Rijksmuseum and Mauritshuis Jointly Acquire Hendrick Avercamp Winter Landscape

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis in The Hague have jointly acquired a winter landscape by 17th-century Dutch painter Hendrick Avercamp. Colf Players on the Ice (ca. 1625) marks the first time the two museums have collaborated on a joint purchase.

The acquisition also represents the painting’s return to the Netherlands after decades abroad. In the 20th century, it was acquired by English art dealer Edward Speelman, who died in 1994, and his wife, Sally, who had put it on long-term loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The MFAH and Mauritshuis organized an exhibition on the Speelmans’ Dutch and Flemish painting holdings in 2000, with an accompanying catalog. It was on view at the MFA Houston as recently as 2018, according to a blog post by its curatorial staff.

The painting will first go on view on October 3 in the exhibition “Avercamp Back in Kampen: the 17th Century through the Eyes of Hendrick and Barent” at the Stedelijk Museum Kampen, located about an hour east of Amsterdam, in the town where Avercamp spent the majority of his career. After the exhibition closes next January, the painting will alternate between the two institutions.

Born in 1585 in Amsterdam, Avercamp is associated with the Dutch Golden Age of painting and was the first Dutch artist to specialize in making winter landscapes. His paintings and drawings can be found in the collections of the National Gallery in London, the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the UK’s Royal Trust, which owns roughly one-third of his surviving drawings.

Colf Players on the Ice is an anomaly in his oeuvre, since it only foregrounds a few figures as opposed to the dozens that typically fill his compositions. The work shows a group of men playing colf, “one of the oldest ball games in the Low Countries, and a forerunner of golf” and “the earliest known depiction of colf” in painting, according to a release.

Studies for the painting held in Dresden, Germany, the release adds, “show how carefully he developed the composition, making changes during the painting process to make the image more expressive.” The museums will jointly conduct a materials analysis study in the near future.

“Ice and winter fun have been inextricably associated with each other for centuries here in the Netherlands,” Rijksmuseum director general Taco Dibbits said in a statement. “Few things bring everyone in the country together like those two things. As soon as the canals, rivers and lakes freeze, we take to the ice en masse – young and old, rich and poor. This painting by Avercamp is among the loveliest of winter landscapes.”

Colf Players on the Ice joins 26 works by the artist already owned by the Rijksmuseum. Only four of those pieces are oil paintings, which date between 1608 and ca. 1620, making the new acquisition the latest work from his career in the museum’s holdings. The Mauritshuis does not currently own any works by Avercamp, though his Ice Scene (ca. 1610) has been on long-term loan to the institution from the Rijksmuseum since 1924.

“The image evokes memories of the Netherlands’ great love of icy winter days,” Mauritshuis general director Martine Gosselink said of Colf Players. “It also invites us to reflect on mobility, sport, national identity and, of course, climate change. Harsh winters are becoming increasingly rare, so Avercamp’s masterpiece has even more significance nowadays.”