Robert Griffier

Essay:

A Pair of Rhenish landscapes:
A View of the Rhine with a Castle, a Mill, and numerous Boats
and
A View of the Rhine with Travellers, a Packmule, and Boats

Robert Griffier began his career as a pupil of his father the renowned Jan Griffier and, like his father, specialised in painting topographical views along the Rhine. Many views of the Rhine are somewhat exaggerated, but recognisable buildings and topography are often incorporated into his compositions, with steep riverbanks and castles and village scenes. He also painted a number of bird and animal pictures, which marked quite a departure from his landscapes. These were clearly influenced by Melchior d'Hondecoeter but do not lack any of the expressive power of the great master.

Like those of his father, Robert Griffier's Rhenish landscapes were influenced by Herman Saftleven, who had first developed Italianate Rhineland river views in the late 1640's. The Rev. M. Pilkington in his 1798 Dictionary of Painters describes Robert Griffier as having 'distinguished himself extremely by his views of the Rhine, in which he introduced a number of figures very delicately touched in the manner of Herman Saftleven'.

Although Robert Griffier was born in London and studied under his father here, he is mentioned in Ireland in 1695. He subsequently travelled to the Netherlands, settling in Amsterdam, where he lived from 1716 to 1718. He then returned to England from about 1718 until circa 1727.

Provenance:

Anon. sale; Phillips, London, 10 April 1990, lot 143.
Private collection, UK;
Sold by the above; Sotheby's, London, Town and Country: A Private Collection, 14 Dec. 2021, lot 12.