EGBERT VAN HEEMSKERCK

PEASANT DANCING IN A TAVERN

EGBERT VAN HEEMSKERCK
Haarlem 1634 – 1704 London

Paper, sanguine
26.5 x 39 cm / 10.4 x 15.4 inches; with black XIX century frame 43 x 55 cm / 16.9 x 21.7 inches

PROVENANCE
France, private collection
The late 17th century marks a period of profound transformation in Dutch art, where many achievements of the Golden Age were reinterpreted and given new resonance. A vivid example of this dynamic is the work of Egbert van Heemskerck.
Born in Haarlem in 1634, Egbert van Heemskerck emerged as a pivotal figure bridging Dutch and English artistic worlds. Son of Jasper Jaspersz van Heemskerck, a respected local physician, and Marytge Jansdr van Stralen, Egbert’s artistic education began under the tutelage of Pieter de Grebber. His family connections deepened his immersion in the art scene: his mother remarried the influential art dealer Jan Wijnants, father of the renowned landscape painter Jan Wijnants, making Egbert and the landscape master stepbrothers. Van Heemskerck’s membership in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke places him alongside contemporaries such as Evert Collier and Evert Oudendijck, affirming his rootedness in Dutch artistic tradition.
In the early 1670s, Egbert moved to London, where his sharply satirical works found favor with patrons including John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. His biting humor occasionally landed him in hot water even with King Charles II himself. While some confusion remains between his work and that of his son—also Egbert van Heemskerck—scholars distinguish their oeuvres, recognizing the elder’s enduring presence in major collections such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Louvre in Paris, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tournai, the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Van Heemskerck’s irony is sharper and more acerbic than his predecessors, the Ostade brothers, whose influence he reimagined with a younger generation’s perspective. His paintings from the English period verge occasionally on caricature, yet in his graphic works—especially drawings in sanguine—he remains a master of lightness and grace. The warm red chalk allows for a softened irony, adding a subtle lyricism that perfectly suits the mood of the present sheet.
Our drawing effortlessly cites the legacy of the Ostades while reaching deeper into Dutch art’s rich past. The figure stepping into a doorway evokes Breugel the Elder’s familiar peasant scenes, linking this work to a broader tradition of genre painting. Intriguingly, this sheet nearly matches in size and style a sanguine by Heemskerck from the Morgan Library in New York, titled Girl Dancing before Peasants in a Tavern (278 × 372 mm), acquired by Pierpont Morgan in 1909.
It is tempting to suppose these works belonged to a series devoted to rustic tavern dances, embodying the lively spirit of Dutch genre painting well into the early 18th century. The bitter irony threading through van Heemskerck’s work signals the shifting aesthetics of the new century, where humor grew sharper and social commentary more pointed.