Provenance
Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk [1847-1917], by 1880;[1] by inheritance to his son, Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk [1908-1975]; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 11 February 1938, no. 99); B. de Geus van den Heuvel [1886-1976], Nieuwersluis; (his estate sale, Sotheby Mak van Waay B.V. at Round Lutheran Church, Singel, Amsterdam, 26-27 April 1976, no. 23); (David Koetser, Zurich); private collection, West Berlin; on consignment with (Hoogsteder-Naumann, New York); purchased 1986 by George M. [1932-2001] and Linda H. Kaufman, Norfolk, Virginia; Kaufman Americana Foundation, Norfolk; gift 2012 to NGA.
[1] The painting was lent by the duke to the 1880 Winter Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. It is not yet known when or where the Dukes of Norfolk acquired it. See the entry on the painting by Ben Broos in _Great Dutch Paintings from America_, exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague; The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: no. 31, 280-284.
Accession Number
2012.73.2
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
overall: 32.5 × 39 cm (12 13/16 × 15 3/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of George M. and Linda H. Kaufman
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Oil Painting Panel Painting Dutch
Background & Context
Background Story
View Down a Dutch Canal from c. 1670 is one of Van der Heyden's characteristic town views, depicting a Dutch canal with the meticulously detailed buildings and reflections that distinguish his best work. The view down the canal creates a perspectival composition that leads the eye into the distance, and the buildings on either side are rendered with the precise architectural detail that makes Van der Heyden's town views invaluable documents of 17th-century Dutch urban architecture. The c. 1670 date places this in Van der Heyden's most productive period, when he was producing the town views that made him one of the most accomplished urban topographers in the history of Dutch painting.
Cultural Impact
Van der Heyden's town views are important in the history of Dutch painting and in the history of architectural documentation because they record the appearance of 17th-century Dutch cities with a level of detail that no other painter matched. View Down a Dutch Canal demonstrates Van der Heyden's ability to combine topographical documentation with aesthetic composition, creating paintings that are simultaneously records of urban architecture and works of art.
Why It Matters
View Down a Dutch Canal is Van der Heyden's topographical precision and aesthetic composition combined: a Dutch canal rendered with the meticulously detailed buildings and reflections that make his town views invaluable documents of 17th-century urban architecture. The c. 1670 painting is both a record and a work of art.
