Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 4, 1912.djvu/468

 454 ADRIAEN VAN DE VELDE SECT. pictures of Cuyp and Potter, so, too, in Adriaen's work most of the cows are yellowish brown and white a colouring which is now rare in the cattle of modern Holland. His compositions are for the most part pervaded by a sense of rest and comfort ; he does not care for stormy scenes. In this respect he may be called the Metsu of bucolic painting ; indeed, he shows a close affinity to that artist. Even when he paints sanguinary themes, such as, for example, the story of Mercury and Argus, he shows us only the preparations, and never the actual deed of blood. He treats his few historical and Biblical subjects especially the "Flight into Egypt," besides the " Mercury and Argus " entirely after the manner of his scenes with herdsmen. As a scarcely fortunate exception there is only the " Passion " cycle at Amsterdam, already mentioned, which was probably painted to order, or from pious motives. Adriaen van de Velde in the course of his short life not only painted very industriously, but also etched and drew. The etchings, twenty-six in number, and the many drawings done in red and black chalk, or with a pen and sepia, deal with the same range of subjects as the pictures. Among them the reminiscences of Italy are especially numerous in Roman temple-ruins, and shepherds and shepherdesses in scantier clothing than was possible in Holland. Many drawings are direct studies for the figures in his pictures, and show, by the way in which he was always improving and repeating the details, what pains he took with this branch of his work. His etchings and drawings are among those which collectors covet most. In describing the art of Adriaen van de Velde, one must not omit to consider what he did in painting figures for pictures by his contemporaries. In this capacity he accomplished admirable work. No other painter of accessory figures can rival him, either in the number which he painted, or in the quality of the finely drawn figures and animals which he introduced, either singly or in groups, into landscapes by other men. His brother Willem van de Velde, who was himself a very good figure-painter j his old master Johannes Wijnants, who, on the contrary, took very little trouble with the accessory figures in his landscapes ; his contemporaries Ruisdael and Hobbema, Philips Koning and Johan Hackaert ; and, above all, Frederik de Moucheron and Jan van der Heyde, have all profited by his extraordinary talent in this respect. He contrived to adapt himself most skilfully to the very different styles of all those painters, and gave their pictures a greater value than they would otherwise have had. It must, however, be expressly added that at a very early date the figures in many pictures, though only painted in his manner, were attri- buted to Adriaen van de Velde himself. For the higher prices paid for pictures on which he had worked soon tempted others to add figures in his style to landscapes. This was done either by speculators and dealers, or by those artists who had begun by seeking Adriaen's help, and gradually learned to paint figures for themselves. This was especially the case with Jan van der Heyde. There are scarcely any pictures by him in which the figures are not attributed to Adriaen van de Velde, and do not look like his work. But Van der Heyde lived and painted till 1712 fully forty years after Adriaen's death in 1672. This is proved not only by the dates