The Enclosed Valley

c. 1622-1625

Hercules Seghers

Associated Names
Hercules Seghers

Artist, Dutch, c. 1590 - c. 1638

The image depicts a landscape viewed from an elevated vantage point. The horizon is placed near the top of the image, showing jagged lines of distant mountains. The artwork uses intricate line work typical of etching, creating texture and depth across the rocky surfaces. The color palette is monochrome, with shades of beige and brown. The rocky terrain closest to us is rough and textured, leading into a middle section with more rocks and sparse vegetation. In the distant background, softer lines fade against the sky.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and drypoint in brown on laid paper mounted on later laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 10.7 × 18.7 cm (4 3/16 × 7 3/8 in.)
    mount: 11.7 × 19.4 cm (4 5/8 × 7 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.7981

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Leeflang 2016, no. HB 13, State ii/iv (impression r)

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Rudolf von Gutmann [1880-1966], Vienna (?); (Gilhofer & Ranschburg, Vienna);(Charles Sessler, Philadelphia); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1930; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • Five Centuries of Print Making, The Print Club of Philadelphia, 1931, no. 32.

1933

  • An Exhibition of Prints from the Collection of Lessing J. Rosenwald, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, 1933, no. 88.

1943

  • Selections from the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1943-1944, pp. 66-67, repro.

1945

  • Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, IN, 1945, no. 41.

1949

  • Selections from the Rosenwald Collection, Art Gallery of Toronto, 1949.

1952

  • 100 Masterpieces of the Print, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1952.

1953

  • Masterpieces of Graphic Art from the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953-1954, no catalogue.

1954

  • Masterpieces from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1954, no catalogue.

1956

  • Masterpieces of Graphic Art from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, NGA, 1956.

1957

  • The Printmaker: 1450-1950, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California, 1957, unnumbered catalogue.

1962

  • Color in Prints: an Exhibition of European and American Color Prints from 1500 to the Present, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, 1962-1963, no. 26.

1965

  • Master Prints from the Rosenwald Collection, Virgina Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; and Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1965, no. 61.

1975

  • Jacques Callot: Prints and Related Prints and Drawings, NGA, 1975, not in cat.

1976

  • Seventeenth Century Dutch Landscape Drawings and Selected Prints, Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1976, no. 16, repro.

1980

  • Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and The Saint Louis Art Museum, 1980-1981, no. 33, repro.

1982

  • Lessing J. Rosenwald: Tribute to a Collector, NGA, 1982, no. 39, repro.

Bibliography

1973

  • Havercamp-Begemann, E. Hercules Seghers: The Complete Etchings. Amsterdam/The Hague, 1973.

1981

  • Ackley, Clifford S. Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt. Exh. cat. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1981:, pp.59-60, 33.

1982

  • Fine, Ruth E. Lessing J. Rosenwald: Tribute to a Collector. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1982, p. 122, no. 39.

2016

  • Leeflang, Huigen, and Pieter Roelofs, et al. Hercules Seghers: Painter, Etcher. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2016, no. HB 13, state ii/iv (impression r).

Inscriptions

none

Markings

recto: none; verso: Lessing J. Rosenwald (Lugt 1760b) and National Gallery of Art

Wikidata ID

Q65021100

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