A Scene on the Ice
Hendrick Avercamp·c. 1625
Historical Context
Hendrick Avercamp's A Scene on the Ice, painted around 1625, is a characteristic winter scene by the master known as "de Stomme van Kampen" (the Mute of Kampen) because he was deaf and mute from birth. Avercamp virtually invented the Dutch winter landscape as an independent genre, populating his frozen waterways with hundreds of tiny figures skating, playing kolf, and socializing. His panoramic ice scenes document Dutch social life across all classes.
Technical Analysis
The oil on panel shows Avercamp's distinctive high-keyed palette of whites, grays, and pale blues, with small, precisely painted figures enlivening the frozen expanse. The careful observation of light on ice and the aerial perspective creating atmospheric depth are hallmarks of his technique.
Provenance
Said to have been at the Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg.[1] (Firma D. Katz, Dieren), by 1933; J.M.B. Beuker, Heelsum, by 1934;[2] by inheritance to his widow, Mrs. J.C. Beuker [née De Kruyff van Dorssen]; sold 5 April 1967 through (A. Martin de Wild, The Hague) to NGA. [1] In the catalogues for the 1934 and 1938 exhibitions in which it was included, the painting was described as having been previously in the collection of the Hermitage. However, the picture is not listed in any of that museum's collection catalogues. [2] Labels from the 1933 and 1934 exhibitions both say that Katz was the “exhibitor,” but they give two different names as the “owner” (removed from the back of the painting, now in NGA curatorial files). The owner’s name on the 1933 label is difficult to decipher, but appears to be two initials followed by “te H.” The owner’s name on the 1934 label clearly reads “J.M.B. Beuker Heelsum.”
