Provenance
H. S. Olivier; C. F. Murray, London; Robiano, La Haye; A. W. M. Mensing, Amsterdam; Colnaghi, London; L. M. Backus, Seattle; Schaeffer Gallery, NY; Dr. S. E. Lee, Cleveland; Henry Stephen Olivier, Potterne Manor, Wiltshire (Lugt 1373, lower left, in blue ink). C. Fairfax Murray, London (according to Bolten, Dutch Drawings, 1967, p. 77, no. 42). Robiano, La Haye; (sold: Muller & Co., Amsterdam, 15-16 June, 1926, no. 391, repr.). A. W. M. Mensing, Amsterdam; (sale: Muller & Co., Amsterdam, 27-29 April, 1937, lot 297); [Colnaghi, London (according to departmental card and cataloguing sheet)]. Leroy M. Backus, Seattle (according to exhibition list, Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1941 in departmental file). [Schaeffer Gallery, NY (according to deparmental card and cataloguing sheet)]; Dr. Sherman E. Lee, Cleveland
Accession Number
1958.373
Medium
reed pen and brown ink (with brush and brown wash behind left figure); framing lines in brown ink
Dimensions
Sheet: 18.8 x 16.7 cm (7 3/8 x 6 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Sherman E. Lee in memory of his father, Emery H. I. Lee
Tags
Drawing Baroque (1600–1750) Ink Dutch Color: White
Background & Context
Background Story
Philips de Koninck (1619-1688) was a Dutch painter known for his panoramic landscape views that are among the most accomplished in the Dutch Golden Age tradition. The Tric-Trac Players from c. 1660 depicts figures playing tric-trac (backgammon) in the rustic, narrative manner that distinguishes Koninck's best genre subjects from the more panoramic landscape views that are his most famous works. The c. 1660 date places this in Koninck's mature period, when he was producing both the panoramic landscape views and the rustic genre subjects that make him one of the most versatile painters of the Dutch Golden Age.
Cultural Impact
The Tric-Trac Players is important in Koninck's oeuvre because it demonstrates the rustic, narrative manner that he brought to genre subjects in addition to his more famous panoramic landscapes. Koninck's genre subjects—combining rustic observation with narrative skill—represent an important aspect of his work that is often overlooked in favor of his panoramic landscapes, and The Tric-Trac Players shows his versatility as a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Why It Matters
The Tric-Trac Players is Koninck's rustic genre manner: figures playing backgammon rendered in the narrative manner that complements his more famous panoramic landscape views. The c. 1660 painting shows the versatility of a Dutch Golden Age painter who is primarily known for landscapes but was equally accomplished at rustic genre subjects.
