Old Masters and 19th Century Art

The present lot was authenticated by Dr. Klaus Ertz when previously offered at action, and accompanied with a certificate of authenticity dated December 13, 1994.

Provenance:

Sotheby's, New York, sale of January 31, 1997, lot 8 (as A Wooden Landscape with Horse-Drawn Carts, Riders and Peasants on a Hillside Path in the Foreground, where listed as indistinctly signed Brueghel).

Acquired directly from the above sale by the present owner.

Lot Essay:

Jan Brueghel the Younger was born into a dynasty of painters that began with Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and continuing to his sons, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder. While some of Jan Brueghel the Younger’s paintings show the influence of his father’s work (he is known at times to have copied his father’s paintings and for adding his father’s signature to his own works) Jan the Younger was a highly skilled painter in his own right, taking over his father’s studio in Antwerp and becoming the dean of that city’s guild in 1630.

The present painting is a superb example of the son’s ability to depict an everyday scene – a panoramic landscape with horse carts and travelers from a slightly elevated perspective, in which the viewer is invited to enter the picture at left. The composition is well-staged with the rider in the horse cart in the foreground, the second horse cart in the midground, and the descending line of trees that draws the viewer to the lower center right, with the jumping dog and traveler on horseback directly behind, along with the line of figures in the distance, which draws the viewer’s eye back again from right to left. Brueghel the Younger’s brushwork is meticulously applied with no detail spared, so the viewer is treated to his rendering of individual grasses on the hill at left, feathery tree leaves, remnants of an animal skull, a single bird at lower center, and even a distant village at center right. The coloration of this painting is also noteworthy, with the rider’s vibrant red shirt effectively contrasted against the soft greens and browns of the landscape and pale blue sky.