Flemish school of the 18th century - Animated landscape with a bridge and a thatched cottage

Flemish school of the 18th century

Oil on panel
Trace of signature lower left ?
32 x 39 cm (46 x 56 cm with frame)
Beautiful antique giltwood frame from the Empire period
This finely drawn, luminous landscape with its beautiful colors recalls the landscapes of the great Dutch masters of the 17th century. There is a painting by Harlem painter Gillis Rombouts in the Musée des Beaux-arts in Strasbourg with a very similar composition, a landscape with a bridge in the center with a river, a thatched cottage on the right, figures passing by and tall trees on either side.
But the workmanship of our painting, very luminous, with bright colors, seems to indicate a more southerly painter. It recalls the masters of the Antwerp school, Isaak van Oosten and Pieter Gysels, for example. Their landscapes were characterized by a simple composition with open spaces, a river or pond and a road (here left and center), but a different feeling, a great calm, and a fine, soft light reminiscent of Italy.
The fine, almost naturalistic drawing of the foliage - without resembling the trees of nineteenth-century realist painters such as Barend Koekkoek - and the colors and glazing technique used also point to an undoubtedly Flemish and somewhat later painter. The picture was probably painted in the 18th century.
The finesse of the figures is also remarkable, reminding us that Nordic landscape painters often collaborated. We know, for example, that Willem van Herp painted van Oosten's figures in many of his pictures, as did Pieter van Avont. Jan van Kessel the Elder painted animals and still lifes.

Ref: 2N6CKNSKJD