The Birdwatchers

Nicolaas Verkolje, c. 1744

The Birdwatchers and The Anglers, also on this wall, are both full of sexual allusions. While the mood in The Anglers is still cheerful and amorous, here the atmosphere is menacing. Birding is synonymous with making love; however, the consent does not seem to be mutual. One of the women is being assaulted, while the other two come to her aid. The bird the man forces on her was a well-known symbol for the male sex organ.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-A-5041
  • Dimensionsheight 59 cm x width 47 cm, depth 4 cm
  • Physical characteristicsolieverf op paneel

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Identification

  • Title(s)

    • The Birdwatchers
    • Genre Scene with Elegant Young Couples in a Landscape

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-A-5041

Creation

  • Creation

    • painter: Nicolaas Verkolje, Amsterdam
    • painter: attributed to Nicolaas Verkolje, Amsterdam

  • Dating

    c. 1744

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    olieverf op paneel

  • Dimensions

    • height 59 cm x width 47 cm
    • depth 4 cm

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Purchase made possible by an anonymous bequest

  • Acquisition

    purchase 2017-05-23

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    …; sale, widow S.A. Westerhof-van der Schagen, Amsterdam (Van der Schley/Yver), 16 May 1781, no. 61 [The Anglers] and no. 64 [The Bird-Catchers], 45 guilders each, to the dealer Fouquet; …; sale J.F. Motte, Amsterdam (van der Schley/ Quinkhard), 20 August 1794, no. 123 (the pair), 70 guilders, to Yver; …; ? coll ection, well-known anonymous collector, Vienna, since the nineteenth century [according to the auction house Dorotheum]; …; anonymous sale, Vienna (Dorotheum), 19 December 2016, no. 203, as Dutch School eighteenth century, to Rafael Valls, London; by whom shown at The European Fine Arts Fair 2017, as attributed to Jan Maurits Quinkhard, and from whom purc hased, on the premises, as by Nicolaas Verkolje, with funds from an anonymous bequest, 2017

Documentation

  • Gregor Weber, 'Recent Acquisitions', Rijksmuseum Bulletin 66 (2018) nr. 1, p. 78-80.

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