Jacob Cats

Though Jacob Cats is perhaps best known for his portrayals of winter scenes, a tradition and subject matter dear to generations of Dutch and Flemish artists, depictions of more temperate climes, such as the present work, also form a substantial part of his graphic oeuvre. This is a particularly tranquil image of village life, with a herdsman guiding his animals past a large log pile onto a village street, where two gentlemen and a dog are out for a stroll. As Cats noted on the verso, the location depicted is the village of Lage Vuursche, by Hilversum. Another fine watercolour of the same village, undated and slightly different in height, but still perhaps originally a pendant to the present work, was sold in Amsterdam in 1978.¹

This grand and perfectly preserved watercolour, in the largest format that Cats made, was the first of no fewer than 78 drawings and watercolours by the artist offered in the 1919 sale of the Langerhuizen collection.  We are very grateful to Gajus Scheltema for his help in cataloguing this drawing, and for kindly informing us that the watercolour was probably also in the Gildemeester and Vollenhoven Collections, prior to entering that of Langerhuizen.

1. Sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby Mak van Waay, 3 April 1978, lot 218 (slightly different dimensions: 250 by 380 mm)