les tableaux de ce maitre sont autant de portraits, ce qui fait que d'ordinaire. I1 y a peu d'action, celle qui est dans cely ci est frappante par la verite, d'ailleurs il est de cette touche delicate et moelleuse qui est particulierement a ce maitre et d'un ton de couleurs admirable." Probably Donjeux sale, Paris, 29 April I793, nr. 268; Henry Artaria sale, London, 23 April I 850, nr. 82; collection of the Marquess of Hertford around I 872.

6 Gabriel Metsu, Old woman selling herring, panel, 28 X 24 cm Montpellier, Mus&e Fabre (fig. 45)

Literature Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 243: "Chez M. de Voyer... une autre [femme] qui tient un hareng"; HdG 35; F.W. Robinson, Gabriel Metsu (I629-I667); a study of his place in Dutch genre painting of the golden age, New York I974, p. I63, fig. I05; Q Buvelot et al., cat. Tableaux flamands et hollandais du Musees Fabre de Montpellier, Paris (Institut Neerlandais) & Montpel- lier (Mus&e Fabre) I998, pp. I I6-I9, nr. 32.

Provenance Philip Cosson sale, Amsterdam, i8 March 1729, nr. 7; N.C. Hasselaer collection; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Haring vrouwtie, bought at the Hasselaer sale on 26 April I742 for Dfl. 300; see Lugt 555, RKD, Lormier's copy of the Hasselaer sale catalogue, nr. 5: "Een dito, door Gabriel Metzu, zynde een Haringwyfje, hoog io en een vierde duim, breet 8 en een vierde duim" (= 26.9 X 2I.6 cm); in the margin: "de Rore voor W.L.[ormier] 300"; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I748 for Dfl. 475; M. Solirene sale, Paris, I I-I3 March I8I2, nr. 62; M. Dufresne sale, Paris, 26 March i8i6, nr. 23; A.-L.-J.-P. Valedau, Paris, before I833; bequeathed to the Mus&e Fabre in I836.

7 Gabriel Metsu, Woman drawing or painting, with a small dog Unidentified

Literature Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 243: "Chez M. de Voyer... une Femme qui dessine"; HdG 29: not the painting in the Nation- al Gallery, London, which lacks the dog; exhib. cat. Gabriel Metsu, Leiden (Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal) I966, pp. 62- 63; it is not F.W. Robinson, Gabriel Metsu (I629-I667); a study of his place in Dutch genre painting of the golden age, New York 1974, p. I 68, fig. i i 6.

Provenance Possibly identical to a painting at the Petronella Oortmans-de la Cour sale on I9 October I707 (Lugt 207), nr. 47: "Een tekenares van Gerbrand Metzu"; possibly in the de Roore sale, 4 September I747, nr. 87 (bought by David Ietswaart, but not at his sale in I749); Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Schilderesse en Hondje, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I748 for Dfl. 375; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "Un tableau peint par Metzu et repressentant une femme qui tient d'une main un portefeuille a dessiner et qui de l'autre caresse




45 Gabriel Metsu, Old woman selling herring. Montpellier, Mus~e Fabre

un petit Epagneul. L'Enfant qu'elle veut dessiner est d'apres francois flamand et c'est un des chefs d'oeuvre de ce celebre sculpteur. Ce tableau seul suffiroit pour faire connaitre tous le merite du Metzu. L'intelligence des couleurs et le beau finy y sont porte au plus haut point; le velours, l'hermine, l'etoffe de couleur changeante, le poil du petit chien, tout y est d'une touche aussy pretieuse que cette de Mieris ou du Gerard Dou, tout y est d'une rendui avec esprit et verite. Ce tableau est un portrait et cette femme sans estre belle est agreable. On ne peut la fixer sans trouver dans ses yeux, je ne say quelle expres- sion qui plais et qui attire; la main qui tient le portefeuille est d'une beaute remarquable. La maniere dont le peintre a groupe son rapin pour valoir le petit enfant de marmbre, n'est peut etre pas aussy vraye que le reste. II y a beaucoup de plys pour une Etoffe aussi epaisse que celle des tapis de Turquie. Il peut aussy y avoir quelque chose a dessiner dans le tableau du cote du dessin mais tels sont les peintres flamands, si ceux de l'ordre de Metzu pechent quelque fois en cette partie, ils ex- cellens en tans d'autres qu'il ont de quoy se faire tous pardon- ner."

8 Rembrandt (circle of), Scholar in a room with a winding staircase, panel, 28.2 x 34.4 cm Paris, Mus&e du Louvre (fig. 24)

Literature Possibly identical to a painting mentioned by Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 97; HdG 233; J. Bruyn et al., A corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, in progress, The Hague, Boston & London i982-, vol. 2, pp. 638-44, nr. C 5I; J. Foucart, Peintres rembranesques au Louvre, Paris I988, pp. 23-27; W. Sumowski, Gemalde der Rembrandt-Schuler, 6 vols., Landau (Pfaltz) I983-[94], vol. 3, nr. I I33, p. I649: pendant to Salomon Koninck (fig. 25).

Provenance Peeter Wouters collection, Antwerp, 23 August I 673; possibly identical to a painting in the possession of Catharina Deyl, Amsterdam, 7 March i687; Fraula sale, Brussels, 21 July 1738, nr. I36; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Oud Mannetje en wenteltrap, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I 748 for Dfl. 525; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "no. I et 2: deux tableaux pendants... par Rembrant. On ne peut en faire sentir tout la merite qu'en les comparent l'un a l'autre. Un habile peintre maitre de sa palette ne la monte pas toujours egalement; il est cependant suir de reussir. [deleted: il est necessaire pour en faire sentir le merite d'en donner la description par comparaison de l'un avec l'autre. Un peintre-maitre de son pinceau l'employ est quelque fois de [illegible]..., ce reussis toujours] Preuve evidente que le grandeur de plair ne s'acquiert jamais que par un savoir profond et une grande superiorite I Rimbrant a voulu nous en convaincre dans ces deux chef d'oeuvre. II est parvennui a surprendre egalement l'amateur par le contraste du beau finy et du bel effet. Ils representent deux philosophes dans un chambre voute, ou le souleil penetre dans l'un rien n'altere la vivacite I des Rayoux eclairent tous l'interieur de la voute. Ils frappent avec force sur le [illegible] de la Chambre et le reflet se reprend avec art un Escalier tournant qui est dans un des coint du chambre. Dans l'autre, qui est a peu pres la contrepartie du premier, le Peintre s'est donne de plus grandes difficultes pour [illegible]... plus de gloire a les vaincre. I1 a oppose a la lumiere du jour l'eclas du feu d'une chemin&e qu il a place artistement dans un des coins du tableau. Quelle oeconomie, quelle superiorite pour em- pecher qu'un effet ne detruise l'autre I quelle adresse d'avoir mis plus de finesse et de richesse dans celuy y pour de domage du piquans qui se trouve dans l'autre. Dans le premier l'ou est force de s'arreter a la lumiere principale qui surprend I dans le second les yeux se promenent agreablement sur differants objets qui les satisfont egalement. Une femme qui descend de l'escalier et une autre qui est au pres du feu, des accessoires travailles sagement distribus, invitent a en chercher jusqu'aux




moindres details I dans le premier Rimbrand est tous luy I dans le second il etonne moins, mais il plais davantage I les yeux des connaisseurs sont presque eblouis de l'un, et ils luy donneroient la preference I sy les charme & de l'autre ne le rapeloient et ne le rejetoient dans un plus grand embaraz. Quel triomphe pour un curieux que cette incertitude... Quel boul- jeuz d'avoir rassemble deux pendants aussi parfaites, quelle jouisance I ils sont uniques." Comte de Vence sale (Lugt I I35), Paris, 9-17 February 176I, nrs. 38-39; duc de Choiseul sale, Paris, 6-io April 1772, nrs. 7 and 8; Randon de Boisset sale, Paris, 27 February-25 March I777, nr. 49; comte de Vau- dreuil sale, Paris, 24-25 November 1784, nr. 28; collection of Louis XVI; Paris, Louvre.

9 Gerard Dou, The kitchen maid, panel, 33 x 23.8 cm Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle (fig. I2)

Literature According to Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 225, it was in the Gaignat collection together with our cat. nrs. 2, 3 and 4; W. Martin, Gerard Dou, des Meisters Gemdlde, Stuttgart & Berlin I913, p. 126; HdG i85 and i86; J. Lauts, Katalog alte Meister bis i8oo, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, 2 VOlS., Karlsruhe I966, vol. i, p. 107, nr. 266; P. Hecht, exhib. cat. De Hollandse fijnschilders: van Gerard Dou tot Adriaen van der Werff, Am- sterdam (Rijksmuseum), Maarssen & The Hague I989, pp. 36-39, nr. 4; C. Brown, The Dutch school, i6oo-i900, 2 vols., London 199I, vol. I, p. I07, nr. 825.

