Antique Dutch Skating Scene Painting - Schelfhout School

Description: Found at an estate sale, this marvelous 7.75” x 10.375 (20x26.5 cm) framed antique oil painting on panel shows an atmospheric Dutch winter landscape with people skating on a frozen river beneath a high, brooding sky. Some of the colors are vivid, others are subdued (see photos). It's framed without glass in an ornate antique 14” x 16” gesso frame. The second photo shows a 12” ruler for scale. As is unfortunately all too often the case at estate sales, I wasn't able to learn anything about the artist or about the age and history of this intriguing but easily overlooked painting, which I would guess the homeowners acquired at least 30 years ago. It wasn’t a featured item at the sale and wasn’t accompanied by any documentation, either separately or attached to the back. The estate sale was a professionally-run one featuring high-end furnishings and decor and I was told that the estate had included some artwork valuable enough to have gone to an auction company prior to the estate sale. As a painting this one isn’t particularly striking, especially from a distance, because of the wide expanse of cloudy sky. Its details are so much like those of a miniature that it’s easy not to appreciate their quality, especially when viewed from a distance. The largest figures in the scene would almost fit on a commemorative-size postage stamp and their faces are merely suggested. A friend has pointed out that this painting should be hung in an intimate setting because it needs to be viewed close up. Some of the detail is exquisite, for example the black and white scarf worn by a woman in the foreground. The 7.75” x 10.375” (20x26.5 cm) panel is flat horizontally but slightly convex vertically (see photos). It’s 1 cm thick and slightly beveled at the edges (see photos). The beveling is crude and was probably done by hand. The panel, which has several faded circular stamps on the back, fits loosely in the frame and is held in place securely by spring metal clips that can be swung to one side (see photos). An 8.5” x 11” contemporary cardboard mat has been used to seal the edges from dust. The subject, the composition, and the rendering of some details such as the reflective ice remind me of the work of the Dutch artist Andreas Schelfhout (1787-1870) and to a lesser extent that of some of his students, particularly Charles Leickert and L. J. Kleijn. For this reason and others given below I’m describing this painting as being of the Schelfhout school. I’ve been advised by someone more familiar with antique European paintings than I am that it may have been a study for a more major work or a student copy. To me a subtle but particularly striking feature is the exquisitely rendered sun-lit, snow-covered city in the background with the patch of sunlight spotlighting a swinging skater. The location is uncertain but was probably a popular one for painters of winter scenes in the Netherlands in the 1800’s. L. J. Kleijn’s painting “Winterlandschap,” sometimes also titled “Villagers on a frozen waterway” (Bonhams, Lot 27, 13 Jul 2011) shows the same city in the distance. A friend who skated on frozen North American ponds in the winter as a boy likes the fact that the edge of the ice is uneven where it meets the grass and rocks along the shore because it’s true to nature. Andreas Schelfhout (1787-1870) is considered one of the Netherlands most important romantic painters. According to biographical information on the Simonis & Buunk Fine Art Dealers website, “Schelfhout had many students, including C. H. J. Leickert, L. J. Kleijn, H. J. Weissenbruch and J. B. Jongkind.” Although Schelfhout and his students often painted on canvases and on large panels they did sometimes paint on panels about the size of this one. Examples are Schelfhout’s 1849 painting “Winter Scene on the Ice with Wood Gatherers” (Rijksmuseum SK-A-1828, 18 x 26 cm) and his1856 painting “IJsgezicht” (Teylers Museum KS 168, 16 x 24 cm). Schelfhout’s early success was largely due to his winter and ice scenes, which are typically pleasant landscapes with cheerful people and lots of activity. According to biographical information on the Simonis & Buunk Fine Art Dealers website, “He considered the atmosphere and fidelity to be more important than a topographically correct representation” and “… made use of refined composition schemes and a large stock of motifs that he varied and applied in varying combinations, such as a cookie-en-zopie with the national tricolor in the top, some talking figures around a push sled, frozen barges, a horse with a sled, a house or mill on the left or right and a group of two or three swinging skaters.” The biography goes on to speak of “his high skies, the clear light and his ability to guide the viewer's gaze into infinite distances in the winter landscape.” Schelfhout’s paintings are atmospheric and usually have subdued colors but some use a palette similar to this painting. He and his students painted many winter scenes of ice skaters and sleds on frozen canals with reflective ice. The clothing of the skaters and the design of the sleds are often very similar to the those in this painting. Schelfhout is credited with having a strong sense of anecdotal detail and details like the edge of the ice are characteristic of his work. Schelfhout’s 1865 watercolor “IJsgezicht met twee molens” (Teylers Museum Z 064) shows the skyline of a distant city very similar to the one in this painting. This painting has a definite but small and inconspicuous dent in the wood of the panel near the bottom right corner. I’m not experienced in examining paintings using ultraviolet light but it appears to me that some retouching may have been done around the dent. Over the years the antique gesso frame has unfortunately acquired some minor damage to the top edge and the bottom right corner (see photos). The original backing paper has been torn off leaving remnants on the back (see photos). This framed picture weighs 3 lbs. 2 oz. Please email me through eBay to request additional photos. If you're dissatisfied with this antique painting in any way, you can return it in the same condition in which you received it within 30 days for a full refund. Shipping will be by Federal Express.

Price: 4999.95 USD

Location: Seattle, Washington

End Time: 2024-12-15T03:12:10.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD