(Antwerp 1598–1634) and (Antwerp 1601–1678)
An extensive river landscape,
oil on canvas, 83.5 x 117.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the attribution. His certificate accompanies the present lot.

Philips de Momper the Elder trained with his father Joos. Before joining the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke he made the arduous journey to Italy in the company of Jan Brueghel the Younger. In Rome de Momper executed a number of paintings depicting scenes of the city and its surroundings. He is believed to have joined the Bentvueghels, an organisation of mainly Flemish and Dutch painters active in Rome during his time there in 1622-1624.

He was recorded back in Antwerp when he joined the local Guild of Saint Luke as a wijnmeester, i.e. the son of a member, on November 1624. As he had worked in his father’s studio, he was thoroughly familiar with his father’s style. A number of his pictures have therefore been attributed to his father. However, he was still able to develop an independent style, incorporating his own ideas and contemporary fashions. Philips also showed a preference for certain motifs which show his personal signature. As no signed works by the artist are known it has been difficult to define his oeuvre. Certain works that were originally attributed to his father Joos have tentatively been ascribed to Philips.

A first group of works were identified by Klaus Ertz in a 1986 monograph on Philips’ father Joos de Momper. Ertz ascribed to Philips a group of paintings, mainly depicting Treviso and Rome, which he called the ‘Treviso group’. These works, which had traditionally been attributed to his father Joos, show a consistency in terms of content and style. Stylistically their composition and colour scheme indicate that these paintings were likely created in the 1620s at the earliest. The paintings reveal a significant Italian influence, likely attributable to his trip to Italy in the early 1620s. An example is Village scene by a river, said to be a view of Treviso (at Sotheby’s, 26 April 2007, London, lot 8). In this composition, Philips de Momper captured the daily life of a riverside town, believed to be Treviso.

Another group of paintings tentatively attributed to Philips are views in narrow river valleys often like the present one. The group distinguishes itself from Joos’s work by the lusher vegetation and the less strident palette and touch. The inclusion in the pictures of peacefully grazing deer is also typical for the group. An example of this group is the Valley in a mountainous landscape (Fondation Custodia). Jan Brueghel the younger painted the animals and some of the staffage in the present painting, which is therefore a collaboration of the two close friends.