Provenance Adriaen van Hoeck sale, Amsterdam, 7 April 1706, nr. i; Coenraad Baron van Droste sale, The Hague, 21 July 1734, nr. 40; Bicker van Zwieten collection; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as vrouw, Jongen, haas, bought at the Bicker van Zwieten sale on I2 April I74I by Jacques de Roore (for Lormier) for Dfl. 1,290; see Lugt 537, RKD, Lormier's copy of the van Zwieten sale catalogue, nr. 66: "Een seer konstig en uytvoerig stuk, verbelende een Vrouw die Visschrapt, en een Jonge met een Haas, met veel fraay Bywerk, boven rond, door Gerard Douw, in den Jaere I652. Hoog I2 breed 9 duym" (= 3I.4 X 23.6 cm); in the margin: "de Roore I290, 1290 L.[ormier]"; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June 1748 for Dfl. I,950; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "...une servante qui prend un poisson dans un baquet. Pres d'elle est un petit garqon qui tient un lievre. Sur la fen&re on voit d'un cote un mortier, de l'autre un choux rouge, une botte de carottes et un pot au lait de cuivre jaune; du cote du mortier au haut de la fen&re est suspendu un cocq, a l'autre est ac- croche un panier d'osier ou il y a des oeufs. Le bas de la fenetre est orne d'un bas relief de bon gout. Tous ces details rendent

ce petit tableau fort riche, d'autant plus que soit que l'on exa- mine, le mortier ou le choux, les cercles de baques, ou le panier d'osier, les plumes de cocq, ou le poit du lievre, il n'y a rien qui ne soit du travail le plus recherche et du plus grand finy. Le pot au lais est neantmoins ce qui appelle le plus les yeux, par la beaute des reflets; aussi paroissent ils moins l'effet de la patience du peintre que de la touche la plus savante. Le tableau est de i652." Gaignat sale, December I768 and 14-22 Febru- ary 1769 (Lugt I734), nr. 28; bought by Caroline Louise von Baden; Karlsruhe, Gemaldegalerie.

I0

Gerard Dou, Woman in a niche by a pot ofpinks Lost (fig. 46)

Literature Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 225: "Chez M. Le Marquis de Voyer..., la Bouquetiere"; possibly HdG 170; W. Martin, Ge- rard Dou, des Meisters Gemdlde, Stuttgart & Berlin I913, p. I I 5; V.L. Atwater, A catalogue and analysis ofeighteenth-century French prints after Netherlandish baroque paintings (diss.), 4 vols., University of Washington I988, vol. 2, pp. 654-55, nr. 356.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as vrouw in een nis, angeliere , bought from an unknown owner; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I 748 for Dfl. I,45o; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "...une femme apuyee sur une fenetre ornee d'un pan de tapis de la plus belle execution. Pres de la fenetre est un pot d'oeillets dont elle paroit en vouloir detacher un. Ces oeillets sont aussi bien peints que si ils etoient de Van Huysum. La cage qui est accrochee a la fen&re n'est pas moins remarquable par l'exactitude et la verite des details, mais ce qu'on ne peut examiner avec trop d'attention, c'est le travail et la beaute de cette tete. Jamais peut estre l'Email et l'humide des yeux n'ont et& mieux rendus qu'ils le sont icy, et c'est ce qui ce fait que cette figure toutte petite qu'elle est, fait illusion et paroit en effet estre vivante. Le tableau est de i656." Randon de Boisset sale, 27 February- 25 March I777, nr. 79 (Lugt 2652); duc de Berri collection; his sale, London (Christie's), 4-6 April I834, nr. 79; sold to Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton, Bath House, London; destroyed by fire.




*t-vw ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 9- _' 'I+

.d !

46 Antoine de Marcenay de Ghuy after Gerard Dou, Woman in a niche by a pot ofpinks, engraving. Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet

'II

Gerard Dou, The doctor Unidentified

Literature HdG I46; not HdG 66a or d; W. Martin, Het leven en de werken van Gerrit Dou beschouwd in verband met het schilders- leven van zijn tijd (diss.), Leiden I9OI, p. I97, nr. 97; not identical to W. Martin, Gerard Dou, des Meisters Gemalde, Stuttgart & Berlin I9I3, p. i68.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Cherurgien die een meysje van de huyg ligt, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I748 for Dfl. I,000.

I2

Jan van Huysum, Flowers Unidentified

Literature J. van Gool, De nieuwe schouburg der Nederlantsche kunstschilders en schilderessen, 2 vols., The Hague 1750-5 I, vol. 2, p. 21: Descamps, vol. 4 (1764), p. 235: "On voit a Paris, dans le Cabinet de M. de Voyer, deux tableaux en hauteur: l'un represente des Fleurs, & l'autre des Fruits, tout deux du plus beau de ce Maitre"; possibly identical to HdG 134 and 214; M.H. Grant, Jan van Huysum I682-I749, Leigh-on-Sea I954, nrs. 95 and I73.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Bloe- men, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Voyer d'Argen- son on 27 June I748 for Dfl. 3,600; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "Un Tableau de fleurs peint par Van Huysum et dont il s'est servy luymeme comme de modelles pour beaucoup d'autres qu'il a faits d'apres celuy cy. L'habilite de ce Peintre est tellement connue qu'on n'est pas surpris de le voir rendre avec tant de verite et le satin des tulippes, et le veloute des oreilles d'ours et la transparence des feuilles de rose, les papillons, les mouches, en un mos tous les details et touttes les richesses du genre qu'il a entrepris; ces goutes de ros&e qu'il a place si artistement sur les fleurs, sont encore au rang de ces choses merveilleuses aux quelles il nous a accou- tumes, mais cette petite goute ronde sur la partie panach&e de blanc de la grande tulippe au haut du bouquet, a de quoy eton- ner les yeux les plus familiarises aux miracles de son pinceau, avec la meilleure loupe on n'y apercoit point de touche. On a cependant tout l'effet de la touche ou plustot celuy de la nature meme. Ce tableau a encore l'avantage d'estre sur un fond clair, ce qui le rend si brillant et si lumineux qu'il paroit eclairer tout ce qui l'environne. Si la nature est ordinaire moins eclatante, il faut songer que c'est la nature par&e de tout ce que l'art peut luy preter de graces et de force pour la rendre plus belle. A touts ces merites ce tableau joint celuy d'estre compose et raisonne avec tant d'intelligence, qu'on peut presque le re- garder comme un tableau d'histoire. Malgre la grande quantite de fleurs il n' y a pas de confusion, les differents plans y sont observes, les unes fuyens, les autres avancent; et touttes se font valoir reciproquement et pour la forme et pour la couleur. En un mot c'est le chef-d'oeuvre de ce peintre que la mort nous a enleve il y a pres de deux mois [= I749]." Possibly identical to a painting in the Gaignat sale, Paris, December I768 and 14- 22 February I769, nr. 52.




'3 Jan van Huysum, Fruit Unidentified

Literature J. van Gool, De nieuwe schouburg der Nederlantsche kunstschilders en schilderessen, 2 vols., The Hague 1750-5 I, vol. 2, p.

2I; Descamps, vol. 4 (1764), p. 235; possibly identical to HdG I34 and 214; M.H. Grantjan van Huysum I682-1749, Leigh- on-Sea 1954, nrs. 95 and I73.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Fruyd, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Voyer d'Ar- genson on 27 June I748 for Dfl. 3,600 ; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "Un tableau de fleurs et de fruits de Van Huysum; c'est le pendant de celuy de l'article precedent [our cat. nr. I2]. I1 est du meme merite ou plustot de la meme perfection. Les pavots rouges qui sont au haut du tableau sont de la plus grande beaute. On ne croit pas voir, on voit effec- tivement un mellon, des raisins, une grenade, des groseilles, un papillon & c. On a de la peine a se persuader que tous ces objets ne sont que l'image de la nature, on croit que c'est la nature meme. Comment n'estre pas etonne de voir rendre avec tant de verite, le transparent des raisins ou des groseilles, le cotton de la peche et jusqu'au vellu des framboises? Quelle patience dans le peintre, mais quelle habilite. Quoy de plus finy, mais quoy de plus vray. Lors qu'on a dit que les tableaux de ce genre sont froids on veut parler des mediocres, ceux cy sont faits pour estre l'ornement de toute espece de cabinet." Possi- bly identical to a painting in the Gaignat sale, Paris, December 1768 and 14-22 February 1769, nr. 52.

