Eight landscapes. Plate 8: A house on a cliff overlooking a lake.

Herman Naiwincx (1623-1679), was a Dutch Golden Age painter, etcher, draughtsman and tapestry trader, who is best known for his Italianate landscapes. Alternative names include: Hermann; Nauwinck, Naiwinx, Nouwynx and Nauwynck. He was active in Amsterdam from 1648-1650 and in Schoonhoven in 1651. Naiwincx’s success as an etcher is based on two series of landscape prints based on his own designs, which were published in Amsterdam by Clement de Jonghe, who also published prints by Naiwincx's far better-known older contermporary, Rembrandt. This print comes from the set known by the British Museum as the Eight Landscapes. These etchings all represent hilly, wooded landscapes - as distinct from the oppressively flat Dutch landscape. They feature a panoramic viewpoint and show the artist’s familiarity with the Italian tradition of landscape painting. Of the 16 landscape drawings now attributed to Naiwincx, most are executed in chalk and wash or pen and ink. His earliest work is thought to be a group of Dutch landscape scenes with farmhouses.Naiwincx’s paintings clearly demonstrate his eclecticism; he made use of motifs borrowed from other artists and made variations on them. After 1651 there is no trace of Naiwincx, and his supposed residency in Hamburg could well be based on his business trips there as a merchant. It is unknown whether he moved to Hamburg, or died there on one of his business trips.

Te Papa has the complete set of Eight Landscapes by Naiwinx in its collection, which all depict Italianate landscapes. As the title suggests, this etching depicts a glassy lake between a cliff and a rocky outcrop. To the right of the etching, atop the rocky outcrop, an old house perches romantically and improbably, with laundry on the line and nearby trees. At the foot of the cliffs opposite is a stand of trees, reflected in the calm body of water.The set was presented to the Colonial Museum by Bishop Ditlev Monrad in 1869 and forms part of Te Papa's foundation art collection.

See:

A. Bredius. ‘A few things about Hermann Nauwincx’. In Oud Holland 58, 1 (1941), pp. 19-22. (Text in Dutch.)

Wikipedia, ‘Hermann Naiwincx’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Naiwincx

Dr Mark Stocker    Curator, Historical International Art     March 2019