KOLLER VIEW 01/24

3 pre view. 02 This landscape featured in our Old Masters auction is an important addition to the small oeuvre of oil paintings by the artist Hercules Segers. In addition to its artistic quality, this work is remarkable for its complete and illustrious prove- nance. Rediscovered 20 years ago in a Norwegian private collection, the painting had several eminent owners: the la- bels on the back indicate that it was in the collection of the kings of Prussia, including Frederick the Great. After passing through several generations of noble owner- ship, it entered the collection of the Leipzig master builder and councillor Christian Ludwig Stieglitz. In 1838, the Nor- wegian landscape painter Johan Christian Dahl, a compan- ion of Caspar David Friedrich, acquired the painting at an auction in Dresden. By this time, the knowledge of Segers’ authorship had been lost, and was only rediscovered in 2007 after intensive technical and art historical research. In 2016/17, the landscape was exhibited in a major Hercules Segers retrospective at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Segers was one of the most creative artists of his time, and created landscapes of astonishing originality and quality. He used comparable pictorial compositions in his prints, but no other painted forest landscapes by Segers have sur- vived, making this work a rarity. Small format, long history Preview of the Old Master Paintings auction on 22 March 2024 1 H ercules Pietersz. Segers (1590–1640). Forest Path. 1618–20. Oil on canvas on panel. 16 × 22.4 cm. Estimate: CHF 350 000/500 000 For further information Old Master Paintings KarolineWeser weser@kollerauctions.com Online catalogues www.kollerauctions.com 1