I4

Philips Wouwerman, A riding school in the open, with a coach with six horses, canvas, 62 X 67 cm Aylesbury, Waddesdon Manor, The National Trust (figs. 26 and 27)

Literature Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 293: "Chez M. de Voyer... un Paysage avec un carosse a six chevaux"; possibly identical to HdG 62; E. Waterhouse, TheJames A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: paintings, London I967, pp. i8o-8i, nr. 77; for the print by Moyreau see V.L. Atwater, A catalogue and analysis of eighteenth-century French prints after Netherlandish baroque paintings (diss.), 4 vols., University of Washington I988, vol. 4, nr. 2052.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Caros

met 6. Paarden, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I 748 for Dfl. I,05o; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "Un paysage de Wouwerman dont le principal objet est un carosse attele de six chevaux gris d'ar- doise, remarquables par leur beaute, et animes de ce feu que ce peintre avoit le talens d'exprimer si bien, soit dans les yeux, soit dans tous les mouvements de ces animaux. Ce tableau est de son bon temps et de sa maniere la plus pretieuse. Le cocher, le postillon et le gentil homme qui un genou en terre paroit rat- tacher ses eperons, sont des figures dessinees correctement et d'un tour tres fin. La tete du postillon specialement, a du caractere. Le cheval blanc qu'un valet tient par la bride, est peint dans la derniere perfection; l'arbre qui s'eleve le plus haut est d'une touche legere et spirituelle. Le ciel est vigoureux et du meilleur ton, ce qu'on trouve pas toujours dans les Wouwer- mans dont les ciels asses ordinairement sont gris. I1 y a dans tout le tableau une belle entante de lumiere et un beau repos. Le site en est simple, le peintre a rendu ce qu'il a vu sans y rien ajouter; c'est la nature dans toutte la verite, l'art ne luy a preste que la plus perfaite imitation, il en resulte un merite qui frapera tous les vrais connoisseurs, c'est celuy de faire sentir aussy hereusement la perspective dans une plaine, sans tout ce que les peintres ont coutume d'employer pour faire fuir des objets, et en faire avancer d'autres. On ne vois pas icy de grandes masses d'ombres fortes et noires pour donner plus d'- effet aux parties eclairees. Oseroit on risquer une comparaison qui nait du sujet, car tous les arts ont a peu pres les memes principes, et les memes loix generales? Les poetes les plus communs font aisement valoir un personnage vertueux par le contraste de quelque mechant forcene qu'ils luy oposent. I1 n'y a qu'un grand poete qui puisse faire briller un caractere heroique par luy meme et par ce qui luy est propre." Jan Gildemeester Jansz sale, Amsterdam, I I June i8oo, nr. 267; Sir Simon Clarke and George Hibbert sale, London (Christie's), 14 May I802, nr. 63; collection of Sir Henry St John Mildmay; sold from the Mildmay collection in or after I833, collection of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, Waddes- don Manor.

'5 Philips Wouwerman, A company on horseback Unidentified

Literature According to Descamps there were seven paintings by Wou- werman in Voyer's collection; see Descamps, vol. 2 (I 754), pp. 293-94; possibly HdG 53.

Provenance Van Hoeken and Hartsoeker sale, The Hague, I May 1742, nr. i; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as




geselschap te paart, bought at the van Hoeken sale on I May 1742 for Dfl. 405; see Lugt 556, Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, copy of the van Hoeken and Hartsoeker sale catalogue, nr. I: "Een Pleisterplaats vol Beelden en paarden door Philip Wouwerman, seer schoon en van syn beste tyd, breed twee voet en drie duim, een voet ses duim hoogte"; in the margin: "Lormier 405"; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June I748 for Dfl. 6oo.

I6 Gerard ter Borch, The glass of lemonade, canvas (transferred from panel to canvas, reduced), 67 x 54 cm St Petersburg, Hermitage (fig. 22)

Literature Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. I28: "Chez M. le Marquis de Voy- er... une Limonadi[e]re & deux autre figures" (according to Descamps Gaignat owned a similar painting: "Chez M. De Gaignat, un jeune homme qui preisente une verre de limonade a une jeune personne, derriere elle une vieille matr6ne"); A. Somof, Catalogue de la galerie des tableaux, Ermitage Imperiale, 2 vols., St Petersburg i895, vol. 2, nr. 870; HdG 87; S.J. Gud- laugsson, Gerard ter Borch, 2 vols., The Hague 1959-60, vol. 2, pp. i87-89, nr. 192.

Provenance N.C. Hasselaer collection; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as 3 Beelden, bought at the Hasselaer sale on 26 April I742 for Dfl. 670; see Lugt 555, RKD, Lormier's copy of the Hasselaer sale catalogue, nr. I I: "Het zeer bekende stukje door G. ter Burg met drie Beelden, zynde het beste van hem bekent, hoog 2 voet 9 en een vierde duim, breet 2 voet 3 en een half duim" (= 87.1 X 72 cm); in the margin: "de Rore voor W.L.[ormier] 670"; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June 1748 for Dfl. 9oo; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "Un Tableau de Terburg servant de pendant au grand Met- zu de l'article precedent [our cat. nr. 17]. Ce tableau est un des plus capitaux de ce maitre. I1 est de trois figures et le sujet est ce que dans son pais on apelle un sujet de galanterie. C'est un bon hollandois qui presente a sa belle un verre ou il remue des ecorces de citron. Cette tete est remarquable par l'intention qui est dans le regard et par la beaute des reflets. Au surplus le Peintre n'a pas pare son original, il l'a peint tel qu'il la vu. La tee de la femme est d'un caractere naif. Elle est coeffee d'une maniere qui plaisoit a ce peintre, comme on le voit par beaucoup d'autres de ces tableaux, et qui est en effet asses hereuse. I1 a aussi une maniere de peindre les cheveux qui est a luy et qui est tres spirituelles. On voit que la veille femme qui est de- bout apuyee sur la jeune personne est, ou se donne pour la mere de cette beaute. Et qu'elle est d'humeur asses commode pour n'estre pas de trop a un tee a t&e. Terburg est un des

maitres qui a excelle a peindre le satin. Celuy qui est dans ce tableau est de la plus grande beaute. Si pour la finesse du dessein et de la touche, Netscher, son eleve, Mieris et Gerard Dou l'emportent sur luy, il ne laisse pas d'estre un des peintres les plus recommandables par le beau finy et la fonte des coulleurs, ses transparants et ses reflets sont la preuve de sa grande intelligence dans la partie du clair-obscur." Gaignat sale, Paris, December I768 and 14-22 February 1769, nr. 2i; duc de Choiseul sale, Paris, 6-io April 1772, nr. 25; Choiseul-Praslin sale, Paris, i8 February I793, nr. I04; Choiseul sale, Paris, I9- 20 May i8o8, nr. i8; sale Paris, 22 January i812, nr. 23; collection of Empress Josephine, Malmaison; in I814 in St Peters- burg, Hermitage, inv. nr. 88i.

'7 Gabriel Metsu, A woman washing her hands, canvas, 82 x 66 cm Private collection (fig. i6)

Literature A. Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konst- schilders en schilderessen, 3 vols., Amsterdam I7i8-2I, vol. 3 (172I), p. 4I: in the collection of Johan van Schuylenburch; Hoet, vol. I (1752), p. 45I, nr. 6i; J. van Gool, Antwoordt op den zoo genaemden brief aan een vrient, p. 44; not mentioned by Descamps; HdG i89; F.W. Robinson, Gabriel Metsu (I629- i667); a study of his place in Dutch genre painting of the golden age, New York 1974, pl. I36; V.L. Atwater, A catalogue and analysis of eighteenth-century French prints after Netherlandish baroque paintings (diss.), 4 vols., University of Washington I988, vol. 3, p. 859, nr. 741, for the print by C.L. Lingee.

Provenance Johan van Schuylenburch sale, The Hague, 20 September 1735, nr. 6i; Isaak Hoogenbergh collection; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as vrouw die handen wast, bought at the Hoogenbergh sale on io April 1743 for Dfl. 8oo; see Lugt 576, RKD, Lormier's copy of the Hoogenbergh sale catalogue, nr. I 8: "Een Juffrouw die haar handen wast, terwyl een Heer in de Kamer treed, drie Beelden, uytnement teder en eel geschildert, door Gabriel Metzu, breet 2 voet 4 en een half duym en hoog 3 voet" (= 94.3 x 69.4 cm); in the margin: "W.Lormier 8oo"; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June 1748 for Dfl. II50; described in Voyer's manuscript catalogue as "Un tableau de Gabriel Metzu, dont le sujet est une de ces ac- tions familieres de la vie, que ce peintre se plaisoit a represen- ter et qu'il rendoit avec tant de verite: c'est une dame qui se lave les mains, et a qui un gentil homme vient rendre visitte. La tete de cette femme est d'un caractere tout a la fois naif et piquant: quoy qu'elle ait les yeux baisse's on s'aperqoit qu'elle pense. Cette figure contraste hereusement avec celle de la ser-




