DIRK LANGENDIJK (Holland, 1748-1805)."Joseph before the Pharaoh".1769.Oil on canvas. Re-coloured.

DIRK LANGENDIJK (Holland, 1748-1805).
"Joseph before the Pharaoh".1769.
Oil on canvas. Re-coloured.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Provenance: Christie's New York.
Size: 67 x 108,5 cm; 87,5 x 128 cm (frame).
This scene, painted by the Dutchman Dirk Langendyk, depicts an episode narrated in Genesis: Joseph (whose ingenuity had raised him from the status of a slave to that of a nobleman), is called upon by Pharaoh to interpret a strange dream he had. He had dreamt that seven scrawny cows were devouring seven well-fed cows. In the scene, Joseph gesticulates counting on his fingers the seven years that, according to his interpretation of the dream, the kingdom will have plenty and the same number of years of scarcity. Pharaoh, having heard him, adopts him as an adviser. The splendour of the pharaonic chambers is reflected in the canopy curtains and luxurious robes, as well as in the palatial architecture that opens onto a porticoed courtyard. Langendijk's draughtsmanship and his skill in composing groups and integrating them naturally into the space are outstanding.
Dirk Langendijk was a Dutch painter, draughtsman and engraver. He produced mainly military-themed depictions of the Dutch Patriottentijd (around 1780-1800) and of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (from 1792). He was much admired in his day for his depictions of horses in battle, and several contemporary artists copied his work, including his pupil Johannes Adriaansz. Bemme (1775-1841). His only dated paintings are from the period 1771/72-1780. They show scenes from the life of the landed gentry, such as a painting from around 1774 of a military camp with soldiers and horses. This painting is in the collection of the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum. In 1796 he designed the seagull for the new Bavarian flag. In 1799 he made a drawing of the landing at Callantsoog on 27 August of the British troops during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. Langedijk was most probably present at this event, as the painting bears the inscription "ad vivum 1799". The drawing is now in the British National Maritime Museum. A watercolour version of the drawing was acquired by the Prince of Wales in 1803 and is in the Royal Library at Windsor. An undated painting by Langendijk shows a scene of the raid on the Medway by Admiral Michiel de Ruyter in 1667. This work is in the collection of the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Although in smaller numbers, he also depicted non-military subjects, such as the depiction of the fire at the Spaarn windmill at Wind, on the river Spaarne, near Haarlem. Another drawing, in the Courtauld Gallery, London, shows ships in a storm off the Dutch coast. In 1953, the Rotterdam City Archives organised an exhibition of drawings and watercolours by Langendijk, his collaborator Christoffel Meijer and his son Jan Anthonie Langendijk. Langendijk's work was also included in the exhibition "Hartstochtelijk Verzameld - Beroemde Tekeningen in 18de-Eeuwse Hollandse Collecties" ("Passionate Collecting - Famous Drawings in 18th Century Collections") at the Teylers Museum in Haarlem in 2001 and at the Institut Néerlandais in Paris in 2002.