Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Three Fishermen on the Shore Handling a Net

Willem van de Velde
1633-1707

Three Fishermen on the Shore Handling a Net

4 5/16 x 7 1/4 inches (110 x 185 mm)
Pen and brown ink, gray wash, over traces of graphite, on paper.
I, 148

Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.

Notes
Watermark: none visible through lining.
Inasmuch as some of the gray wash of the drawing flows over onto the mount, one wonders if the gray wash was part of the artist's work after he had mounted the drawing, or was all or some of it added by a later owner, perhaps Dominic Serres (1722-93) who was himself marine painter to King George III of England (reg 1760-1820)?
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed on the verso of the lining, at upper left corner, in graphite, "17.0"; at upper right corner, in the hand of Serres, in black ink, "of Vandevelde / D. Serres" (with a flourish); at the left of signature, in graphite, "June 19:, 1779"; and at lower right corner, in another hand, in graphite, "Braun".
Associated names
Serres, Dominic, 1719-1793, former owner.
Woodburn, Samuel, 1785 or 1786-1853 former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 148, repr.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department