vante qui luy verse de l'eau sur les mains. Celle cy a dans le regard cette sorte de malice qui tient lieu de finesse a celles de son etat. Elle semble expliquer au spectateur le motif de la visitte qu'on rend a sa dame. Quant au gentil homme a ses habits et a son maintien modeste, il a plustot l'air d'un homme a sentiment que d'un gallant de profession. Le genie des peintres flamands n'est pas eleve, mais en examinant leurs ouvrages avec attention, on ne laisse pas d'y trouver quelquefois de l'esprit. La tete de la dame est peinte avec le meme soin qu'une tete de Gerard Dow. Ses mains sont jollies; elles sont assorties a la gentillesse de son visage avec la meme attention que celles de la servante le sont a la grossierete du sien. Ces trois figures sont extremement bien dessinees. Tout y est de ce beau fini au quel il y a si peu de maitres qui soient arrives. Le satin de la jupe de la dame sur tout est remarquable; il est aussy vray que dans les tableaux de Francois Mieris les plus precieux. Ce tableau a un autre merite [car il y en a a executer des choses difficiles, quand on sait tirer de l'agrement de la difficulte vaincue] Metzu a ose peindre des rouges sur des rouges, ce qui donne a son tableau un eclat qui cependant n'en detruit pas l'harmonie. I1 faloit estre aussi grand maitre qu'il l'etoit dans l'art de manier les couleurs, pour detacher ce corse rouge du lit de meme coulleur, et le fauteuil de la toilette: il n'y a point de peintres qui ne soient egallement etonnes et de la hardiesse et du succes de l'entreprise. Les tableaux de Metzu sont fort rares en France, le Roy luy meme n'en possede qu'un et celuy cy passoit en hollande pour un de ses plus parfaits." Gaignat sale, Paris, December I768 and 14-22 February 1769, nr. 33; duc de Choiseul sale, Paris, 6-io April I772, nr. 24; Randon de Boisset sale, Paris, 27 February-2S March 1777, nr. 8o; Robit sale, Paris, 21 May i8oi, nr. 68; duc de Berri sale, London (Christie's), 4-6 April i834, nr. 26; duchesse de Berri sale, Paris, 4 April I 837, nr. 36; Anatole Demidoff, San Donato; his sale, Paris, i8 April i868, nr. 6; Seilliere collection; according to HdG i89 in the collection of the Baroness Rothschild, Frankfurt am Main, in 1907.

i8 Jan Steen, The drawing lesson, panel, 49.3 x 41 cm Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum (fig. 23)

Literature Not mentioned by Descamps; HdG 247; exhib. cat. Jan Steen: painter and storyteller, Washington (National Gallery of Art) & Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) i996, pp. i86-89, nr. 27; J. Walsh, Jan Steen: The drawing lesson, Santa Monica i996; M. Westermann, The amusements of Jan Steen: comic painting in the seventeenth century, Zwolle I997, pp. 6S-66.

Provenance Van Hessel collection; Willem Lormier collection, described

in his accounts as Schilderessie, bought at the Franqois van Hessel sale, Amsterdam, on Ii April 1747 for Dfl. 255; see Lugt 66i, Paris, Bibliotheque d'Art et d'Archeologie, Lormier's copy of the van Hessel sale catalogue, nr. I: "Een zeer konstig en uitvoerig Cabinet-stuckje doorJan Steen, verbeeldende een Schilderkamer, alwaar den Schilder twee Kinderen in de Tekenkonst onderwijst"; in the margin: "Postumus voor W.[illem] L.[ormier]" for Dfl. 255; sold to Voyer d'Argenson on 27 June 1748 for Dfl. 450; duc de la Vallfire sale, Paris, 2I February I78i, nr. 74; sale Paris, 14 April 1784, nr. i63; with Colnaghi, London, i897; with Forbes and Paterson, London, I9oI; with Dowdeswell and Dowdeswell, London, I907; A. de Ridder sale, Paris, 2 June 1924, nr. 68; F. Kleinberger, Paris; A. Reimann, Steenbygaard, Stensved, Denmark, I926; Ed- ward Speelman, London, I983; sold by Speelman to The J.P. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, I983.

I9 Jan Griffier the Elder, Landscape Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Land- schap, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Robert Bragge on i May 1750 for Dfl. I25.

20

Meindert Hobbema, Landscape Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Land- schap, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Robert Bragge on i May I750 for Dfl. 175.

21

Jacob Duck (bought as Le Duc), The lunatic asylum in Gouda Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Geck- huys Gouda, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Robert Bragge on 2 April 1751 for Dfl. 5I9:15.




22

Carlo Cigniani, The Annunciation (?) Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Ver- scheyning Maria, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Robert Bragge on 2 April 175I for Dfl. 462.

23

Caspar Netscher, The masquerade, panel, 47 x 63.5 cm Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe (fig. 13)

Literature J.C. Weyerman, De levensbeschryvingen der Nederlandsche konst- schilders en konst-schilderessen, 4 vols., The Hague & Dordrecht 1729-69, vol. 4 (I769), p. I34; HdG I30; P. Hecht, exhib. cat. De Hollandse fijnschilders: van Gerard Dou tot Adriaen van der Werff; Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum), Maarssen & The Hague I989, nr. 32, pp. I60-63; M.E. Wieseman, Caspar Netscher and late seventeenth-century Dutch painting (diss.), New York I99I, pp. 347-48, nr. 67; B. Schnackenburg, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel: Gesamtkatalog, 2 vols., Mainz I996, vol. i, pp. 204-05, GK 292, fig. I 62.

Provenance Jan van Beuningen sale, Amsterdam, 13 May I 7 I 6, nr. 53; Jan van Schuylenburch sale, The Hague, 20 September 1735, nr. 55; Bicker van Zwieten collection; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as de Beuling, bought at the Bicker van Zwieten sale on I2 April I74I by Jacques de Roore for Willem Lormier for Dfl. 785; see Lugt 537, RKD, Lormier's copy of the van Zwieten sale catalogue, nr. 85: "Een seer Capi- taal Cabinet Stuk door G. Netscher, verbelende een Masce- rade, met 5 complete beelden, en ander bywerk synde een van syn alderbeste werk, hoog I voet 6 duym, breed 2 voet en een vierde duim" (= 47.2 x 63.5 cm); in the margin: "de Roore W.L.[ormier]"; sold to Wilhelm viII, Landgrave of Hesse- Kassel, on i 8 June I 752 for Dfl. I, 1 55; inv. Kassel 1749-, nr. 723: "Netscher (Caspar) Zwey Frauen in Italianischer Klei- dung, welchen Panthalon Wurste anbietet, auf Holtz, in verguldeten Rahm. Hohe i Sch. 6 Zo., Breite 2 Sch. - Zo."; Paris (i8o6-I5); Kassel.

24

Philips Wouwerman, Battle scene Formerly Kassel, collection of the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

Literature HdG 8oi (unlikely); E. Herzog, Die Gemdldegalerie der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Kassel, Kassel I969, p. 35.

Provenance Collection of Ferdinand Adolph, Count of Plettenberg, Cologne; Plettenberg sale, Amsterdam, 2 April 1738, nr. 64: "Een Bataije, van Philip Wouwerman, ongemeen puyk, hoog 2:0, breet 2:4" (= 62.9 x 73.4 cm); Jacob Boreel collection; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Bataille, bought at the Jacob Boreel sale, 2I April 1746, nr. 7: "Philip Wouwerman, Een Bataije, door de zelve, met veel Paarden en Beelden, f 820,-"; in the margin Lormier wrote: "Willem Lormier 820 NB 2. April 1738 8oo by plettenberg"; sold to Wilhelm viii, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, on I8 June 1752 for Dfl. 1,312:10; inv. Kassel 1749-, nr. 722: "Wouwer- man (Philipp) Attaque einer Convoi, auf Leinen. Hohe I Sch. 9, 5 Zo. Breite 2 Sch. 2 Zo."; Kassel; lost in Napoleonic times.

25

Rembrandt, The Holy Family with a curtain, panel, 46.8 x 68.4 cm Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe (fig. 3)

Literature HdG go; W. Kemp, Rembrandt, Die Heilige Familie, Frankfurt am Main I986, p. 5I; B. Schnackenburg, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel: Gesamtkatalog, 2 vols., Mainz I996, vol. I, pp. 242-43, GK 240, fig. 122.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Roode Gordyn, Maria, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Wil- helm viii, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, on I8June 1752 for Dfl. 735; inv. Kassel 1749-, nr. 727: "Rembrant. Eine Frau mit dem Kind, welche beym Feuer sich warmet, dabei eine Katze, auf Holtz oben 8eckicht, in vergoldeten Rahm. Hohe I Sch. 6 Zo. Breite 2 Sch. 2 Zo."; Kassel; Paris (i8o6-I5); Kassel.




26

Jan Brueghel the Elder, Landscape Formerly Kassel, collection of the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

Literature E. Herzog, Die Gemaldegalerie der Staatlichen Kunstsammlun- gen Kassel, Kassel I969, p. 35.

