Friday, April 6, 2018

Jacob van der Ulft, Dilettante Draughtsman

Jacob van der Ulft
Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli
before 1689
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Jacob van der Ulft
Tomb of the Horatii
1688
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Jacob van der Ulft
Roman capriccio
before 1689
drawing
British Museum

"Jacob van der Ulft (ca. 1621-1689), like Jan de Bisschop and Constantijn Huygens Jr, was a dilettante draughtsman.  Van der Ulft was burgomaster of Gorkum from 1660 to 1679.  Arnold Houbraken says that he painted 'Roman or Italian views . . . and did so in such a way that (although he had never been to Rome) persons who had travelled in Italy recognized the same at first glance'.  This should not surprise anyone, continues Houbraken, because 'most of the remains of ancient Rome are easily come by in prints, or in sketches'.  Van der Ulft's oeuvre includes paintings, gouaches and a great many drawings.  In style and technique they are closely related to the drawings by Jan de Bisschop, although they are less lively and varied in execution.  Van der Ulft made many copies after drawings by De Bisschop.  De Bisschop's drawings, etchings and printing plates were sold at auction on 10 February 1677.  It is possible that Van der Ulft acquired his drawings on this occasion and subsequently used them as models; however the two men could also have worked together earlier.  It is interesting that in Van der Ulft's album of drawings there is a note reading 'from life', when he had never been to Italy. 'From life' here therefore refers not to the execution, but to the depiction: although the artist did not actually sit at the spot, drawing from nature, the pictures are faithful renditions of reality." 

– Peter Schatborn, from the catalogue of a 2001 exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, published in English as Drawn to Warmth: 17th-century Dutch artists in Italy, translated by Lynne Richards

Jacob van der Ulft
Landscape with Roman villa
before 1689
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Jacob van der Ulft
Osteria in the Roman Campagna
before 1689
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Jacob van der Ulft
Italian landscape
before 1689
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Jacob van der Ulft
Italian landscape with ruins
before 1689
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Jacob van der Ulft
Italian landscape with classical palace
before 1689
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Jacob van der Ulft
Fragment of the ancient wall of Rome
1674
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Jacob van der Ulft
Italian harbor scene with classical ruin
before 1689
drawing
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Jacob van der Ulft
Italian landscape, possibly the Monte Mario, Rome
before 1659
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Jacob van der Ulft
Italian landscape with ruined building
1671
drawing
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Jacob van der Ulft
 Roman classical building
1671
drawing
British Museum

Jacob van der Ulft
Italian marketplace
before 1689
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam