Blacksmith with a mobile forge at work in the field. Drawing with pen, with brown and gray wash by Dirk Langendijk. Signed and dated on a piece of wood in the lower left corner ‘Dirk Langendijk 1789‘. Size: 10.8 x 16.8 cm.**
Dirk Langendijk (1748-1805) mainly focused on depicting military subjects, including cavalry and artillery: soldiers marching and on guard duty, turmoil between citizens and civic guards during Dutch patriot times (1780-1786), the arrival of Prussian troops in The Netherlands (1787), or the landing of the British-Russian army in North Holland (1799) and the battles between that army and the French-Batavian army made him create fascinating drawings. A significant number of his drawings were transferred to copper plates and printed.
Langendijk depicted the various scenes brought about by war in an impressively varied and striking manner. The calamitous events that took place in the Netherlands during that time provided him with ample inspiration. He shows us riots and looting as the sad consequences of civil discord, as well as the advance of foreign armies across Dutch borders or frozen rivers into the heart of the divided Netherlands. Langendijk shows us all this with his skilled drawing pen and artistic brush, as if he were a calm observer present at the events.
He allows us to witness brave soldiers with a chilling shudder; furiously, the cavalry charges, surrounded by smoke and dust, against extended bayonets and the continuous fire of the infantry, while they advance slashing and shooting. The ground is strewn with groaning wounded, corpses, dead or dying horses, and all kinds of war gear. In other scenes, he shows us the reckless rage and wild outbursts of unruly soldiers, or the disasters that accompany war, such as the driving away of livestock under the eyes of desperate farmers, the explosion of a wagon filled with gunpowder in a church that had been transformed into a military depot, or the terrible devastation caused by the explosion of a bomb, and many other terrifying and gruesome scenes, which, however, are also interspersed with more joyful and splendid events such as peace negotiations, the return of the soldier to his hearth and home, and the jubilant celebration of peace with magnificent fireworks and festive lighting. Or as in the drawing shown here, a moment of calm in the battle, in which a blacksmith is fitting a horse with new shoes.
His drawings are generally elaborately detailed: each figure, whether of animals or people, can be considered individually. The various emotions of the people are sometimes readable on their faces. The clothing, with its particular details, is generally meticulously worked out.
Price: Euro 1,250.-