Provenance Probably identical to a painting bought by Lormier at the Plet- tenberg sale, Amsterdam, on 2 April I738, nr. 51: "Fl. Breugel: Een Landschap, zynde een Rivier gezigt, vol gewoel van Beeldjes, Beesjes en Vaartuygen; van den Fluweelen Breugel: zoo konstig en uytvoerig, als 'er een van hem bekent is, voor 1020,- ; in the margin: "R[oore?] L[ormier?]"; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Land- schap, Beelden; sold to Wilhelm viii, Landgrave of Hesse-Kas- sel, on i8June 1752 for Dfl. 1,575; inv. Kassel 1749-, nr. 725: "Breugel (de Velours) Gesicht an der Schelde mit vielen Figu- ren und Schiffen, auf Holtz, in verguldeten Rahm. Hohe - Sch. i i, 5 Zo., Breite I Sch. 6 Zo."; Kassel; lost in Napoleonic times.

27

Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Sts Peter and John in a landscape with ruins, copper, 24 X 33.3 cm Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe (fig. 30)

Literature M. Rothlisberger, Bartholomeus Breenbergh: the paintings, Berlin & New York I98I, nr. 8o; B. Schnackenburg, GemcIde- galerie Alte Meister Kassel: Gesamtkatalog, 2 vols., Mainz I996, vol. I, p. 68, GK 205, fig. I 13.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Petrus, bij de Heyd[ene]n, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Wilhelm viii, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, on I8 June 1752 for Dfl. I57:10; inv. Kassel 1749-, nr. 729: "Breember- gen (Barth:) Eine Landschaft mit kleinen Figuren, auf kupfer, im verguldeten Rahm. Hohe - Sch. 9 Zo. Breite i Sch. - Zo."; Kassel; Paris (i8o6-I5); Kassel.

28

Bartholomeus Breenbergh, The punishment of the schoolmaster of Falerii, panel, 55.5 X 92.5 cm Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe (fig. 3 ')

Literature M. Rothlisberger, Bartholomeus Breenbergh: the paintings, Berlin & New York I98I, nr. 157; B. Schnackenburg, Gemildegalerie Alte Meister Kassel: Gesamtkatalog, 2 vols., Mainz I996, vol. I, p. 68, GK 206, fig. 114.

Provenance M. deJeude sale, The Hague, i8 April I735, nr. 2i; H. van der Vugt sale, Amsterdam, 27 April 1745, nr. 59 (bought by Jacques de Roore for Dfl. 95 according to a note in the margin); Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as de Schoolm[eeste]r na de sto[k] gedreven, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Wilhelm viii, Landgrave of Hesse-Kas- sel, on i8 June I752 for Dfl. 315; inv. Kassel 1749-, nr. 728: "Breembergen (Bartholome) Jungens, welche ihren Schul- meister nach der Stadt, so er verrathen wollen, wieder zuruck- peitschen mussen, auf Holtz, in verguldeten Rahm. Hohe i Sch. 9,5 Zo., Breite 2 Sch. i i Zo."; Kassel; Paris (i8o6-I5); Kassel.

29

Adriaen van Ostade, Merry company before a farmhouse, panel, 37.5 X 45.2 cm Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Willemshohe (fig. 32)

Literature HdG 426; B. Schnackenburg, Gemi/degalerie Alte Meister Kassel: Gesamtkatalog, 2 vols., Mainz I996, vol. I, pp. 2I I-12,

GK 276; see also GK 277, fig. 139.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Buytenhuyss Beelden, bought from an unknown owner; sold to Wilhelm viii, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, on i8June 1752 for Dfl. 525; inv. Kassel I749-, nr. 724: "Ostade (Adrian) Eine Bauern-Gesellschaft in freyer Luft, auf Holtz, in verguldeten Rahm. Hohe I Sch. 2,5 Zo. Breite I Sch. 5 Zo."; Kassel; Paris (i8o6-I5); Kassel.

30 Philips Wouwerman, The haywain Formerly Kassel, collection of the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

Literature E. Herzog, Die Gemaldegalerie der Staatlichen Kunstsammlun- gen Kassel, Kassel I969, p. 35.

Provenance Van Buytene collection; Willem Lormier collection, described




in his accounts as Hooywage, bought from the collection of Pieter van Buytene for Dfl. 68o after the sale on 29 October 1748; see Lugt 69I, nr. 4: "Philips Wouwerman, Een Hooy- wagen met Paarden, met verscheyde Beelden in een Land- schap, door Philips Wouwerman, van zyn alderuytvoerigste, h. i6 d., br. I4 d." (= 41.9 X 36.7 cm); in the margin Lormier wrote: "opgehouden voor 6io, nader door W.L. gecogt voor 68o"; sold to Wilhelm viii, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, on i 8 June 1752 for Dfl. 8oo; inv. Kassel 1749-, nr. 726: "Wouwer- mann (Philipp) Ein Heu-Wagen, da-vor 2 Pferdte, deren einer weiss und braun, mit 4 Figuren und Kinder, auf Holtz, in verguldeten Rahm. Hohe i Sch. 3, 75 Zo., Breite i Sch. i Zo."; lost in Napoleonic times.

3' Pieter van Bredaal, Peasant kermis Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Boerekermis, bought from an unknown owner for Dfl. 6o; sold to Pieter Jetswaart on 5 October I752 for Dfl. 6o.

32 Caspar Netscher, Compainy making music, panel, 44 x 36 cm The Hague, Mauritshuis (fig. 35)

Literature Hoet, vol. 2 (1752), p. 405; Descamps, vol. 3 (1760), p. 83: "A la Haye, chez M. van Slingelandt, Receveur General de la Hollande, Netscher, sa Femme et une autre figure"; Hoet and Terwesten, vol. 3 (1770), p. 703; HdG II5; P. Hecht, exhib. cat. De Hollandsefijnschilders: van Gerard Dou tot Adriaen van der Werfi Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum), Maarssen & The Hague I989, pp. 156-59, fig. 3ib; M.E. Wieseman, Caspar Netscher and late seventeenth-century Dutch painting (diss.), New York I99I pp. 329-30, nr. 50.

Provenance Schonborn collection; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as 3 Beelden; probably identical to a painting at the Schonborn sale on i6 April I738, bought by Lormier for Dfl. 750; see Lugt 482, RKD, Lormier's copy of the Schon- born sale catalogue, nr. 35: "Een musicerend gezelschap, van Gasper Netscher, zynde Netscher zelfs met zyn vrouw en Dochter, ongemeen konstig en puyk; geschildert Anno i665, hoog I: 6, breet I: 3" (= 47.2 x 39.3 cm); in the margin: [Dfl.] "720 R[oore?] L[ormier?j"; sold to Govert van Slingelandt on i6 November I752 for Dfl. I,ooo; van Slingelandt catalogue, i8 May 1768 (Lugt I683), nr. 33; collection bought en bloc by

Stadholder Willem v in I768; Paris (1795-I815); The Hague, Mauritshuis (inv. nr. 125).

33 Philips Wouwerman, Battle on a mountain Unidentified

Literature According to HdG 739, Hoet sold this painting to Wilhelm viII von Hesse-Kassel; see B. Schnackenburg, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel: Gesamtkatalog, 2 vols., Mainz I996, vol. I, p. 332, GK 354, fig. 149, but this cannot be the same painting, because the dimensions are different (5I .5 x 64 cm).

Provenance Plettenberg sale, Amsterdam, 2 April 1738, nr. 65: "Een schermutseling, van den zelven, hoog 2:I0, breet 4:1" (= 89 x 128.4 cm); Jacob Boreel collection; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Ph. Wouwerman bataille op een berg, bought at the Jacob Boreel sale on 2I April 1746 for Dfl. 38I; see Lugt 636, RKD, Lormier's copy of the Boreel sale catalogue, nr. 8: Philip Wouwermans: "Een dito door de zelve", Dfl. 360; in the margin Lormier wrote: "W. Lormier 360"; cat. 1752, nr. 356: "Een Bataille of Rencontre op een berg met veel Paarde en beelde, br. 3 v. 8 en een vierde d., h. 2 V. 2 d. D.[oek]" (= 68 x II5 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 296: "Chez M. Lormier,... une Bataille sur le haut d'une mon- tagne"; sold to Gerard Hoet for Dfl. 400 (actually exchanged with Hoet on 21 May 1753 for a Metsu, cat. 1752, nr. I87A).

34 Abraham Mignon, Flowers Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Mignon groot bloemstuk, bought from an unknown owner for Dfl. 225; cat. 1752, nr. 195: "Een bloemstuk, br. 2 V. 2. d., h. 2 v. 9 en een half d. D.[oek]" (= 86 x 68 cm); sold to Gerard Hoet for Dfl. 275 (actually exchanged with Hoet op 21 May 1753 for ajacob Duck (Le Duc), cat. 1752, nr. 82A).

