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Lot Essay
Landscape with Three Gabled Cottages is perhaps the most atmospheric rendering of a theme that appears repeatedly in Rembrandt's etchings - a bucolic view down a country lane lined with cottages and trees. The print is closely related to a drawing, Landscape with Cottages (Benesch 835; Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin; inv. no. KdZ 3116), which depicts a similar cluster of farm buildings, known as langhuizen. The exact location of this etching has not been identified, however, the langhuizen (longhouses) were typical of the region around Amsterdam, particularly along the old roads, the Sloterweg, the Amstelveenseweg, and the Diemerdijk.
As the print varies from the drawing in several respects, it is generally thought that the artist composed the scene from more than one study. However, it has also been suggested that he had begun working on the plate outdoors, and completed it in the studio. This would explain the removal of a section of the tree, still faintly visible in the sky above the foliage over the central chimney. This combination of naturalistic observation and artistic intervention is typical of many of Rembrandt's etched landscapes, where fidelity to the subject is subordinate to composition and atmosphere.
This print is an early example in which Rembrandt executed the preliminary design for the landscape in etching, followed by extensive use of drypoint to create the marvellous tonal contrasts which characterise many of his later works. Fine impressions with rich burr in the tree, the roof at right and the small group of figures by the cotttages, and with the atmospheric effects of platetone and wiping marks as present as pronounces as here, are rare and amongst the most desirable of Rembrandt's landscapes.
As the print varies from the drawing in several respects, it is generally thought that the artist composed the scene from more than one study. However, it has also been suggested that he had begun working on the plate outdoors, and completed it in the studio. This would explain the removal of a section of the tree, still faintly visible in the sky above the foliage over the central chimney. This combination of naturalistic observation and artistic intervention is typical of many of Rembrandt's etched landscapes, where fidelity to the subject is subordinate to composition and atmosphere.
This print is an early example in which Rembrandt executed the preliminary design for the landscape in etching, followed by extensive use of drypoint to create the marvellous tonal contrasts which characterise many of his later works. Fine impressions with rich burr in the tree, the roof at right and the small group of figures by the cotttages, and with the atmospheric effects of platetone and wiping marks as present as pronounces as here, are rare and amongst the most desirable of Rembrandt's landscapes.