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Details
- Alternative title
- Le paysan à la fenêtre
- Date
- mid 1650s
- Media category
- Materials used
- etching and drypoint
- Edition
- ii of 2 states
- Dimensions
- 9.2 x 8.6 cm trimmed to platemark; 36.3 x 31.0 x 2.9 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed l.l., [incised plate] "C. bega". Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of Bridgestar Pty Ltd an investment company of the Late James Fairfax AC 2019. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 112.2019
- Copyright
- Artist information
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Cornelis Bega
Works in the collection
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About
During his short career Bega produced an oeuvre of 34 etchings of low-life subjects which owe their inspiration to the etchings of his master Adrian van Ostade – the major exponent of the peasant genre in 17th-century Holland. These include several figure groups depicted in tavern interiors as well as a series of individual head or figure studies of peasants. The interior scenes are often set against richly hatched, dark backgrounds in front of which figures are dramatically lit.
A peasant is shown leaning on the sill of what appears to be an upper window and gazes down presumably at passers-by in the street. The subject-matter marks a move away from Bega’s slightly earlier peasants who were more strongly caricatured as crude, empty-headed individuals. The print probably derives from a painted version of the same subject by Van Ostade. 'Peasant at the window' is described by Duthuit as one of the finest prints in Bega’s oeuvre and probably dates to the mid 1650s. It is more carefully worked than his other single-figure studies. As in his interiors, the dark background of the room behind provides a foil against which the figure appears brightly lit. The print is known in two states of which the former omits the signature and the lower member of the window frame.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 2 exhibitions
The James Fairfax collection of old masters, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Apr 1992–14 Jun 1992
The James Fairfax collection of old master paintings, drawings and prints, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Apr 2003–20 Jul 2003
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Bibliography
Referenced in 2 publications
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, The James Fairfax collection of old masters, Sydney, 1992, p [1].
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Richard Beresford and Peter Raissis, The James Fairfax collection of old master paintings, drawings and prints, Sydney, 2003, p 21, no 3, illus p 20.
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Provenance
Marilyn Pink Fine Art, pre 25 Sep 1984, Los Angeles/California/United States of America
James Oswald Fairfax AC, 25 Sep 1984-11 Jan 2017, Bowral/New South Wales/Australia, Purchased from Marilyn Pink by James Fairfax, 25 Sep 1984 for US$1,699.
Bridgestar Pty Ltd, post 11 Jan 2017, Sydney/New South Wales/Australia, The Estate of James O Fairfax.