35 Philips Wouwerman, Horse market Unidentified

Literature Hoet-Terwesten, vol. 3 (1770), p. 477, nr. 113; HdG i88 e/h/j.




Provenance Jacomo de Wit sale, Antwerp, I5 May I741, nr. II0; bought by van Slingelandt; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Ph. Wouwerman paardemarkt, bought from an unknown owner for Dfl. 770; cat. 1752, nr. 355: "Een landschap, met veel Paarde zynde een paardemarkt, br. 2 v. en drie vierde d., h. I v. I I en een vierde d. D.[oek]" (= 6o x 65 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 296: "Une Foire aux chevaux"; sold to Gerard Hoet for P.L. de Neufville on 8 December 1753 for Dfl. 13 I2:I0; de Neufville sale (Amsterdam) 19 June 1765, nr. II3.

36 Philips Wouwerman, A skirmish Unidentified

Literature HdG 804.

Provenance Van Dishoeck sale, The Hague, 9 June I745, nr. 14; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Ph. Wouwer- man de militie [illegible] de Boeren, bought at the van Dishoeck sale on 9 June 1745 for Dfl. 744; see Lugt 620, Paris, Biblio- theque Nationale, copy of the van Dishoeck sale catalogue; cat. I752, nr. 353: "Een landschap met in Brand gestoken Dorpen, met veel beelden te Paard en te Voet, zynde de militie meester van de Boeren, br. 2 v. 5 d. , h. 2. v. 4 d." (= 73.4 x 76 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 296: "des Bourgades en feu & des Soldats qui pillent"; sold to Gerard Hoet for Lubbeling on 26 February 1754 together with our cat. nr. 37 for Dfl. 2,362: I0.

37 Philips Wouwerman, A skirmish Unidentified

Literature HdG 805.

Provenance Van Dishoeck sale, The Hague, 9 June 1745, nr. I5; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Ph. Wouwer- man de militie [illegible] de Boeren, bought at the van Dishoeck sale on 9 June 1745 for Dfl. 744; see Lugt 620, Paris, Biblio- theque Nationale, copy of the van Dishoeck sale catalogue; cat. 1752, nr. 354: "Een landschap met veel Paarden en Beelde, zynde de Boeren meester van de Militie, br. 2 v. 5 d., h. 2 v. 4 d." (= 73.4 x 76 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 296: "...une Assembee de Paysans qui se present pour tirer a la malice"; sold to Gerard Hoet for Lubbeling on 26 February 1754 to-

gether with our cat. nr. 36 for Dfl. 2,362: I0.

38 Nicolacs Berchem, Wild boar hunt, canvas, 50.3 X 77.8 cm The Hague, Mauritshuis (fig. 36)

Literature HdG 138; cat. Mauritshuis illustrated general catalogue, The Hague 1977, p. 38, nr. I2.

Provenance Van Hoeken and Hartsoeker sale, I May I742, nr. I I; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as N. Berchem Swijnejagt, Hartejagt, bought at the van Hoeken and Hart- soeker sale on I May 1742 for Dfl. 430; see Lugt 556, Biblio- theque Nationale, Paris, copy of the van Hoeken sale catalogue, nr. I I: "Een Kabinetstuk door Nicolaas van Berchem verbeeldende een Swynejagt, vol gewoel en Bywerk, van syn alderschoonste tyd. Hoog i9 duim, breet 30 duim"; in the margin: "405 Lormier"; cat. 1752, nr. 46: "Heeren en Juf- frouwen te Paard, met veel Honden, zynde een Zwyne Jagt, br. 2 v. 5 en drie vierde d., h. I v. 7 d. D.[oek]" (= 49.8 X 77.9 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 348: "Chez M. Lormier, autre Paysage avec des figures & un grand nombre d'animaux"; sold to Gerard Hoet for Govert van Slingelandt on 27 April 1754 together with our cat. nr. 39 for Dfl. 975; van Slin- gelandt collection (Lugt I683: catalogue I8 May I768, nr. 2I); bought en bloc by Stadholder Willem v in I768; Paris (I795- I8I5); The Hague, Mauritshuis.

39 Nicolaes Berchem, Stag hunt Unidentified

Literature HdG I52.

Provenance Van Hoeken and Hartsoeker sale; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as N. Berchem Swqinejagt, Hartejagt, bought at the van Hoeken and Hartsoeker sale on I May I742 for Dfl. 245; see Lugt 556, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, copy of the van Hoeken sale catalogue, nr. 12: "Een weerga tot het- selve [our cat. nr. 38], verbeeldende een Hartejagt, niet minder als het voorige, hoog I9 duim, breet 30 duim"; in the margin: "Lormier 230"; cat. I752, nr. 47: "Een Landschap met Jagers en honden, zynde een Herte Jagt, br. en h. als vooren"; Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 348: "Chez M. Lormier,... une Chasse au Cherf"; sold to Gerard Hoet for Govert van Slinge- landt on 27 April 1754 together with our cat. nr. 38 for Dfl.




975; van Slingelandt collection (not in his catalogue of i 8 May 1768, see Lugt I683).

40 Melchior d' Hondecoeter, Dead pheasant, partridge and other game Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as 2 Hondekoeters, bought from Gerard Hoet for Dfl. 38; cat. 1752, nr. 120: "Doode Faisant, Patrys en ander wild, br. i. v. 6 d., h. I V. 9 en drievierde d., D.[oek]" (= 55 x 47.2 cm); sold to Ge- rard Hoet on 23 April 1755 together with our cat. nr. 41 for Dfl. I14.

4' Melchior d' Hondecoeter, Dead partridge and other birds Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as 2 Hondekoeters, bought from Gerard Hoet for Dfl. 38; cat. 1752, nr. 121: "Doode Patrijs, en andere Vogels, en bywerk, br. en h. als vooren"; sold to Gerard Hoet on 23 April 1755 together with our cat. nr. 40 for Dfl. 114.

42

Caspar Netscher, A nude woman sleeping and a satyr Unidentified

Literature HdG 20; M.E. Wieseman, Caspar Netscher and late seventeenth-century Dutch painting (diss.), New York 1991, p. 58i, nr. D. I8-I9.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as i Netscher, bought from Coenraat Roepel for Dfl. 200; cat. 1752, nr. I98: "Een naakte leggende slapende Vrouw en Sater, br. I0 en drie vierde d., h. 8 d. K.[oper]" (= 21 X 28.2 cm); sold to Gerard Hoet on 23 April 1755 for Dfl. 399.

43 Willem van de Velde the Younger, Small ships on a calm sea Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as i Wm v. de Velden, bought from Monje for Dfl. 5i; cat. 1752, nr. 3I8: "Een stil water met minder Scheepjes, br. I v. 4 d., h. I V. 2 en een half d., D.[oek]" (= 38 x 4I.9 cm); sold to Gerard Hoet on 23 April 1753 for Dfl. 104: 10.

44 Adriaen van de Velde, Landscape with livestock andfigures Unidentified

Literature HdG 239.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as i Adr. V de Velden, bought at the van Lill sale, Dordrecht, on I8 June 1743 for Dfl. 290; see the van Lill sale catalogue (Lugt 58o), nr. 7: "Een dito, door A. van de Velde zynde een van de beste van hem bekent, van dezelfde grootte als het voorige", in the margin: "WL 275"; cat. 1752, nr. 327: "Een Doorsiende Landschap, met beelden, Koeyen en Schaapen, en een Paart dat agter een boom komt, br. i v. I en een half duim, h. I I d. P.[aneel]" (= 28.8 x 35.4 cm); Descamps, vol. 3 (1760), p. 76: "Chez M. Lormier,... un autre Paysage fort etendu, avec figures et animaux"; sold to Gerard Hoet on 23 April 1755 for Dfl- 399.

45 Gerard Dou, Three cardplayers by candlelight, panel, 33.5 x 25 cm Salzburg, Residenzgalerie (fig. 37)

Literature HdG 222; W. Martin, Het leven en de werken van Gerrit Dou, Leiden I90I, p. I72, nr. 3; W. Martin, Gerard Dou, des Meis- ters Gemalde, Stuttgart & Berlin 1913, p. 176; E. Trautscholdt, "Zur Geschichte des Leipziger Sammelwesens," Festschrift fur Hans Vollmer, Leipzig 1958, pp. 227 and 239, fig. i9; E. Blechinger, Residenzgalerie mit Sammlung Czernin und Schon- born-Buchheim, Salzburg I980, p. 56.

