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Dimensions: measurements note 28.7 by 39.3 cm.; 11 1/4 by 15 1/2 in.
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Provenance: Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 13 October 1989, lot 51;
With Richard Green, London, from whom acquired by the present owner.
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Literature: R. de Bertier de Sauvigny, Jacob et Abel Grimmer, Belgium 1991, p. 268, no. 28, reproduced in colour plate 95.
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Notes: PROPERTY FROM THE LONDON RESIDENCE OF DIMITRI MAVROMMATIS
Abel was the son of Jacob Grimmer, whom Vasari considered one of the best landscapists of his time, and of whom Van Mander made the claim that he knew of no other artist so 'outstandingly skilled in landscapes'. Abel's paintings owe a great deal to his father and also to Pieter Bruegel the Elder, whose prints he often copied. While he also painted church interiors and imaginary interiors inspired by Hans Vredeman de Vries, Grimmer is perhaps best known for his depictions of peasants at work or leisure in the outdoors, such as the present work.
This painting was almost certainly painted as one of a series of four depicting the seasons. As Reine de Bertier de Sauvigny has suggested,υ1 it can perhaps be linked with The Month of May formerly with Galerie R. Finck, Brussels, which is of approximately the same dimensions and stylistically very similar.υ2 It is also possible that this panel was painted as a single month in a series of the twelve months of the year. While the majority of these series are now incomplete, De Bertier de Sauvigny cites one complete set of twelve, last recorded in Belgium.υ3
1. See De Bertier de Sauvigny, under Literature.
2. De Bertier de Sauvigny, op. cit., p. 264, no. 9, reproduced fig. 136.
3. Ibid., p. 214, cat. no. XLI, most reproduced.
