Signed with initials

Red chalk

131 x 198 mm. (5 1/8 x 7 3/4 in.)

SOLD

Jan van Ravenswaay was born at Hilversum, and was to spend most of his life studying and painting in his native region, near Amsterdam. However he was sent at the age of fourteen to study at the drawing school of Jordanus Hoorn (1753-1833) at Amserfoot. But after only a year he needed to return due to family circumstances. His father ran a cotton mill. From 1810 van Ravenswaay received lessons from the famous painter of landscapes and cattle piece painter, Pieter Gerardus van Os (1776-1839), who had moved to the nearby village of s-Graveland. Van Os obviously greatly influenced the subject matter that van Ravenswaays was to choose. He mainly painted and drew animals and landscapes. According to contemporary sources van Ravenswaay had a small stock farm of Drenthe sheep; a charming breed that he was very fond of as a model1.

A drawing of the same farmyard, also dated 1823 was recently on the art market2, though the angle is from the other side of the farm. Many of the details are the same, such as the layout of the farm buildings and the trees.

The fine condition of A Farmyard Scene, coupled with its extensive exhibitions makes this one of his most important drawings on the market by the artist.

1. Nineteenth-century Dutch drawings 1, Drawings from the collection of the printroom Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, exhibition catalogue, 18th December 1994 26th March 1995, p. 158.