Rijksmuseum and Mauritshuis Jointly Acquire Iconic Winter Landscape by Avercamp
The Mauritshuis and the Rijksmuseum have jointly acquired Hendrick Avercamp’s Colf Players on the Ice, painted ca. 1625. The acquisition marks the return to the Netherlands of one of the most important winter landscapes in Dutch painting. This seventeenth-century masterpiece will first be displayed in Kampen, where Avercamp grew up and worked, as part of the Avercamp Back in Kampen: The Seventeenth Century Through the Eyes of Hendrick and Barent exhibition, opening on 3 October. After that, it will alternate between the Rijksmuseum and the Mauritshuis.
Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), Colf Players on the Ice, ca. 1625
Masterful winter scene
Colf Players on the Ice is regarded as a highlight of Avercamp’s oeuvre. Unlike earlier winter landscapes teeming with human figures, the artist focuses here on a small group in the foreground. The low vantage point makes us feel that we too are on the ice, and part of the scene. The focus is on two men playing colf – one of the oldest ball games in the Low Countries, and a forerunner of golf – as fishers, passers-by and other spectators watch the game. The painting is therefore not only a remarkable winter scene, it is also the earliest known depiction of colf.
The painting also presents a vivid image of daily life during the ‘Little Ice Age’, a period between circa 1575 and 1625 which saw bitterly cold winters. Avercamp depicts both the pleasure of the skaters, hikers and people sledging, and the harshness of winter. The figures’ clothing also provides an impression of fashions in the early to mid-seventeenth century. The details and the evocative characters make this painting one of Avercamp’s most intimate and innovative compositions.
Martine Gosselink (General Director of the Mauritshuis) and Taco Dibbits (Director General of the Rijksmuseum) at the new painting, photo by Rachel Ecclestone
Avercamp
Hendrick Avercamp (1585–1634) was born in Amsterdam and worked in Kampen. He is regarded as the father of Dutch ice scenes. He was the first artist to specialize almost exclusively in winter landscapes depicting people from all levels of society coming together on the ice. His paintings, some of the best-known images of Dutch winter culture, still appeal to the imagination more than four centuries later.
Significance for the Netherlands
Although several paintings by Avercamp are in Dutch public collections, almost all of them are early works. Colf Players on the Ice, on the other hand, shows the innovative nature of his mature style, and is thus an essential addition to the Dutch national art collection.
The joint purchase underlines the close collaboration between the Mauritshuis and Rijksmuseum on Dutch seventeenth-century painting. For many years, the two institutions have worked together on research, conservation, exhibitions and loans. The joint acquisition of Colf Players on the Ice is a further manifestation of the idea of a Dutch national art collection managed, studied and shared for the benefit of the widest possible audience.
