Lot 619: GERRIT BATTEM

GERRIT BATTEM ROTTERDAM CIRCA 1636 - 1684 VIEW OF A TOWN, WITH CHURCH AND CASTLE BUILDINGS ABOVE A RIVER Pen and point of the brush and black ink and gray wash, within brown ink framing lines 112 by 169 mm; 4 1/2 by 6 3/4 in

Sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 15 November 1995, lot 41

Battem's splendid gouaches are very familiar, but monochrome drawings such as this are virtually unknown. The handling of details and the overall approach to the composition seen here are, however, absolutely comparable with the artist's gouaches. The technique is also the same as in a view of the Sint Laurenskerk, Rotterdam, bearing an old attribution to Battem on the reverse, which was sold Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 2 November 1987, lot 100.