PROVENANCE 
Anonymous sale Drouot, Paris, 21 Narch 1874 (Frs.510) erroneously as a pendant  
to the consecutive lot. 
Collection Comte de Camondo, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1 February 1893, lot 6 
Frs 1.700, where acquired by W.Gregor. 
Anoymous sale, Drouot, Paris 18 February 1895, lot 13. (Frs.750) where acquired by Lange. 
Collection G.Forbes, London. (according to Dayot and Hofstede de Groot) 
Sale Jules Cronier, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 11 Mrch 1908, lot 88 ( rs.1.200) where acquired by Kleinberger, Paris
With Kleinberger, Paris 
Collection Eugѐne Max, Paris, by 1911 and up to 1917
With Granges, Paris 
Private Collection, Paris, by 196
Anonymous sale Sotheby’s London, 1 March 1992, lot 36 (Doornspijk £ 101.200,-) 
With John Mitchell, London, by 1993. 
Anonymous sale Christie’s Amsterdam, 30 November 2012, lot 68 (Euro 211.000,0 ) 
With Johnny van Haeften LTD, London, by 2014, where acquired by the present owner at TEFAF, Maastricht
Private Collection 
 
LITERATURE 
Martin W. (1918), Alt-Holländische Bilder. Berlin p. 51, fig.25 
Hofstede de Groot C. (1927), A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch 
painters of the seventeenth century, London, Vol.VIII, p. 294, nr. 1170  
H.U.Beck, (1972) Jan van Goyen 1597-1656,  Amsterdam,vol II, p. 46, nr. 88 (illustrated, 
erroneously as a pendant to nr. 244  
 
EXHIBITED 
Paris, Salle du Jeu des Paumes, Grands & petits maitres Hollandais, 28 April – 
10 July 1911, nr.40 bis 
 
The present painting is recorded at the RKD, The Hague, under nr.235652 
 
Jan van Goyen was the son of a cobbler. He started his career as an apprentice in Leiden, the town of his birth. Like many Dutch painters of his time, he studied art in Haarlem with Esaias van de Velde. The present work, which can stylistically be dated to the mid 1620's (ca. 1623-1627), is a fine example of van Goyen’s early style and attached strongly to the influence of his teacher. Here, van Goyen employs the format of constructing the composition from clear graduations of perspective, which was taken by van de Velde from Flemish tradition. The dark solidity of the tree and the wood gathering figure in the left foreground, form a stark repoussoir and contrasts sharply with the frozen natural landscape. 

The centre of the composition is accentuated by the colourful figures and local colouration, set against the expeditiously and monochrome painted windmill, church and village in the third plane. Most notable are the pair of figures in the foreground who engage in a game of Kolf, a predecessor of the modern game of Golf. Kolf originated in the Middle-Ages and involved the use of a club to knock a ball towards a target. The sport grew popular in the urbanised Dutch environment. 
 
This finely executed picture, with its rare, interesting Kolf theme, is therefore not only a true masterpiece in its own right, but also a fine example of the skills and the steep development of a highly talented artist, who would become one of the exceptional exponents of the Dutch 17th century landscape painting. 
 
At age of 35, van Goyen established a permanent studio in The Hague. His landscapes rarely fetched high prices, but he made up for the modest value of individual pieces by increasing his production, painting thinly and quickly with a limited palette of inexpensive pigments. Despite his market innovation, he always sought more income. Not only to related work as an art dealer but also speculated in tulips and real estates. In van Goyen’s experience it led to enormous debts. His only registered pupils were Nicolaes Berchem, his son-in-law Jan Steen, and Adriaen van der Kabel. The list of painters he influenced is much longer.