Adriaen van de Velde, 'Golfers on the Ice near Haarlem', 1668
About the work
Overview
Paintings of life on the frozen waterways of Holland during the Little Ice Age were very popular with collectors at the time. Many artists, usually known for painting rivers or landscapes, produced them, and Adriaen van de Velde was one of the most successful. But in this painting he has concentrated on individual characters and their activities, rather than details of the icy landscape.
The men in the foreground play kolf, the forerunner of golf. People of all ranks could take part, and it was guaranteed to draw onlookers to give opinions and advice. The player with jaunty red tassels on his petticoat breeches takes aim to hit the post put in position by the man just peeping out from behind him. A young boy, hands stuffed in his pockets and a hint of snow on one boot, watches with his kolf stick at his side, as if longing to join in.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Golfers on the Ice near Haarlem
- Artist
- Adriaen van de Velde
- Artist dates
- 1636 - 1672
- Date made
- 1668
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 30.3 × 36.4 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1871
- Inventory number
- NG869
- Location
- Room 16
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 17th-century Dutch Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2016Adriaen van de Velde: Master of the Dutch LandscapeRijksmuseum Amsterdam24 June 2016 - 25 September 2016Dulwich Picture Gallery12 October 2016 - 15 January 2017
Bibliography
-
1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1844A.M. Jameson, Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London: Containing Accurate Catalogues, Arranged Alphabetically, for Immediate Reference, Each Preceded by an Historical & Critical Introduction […], London 1844
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1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.