Provenance Probably Johan de Bye collection, Leiden, i665; Fraula sale, 21 July 1738, nr. 240, for Dfl. 455; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as G. Dou kaarslicht 3 Beelden,




bought from Philip van Dijk for Dfl. 825; cat. 1752, nr. 66: "Kaart Speelders 3 beelden, en een in 't verschiet met ander bywerk, zynde een Kaarsligt, br. I0 d., h. i v. i en een vierde d., P.[aneel]"; (= 34.7 X 26.2 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 226: "Chez M. Lormier, des Joueur aux cartes; trois figures eclairees a la chandelle"; sold to D. Schmitt in Amsterdam on 28 March I756 for Dfl. i,iio:io;Johan Thomas Richter collection, Leipzig; from I82I in the Galerie Czernin von Chu- denitz, Vienna, nr. 175; Residenzgalerie Salzburg.

46 Antoine Watteau, The embarkation for Cythera, canvas, 129 X

I94 cm Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, Stiftung Preussische Schlosser und Garten Berlin-Brandenburg (fig. 15)

Literature D. Posner, Antoine Watteau, London I984, p. 2I8; exhib. cat. Watteau, I684-I72I, Washington (National Galleryof Art), Paris (Grand Palais) & Berlin (Chateau de Charlottenburg) I 984, pp. 406- I i; J. Held, Antoine Watteau, Erschiffung nach Kythera, Frankfurt I985; G. Jansen, "Franse schilderkunst in Nederlands bezit," in P. Rosenberg et al., exhib. cat. Franse schilderkunst uit Nederlands bezit, i6oo-i8oo, Rotterdam (Mu- seum Boijmans Van Beuningen) 1992-93, pp. 23 and 39-40.

Provenance Jean de Julienne collection, Paris (in 1733); Jacob Francesco Lopez de Liz collection, The Hague; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as de Grote Watteau en de print 1.120, bought at the Lopez de Liz sale on 12 March 1743 for Dfl. 485; see the Lopez de Liz sale catalogue (Lugt 572), nr. 12: "Een Heerlyk en Kapitaal stuk door Watteauw, geen diergelyk hier te lant van hem bekent, zijnde de inscheping van Cytere, B. 6 v. 3 d.; H. 4 v. 3 en een half d."; cat. 1752, nr. 369: "Een Landschap, en liefde Gezelschap, dat in Pelgri- masie, en Scheep gaat na het Eyland van Citerne, met veel vliegende Cupidoos, br. 6 v. 3 d, h. 4 v. 2 d. D.[oek]" (= 131 X

197 cm); sold to Pieter Boetens on 12 April 1756 for Dfl. 1,120; acquired by Frederick the Great between 1756 and 1765; Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, Stiftung Preussische Schlosser und Garten Berlin-Brandenburg.

47 Gerard Dou, Boy with a mouse-trap, panel, 29 X 23 cm Present whereabouts unknown (fig. I7)

Literature HdG 223; W. Martin, Gerard Dou, des Meisters Gemalde, Stuttgart & Berlin 1913, p. 151.

Provenance Sale Amsterdam, 21 October 1739, nr. 26 (Lugt 508); sale The Hague, 25 February 1744; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Doujonge met de Muyseval Kaarsligt, bought at the Hague sale on 25 February 1744 for Dfl. 2I0; see the sale catalogue (Lugt 588), nr. I: "Een Jonge met een Muy- seval, en ander Bywerk zynde een Kaarsligt, zeer uytvoerig geschildert door Gerrard Dou, hoogh I0 duym, breed 8 duym", in the margin: "W. Lormier"; cat. 1752, nr. 69: "Een Jonge in de Kelder met een muyseval, kaarsligt, br. 8 en een half d., h. i0 d., P.[aneel]" (= 26.2 X 22.3 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 226: "Chez M. Lormier,... un jeune Garcon dans une cave tenant une souriciere & eclaire a la chandelle"; sold to Joan Willem Frank of The Hague on 4 June 1756 for Dfl. 525; repurchased by Lormier from an unknown owner in 1758, no price mentioned; Willem Lormier sale, The Hague, 4 July 1763, nr. 65; sale Amsterdam, 17 April 1783, nr. unknown; H.A. van den Heuvel sale, Utrecht, 27 June I825, nr. i6; C. Kruseman sale, Amsterdam, i6 February i858, nr. 2I; Wern- er Dahl sale, Amsterdam, 17 October 1905, nr. 39 (to van Gelder); M.C. van den Honert collection, Hilversum, on loan to the Mauritshuis, The Hague; sale Amsterdam (Sotheby's), 22 April I980, nr. 28; sale Zurich (Koller), 9-II September I998, nr. 4.

48 Paulus Potter, Figures with horses by a stable, panel, 44.3 X

37.5 cm Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, William L. Elkins Collection (fig. 9)

Literature HdG 156; B. Broos, exhib. cat. Great Dutch paintings from America, The Hague (Mauritshuis), San Francisco (The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco) & Zwolle 1990, pp. 364-68, nr. 49; A. Walsh et al., exhib. cat. Paulus Potter: paintings, drawings and etchings, The Hague (Mauritshuis) & Zwolle 1995, pp. 87-89, nr. I i.

Provenance Collection of Ferdinand Adolph, Count of Plettenberg; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Potter Stal met wit paart, bought at the Plettenberg sale, Amsterdam, 2 april 1738 for Dfl. I70; see Lugt 480, RKD, Lormier's copy of the Plettenberg sale catalogue, nr. 66: "Een Stal met Paar- den en Beelden, van Paulus Potter; zeer natuurlijk; hoog I: 6. Breet I: 3 en een half'; in the margin: "R[oore?] L[ormier?] [Dfl] I75"; cat. 1752, nr. 22I: "Een landschap, beelden, Paar- den, en een wit Paard dat voor de Stal staat, br. I V. 2 en drie vierde d., h. I v. 5 d., P.[aneel]" (= 44.5 x 38.6 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 358: "...plusieurs chevaux & des Vaches a la




porte d'une ecurie"; sold to Joan Willem Frank of The Hague on 4 June 1756 for Dfl. 6oo; John Hope collection, Amster- dam, 1774-84; Hope's heirs, 1784-94; Henry Hope collection, London, 1794-I8II; Henry Philip Hope collection, London, i8i 1-39; Henry Thomas Hope collection, London, I839-62; Adele Bichat collection, London I862-84; Henry Francis Hope collection, London, I884-98; with Colnaghi & Wertheimer, London; William L. Elkins collection, Philadel- phia, I898-I903; Mrs W.L. Elkins and George W. Elkins collection, Philadelphia I903-I9; Philadelphia Museum of Art, William L. Elkins Collection, 1924.

49 Isaack Koedijck, A barber surgeon tending a peasant's foot, panel; 90.5 X 72.5 cm United States, private collection (fig. 33)

Literature J. van Gool, De nieuwe schouburg der Nederlantsche kunstschilders en schilderessen, 2 vols., The Hague 1750-51, vol. I (1750), p. 36: "Zo vind men ook in het Kunstkabinet van den Kunstlievende Heer Lormier twee Kabinetstukken van eenen Koedyk geschildert, het een is een kapitael Stuk en verbeelt een Barbierswinkel, daer een Boer zyn knie verbonden word, met veel bywerk. Het andere vertoont eenen Jongen, die Amandelen wil snoepen en over zynen schoude ziet, of hy niet bespied word" (the latter our cat. nr. 50); M. Kersten et al., exhib.cat. Deift masters: Vermeer's contemporaries, Delft (Stede- lijk Museum Het Prinsenhof) & Zwolle I996, p. 140, fig. 128.

Provenance Jacques de Roore collection, The Hague; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Coedyk Cherurgeen, bought from Jacques de Roore for Dfl. 6oo; cat. 1752, nr. 157: "Een chirurg die een boer zyn been verbindt, met veel ander bywerk, br. 2 v. 4 d., h. 2 V. ii d., P.[aneel]" (= 91.7 x 73.4 cm); sold to Prince Galitzin on io November 1756 for Dfl. 700; Julius Bohler, Munich; collection Adolphe Schloss, Paris (until I9Io); Paris (Galerie Charpentier), 5 December 1951, nr. 32; Alfred Brod collection, London; J. Lowenstein collection, London; sale London (Christie's), io December 1993, nr. 20.

50 Isaack Koedijck, The little nut thief Present whereabouts unknown

Literature J. van Gool, De nieuwe schouburg der Nederlantsche kunstschilders en schilderessen, 2 vols., The Hague I750-51, vol. I

(1750), p. 36.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Neutediefije, bought from Jacques de Roore for Dfl. IIO; cat. 1752, nr. 158: "Een binne vertrek daar een Jongen iets uyt een Schotel neemt, of anders genaamt het neutediefie, br. i v. en een half d. , h. I v. I en drie vierde d., P.[aneel]" (= 36 x 32.7 cm); sold to Prince Galitzin on io November 1756 for Dfl. 175; Paul Delaroff collection, St Petersburg; Magin sale, Paris, 23 June 1922, nr. 23.

