Notes
In 1860 Matthijs Maris and his brother Jacob made a journey into Switzerland that made an enormous impression on Matthijs. They stayed over in Lausanne for only one night, but Matthijs returned to this subject frequently in later years; the city in silhouette and the baptism scene at the cathedral. Elbert Jan van Wisselingh was a strong supporter of Maris, he had recognized an exceptional artist very early on. He worked with Cottire, Paris, who sold Mathijs Maris works. In 1882, v Wisselingh left to start his own gallery, first in Paris, then in The Hague (1884-1891) and then to Amsterdam in 1891,with an addition in London. In 1888, when Matthijs Maris could no longer cope with Cottier, it was again van Wisselingh that helped him out. He gave him a roof over his head, sold his work and most importantly, left this highly sensitive artist at peace.
Provenance
E.J. van Wisselingh, Amsterdam; A. Preyer, Holland Art Gallery, 1902-1915 (label); Mrs Goekoop-De Jong, Breda/Wassenaar; thence by descent;
Douwes Fine Art, Amsterdam; exhibited at TEFAF 2014.
Literature
P. Haverkorn Rijsewijk, ‘Matthijs Maris te Wolfheze en Lausanne’, Onze Kunst 22, 1912, no.4, p.48-59: 55/56, ‘Matthijs bleef echter droomen van Lausanne (…) in zacht grijze kleur, als in een schemer gehuld’;R. de Leeuw, J. Sillevis & Ch. Dumas, ‘The Hague School .. .’ 1983, p. 219 as ‘A fourth version, in oils, is known from a photograph.’comparison: earlier drawings (1862-63) of Lauzanne: the Burrell Collection; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam; Montréal Museum of Fine Arts.