001   Klaes (Nicolaes) Molenaer, River Landscape with a village fair ("Rivierlandschap met feestvierend gezelschap"). 1676.

Klaes (Nicolaes) Molenaer 1626 -29 Haarlem – 1676 ebenda

Oil on canvas. Relining and stretcher frame 1st half 19th cent. An old inscription "niklaes molenaer" to the lower left, apparently transfer of the lost signature. With an auction no. "610' in white chalk verso on the right stretcher bar, with the brand stamp "78' on the upper stretcher bar on the right, numbered "3261” in graphite on the left and with a partially lost owner's stamp " [...] acad. Maler / 8020 Dresden / Brunnenstr. 6", probably from the 1970s/1980s. In an ebonised ...
frame.

Provenance: Dresden private collection; Versteigerung Internationales Kunst- und Auktions-Haus, Berlin, Katalog Nr. 85: Aus süddeutschem Fürstenbesitz; aus Berliner Sammlerbesitz, 20. Oktober 1931, Los 610, Abb. Tafel 9, there titled "Holländische Flußlandschaft".

The painting is registered as an autograph work by Klaes Molenaer in the RKD database images under no. 343260: https://rkd.nl/images/343260

We would like to thank Mrs Ellis Dullaart, MA, Curator Dutch and Flemish Old Master Painting, RKD, The Hague, for kind information and confirmation of authenticity.
Ellis Dullaart confirms the authenticity of the painting on the basis of high-resolution images of the high correspondence of the painting in composition, general painterly execution, treatment of the figures and colouring with known works by Molenaer. > Read more

The lower edge of the support shortened by approx. 20 mm. The lower corner areas with extensive retouching approx. 30–40 mm high. Fine line retouching in the sky. Paint layer with fine age craquelure and partially slightly rubbed, including in the sky, in the water and in the lower right corner area.

59 x 75,2 cm, Ra. 77,5 x 93,5 cm.