5' Gerard Dou, A girl scouring a lantern Unidentified

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Dou Lantaarn Schuurster, bought from Mrs Munter-van den Sanden for Dfl. 323; cat. 1752, nr. 70: "Een meijsje die een Lantaarn schuurt, en een Vrouw met 2 kinderen in 't verschiet, br. 6 d. , h. 7 en een half d., P.[aneel]" (= I9.7 X 15.7 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 226: "Chez M. Lormier,... une Servante qui ecure une laterne; dans le fond du Tableau, est une Femme avec deux Enfants"; sold to Prince Galitzin on io November 1756 for Dfl. 525.

52

Adriaen van Ostade, Four peasants smoking and drinking Unidentified

Literature HdG 68ie.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as 2 Cline Ostade, bought from Jacques de Roore for Dfl. 348,-; cat. 1752, nr. 21 1: "Vier Rookende en pratende Boeren, en een Vrouw, br. 9 en drie vierde d. , h. i v. en een vierde d., P.[aneel]" (= 32.1 X 25.5 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 179: "Chez M. Lormier,... quatre Fumeurs & une Femme"; sold to Prince Galitzin on io November 1756 together with our cat. nr. 53 for Dfl. 750.



31O EVERHARD KORTHALS ALTES

53 Adriaen van Ostade, A hurdy-gurdy man with children, panel, ca. 29 X 25.5 cm Present whereabouts unknown

Literature HdG 438C.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as 2 Clyne Ostade, bought from Jaques de Roore for Dfl. 250; cat. 1752, nr. 2I2: "Een buytenhuys, daar een liereman voor de Kindere speelt, in 't verschiet drinkende Boeren, br. 9 en drie vierde d., h. I I en een vierde d., P.[aneel]" (= 29.5 X 25.5 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 179: "Chez M. Lormier... une Ferme oii un Joueur de Veille fait danser des enfants; plus loin des Paysans qui boivent"; sold to Prince Galitzin on io No- vember 1756 together with our cat. nr. 52 for Dfl. 750; pOssi- bly identical to a painting in the former S. van den Bergh collection; sale London (Christie's), 30 March 1979, nr. 75 (photo RKD); possibly identical to a painting at a sale in Lon- don (Sotheby's), 5 July I989, nr. 82 (HdG 450).

54 Hendrik Maarten Sorgh, Peasant company, panel, 6o x 83.8 cm Present whereabouts unknown (fig. 34)

Provenance With David Ietswaart; Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Maarten Sorg boere gese/schap, bought from David Ietswaart of Amsterdam for Dfl. I76; cat. 1752, nr. 278: "Een Vrolyk boeren gezelschap, en een Vrouw die een Viske- tel over het vuur hangt, br. 2 V.7 en een half d., h. I v. Io en een half d., P.[aneel]" (= 58 x 83 cm); Descamps, vol. 2(754), pp.325-26: "Henri Rokes surnomme Zorg eleve de David Te- niers; chez M. Lormier, une Assemblee de Paysans & une femme qui fait cuire du poisson dans une chaudiere"; sold to Prince Galitzin on io November 1756 for Dfl. 300; Major Mills collection, Hillborough; sale London (Christie's), 13 December I985, nr. 72; with Richard Green, London, I986- 88.

55 Gerard ter Borch, Maid milking a cow in a barn, panel, 47.5 x

5ocm Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum (fig. 8)

Literature HdG 463; S.J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard ter Borch, 2 vols., The

Hague 1959-60, vol. I, p. 235, and vol. 2, p. 94, nr. 74.

Provenance Samuel van Huls sale, The Hague, 3 September 1737, nr. 87 (Lugt 474); bought by Willem Lormier for Dfl. 150, described in his accounts as Terburg Stal met koeyen; cat. 1752, nr. 298: "Een Stal daar een Koey uyt komt, en een Koe voor de Stal, die door een Vrouw werd gemolken, br. I V.7 en een half d., h. I v. 6 en een vierde d., P.[aneel]" (= 47.8 X 5 I. I cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 129: "Chez M. Lormier... une vache qui sort de l'etable, & une Paysanne qui tire du lait d'une autre vache"; sold to Prince Galitzin op io November I756 for Dfl. 250; Paul Delaroff collection, St Petersburg (in I908); Dr A.K.K.W. Erasmus collection; Bertha Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Essen (from I953); sale London (Christie's), i i De- cember I98I, nr. I I9; bought by The J. Paul Getty Museum in I983 from Edward Speelman, Ltd.

56

Paulus Potter, Landscape with livestock and figures resting, panel, 34 X 39 cm Present whereabouts unknown

Literature HdG 87; A. Walsh, et al., exhib. cat. Paulus Potter: paintings, drawings and etchings, The Hague (Mauritshuis) & Zwolle 1995, p. 96, fig. 2.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as 2 Pot- ters (see our cat. nr. 57), bought fromJacques de Roore for Dfl. 200; cat. 1752, nr. 220: "Een landschap met beelden op een berg, en drinkende Koeijen, br. I v. I en drie vierde d., h. I v. I en drie vierde d., P.[aneel]" (= 36 x 36 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 358: "...des Vaches qui boivent dans le courant d'une source"; sold to Count Lynde on 9 March 1758, no price mentioned; Radstock collection; sale Paris, 29 May I900, nr. 12; Rathenau collection; present whereabouts unknown.

57 Paulus Potter, Cattle near a sheep-byre, 35.5 x 48.2 cm Manchester, Manchester City Art Galleries (fig. i 8)

Literature HdG I I 9; cat. Manchester City Art Gallery: concise catalogue of foreign paintings, Manchester I980, p. 84; A. Walsh, et al., exhib. cat. Paulus Potter: paintings, drawings and etchings, The Hague (Mauritshuis) & Zwolle 1995, p. 170, fig. I.




Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as 2 Pot- ters (see our cat. nr. 56, bought at the Hague auctioneer's sale on 26 February 1744 for Dfl. i85; cat. 1752, nr. 222: "Een landschap, en Koeye by het water, Schapen, en dansende beelde, br. I v. 7 d., h. I V. 2 en een half d., P. [aneel]" (= 38 x 49.8 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 358: "un Paysage oii des figures dansent, plusieurs animaux sont au pres d' eaux"; sold to Count Lynde on 9 March I758; John Walter collection, Bearwood; Walter sale, London (Sotheby's), io June 1942, nr. 50 (to Heldman); Assheton Bennett collection; bequeathed to the Manchester City Art Galleries in 1979.

58 Philips Wouwerman, Landscape with afamily and horses Unidentified

Literature HdG 267.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Wouwerman, bought from Jan Block of Ghent for Dfl. 475; cat. 1752, nr. 342: "Een helder Landschap, een Bruyn en een Bont Paart, met een Man en Vrouw en Kind, br. I v. 3 en drie vierde, h. I v. i en drie vierde d., P.[aneel]" (= 36 x 41.3 cm); Descamps, vol. 2 (1754), p. 296: "un petit Paysage avec figure & chevaux"; sold to Robert Bragge on I May 1758 for Dfl. 650.

59 Philips Wouwerman, Landscape with a company resting by a fountain Unidentified

Literature F. Simson, "Dutch paintings in England before 1760," The Burlington Magazine 95 (1953), p. 42: "1759 + i. Dr. Bragge, nr. 56, Landscape with packhorses, 47, 7, o, Wilett sale I.6.I813"; not mentioned by HdG; not mentioned by Descamps.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as Wouwerman, bought from Jacob de Wit of Amsterdam for Dfl. 325; cat. I752, nr. 351: "Een rustende gezeldschap by een Fontyn, met Paarde, br. i v. 6 en drie vierde d. , h. I V. 2 en een half d., P.[aneel]" (= 38 x 51.7 cm); sold to Robert Bragge on I May 1758 for Dfl. 500.

6o Jan van der Heyden and Willem van de Velde, View of Nijmegen with shipping on the river Waal Unidentified

Literature Not mentioned by Descamps; HdG ioib (?); F. Simpson, "Dutch paintings in England before 1760," The Burlington Magazine 95 (953), p. 4I: "1759 + ii Dr Bragge nr. 47: View of Belvedere at Nymegen, ? 44, 2 S., 0 d., Sir R. Grosvenor"; H. Wagner, Jan van der Heyden, i637-I7I3, Amsterdam & Haarlem 197 1, nr. 68-70.

Provenance Willem Lormier collection, described in his accounts as v I Heyden en van de Velde Belvidere[?], bought from Jacques de Roore for Dfl. 215; cat. 1752, nr. 145: "Het Calvere bos, en Bellevideren te Nymwegen, de Waal en Scheepen, br. i v. 6 en een half d., h. I v. 3 d., P.[aneel]" (= 39.3 x 48.5 cm); sold to Robert Bragge on I May 1758 for Dfl. 400.

