Petrus Van Schendel Oil on Canvas The Avond Market Fishs, Circa 1840-1850

Petrus Van Schendel Oil on Canvas The Avond Market Fishs, Circa 1840-1850

Collection MLD Antiquités: This interesting painting by Petrus Van Schendel is not visible in our Gallery, but is kept in our private collection.

A magnificent and rare painting by Petrus Van Schendel (not signed or in a dark part but documented), a 19th-century Belgium painter, depicting the Avond Market Fishs.

Remarkable work of this genius of night scenes enlightened by the artificial light of a candle.

Original giltwood frame. Our painting is in fine condition. We point out a couple of restorations in our painting.

Belgium painting by (and documented) Petrus Van Schendel, The Avond Market Fishs circa 1840-1850.

Sizes without frame: H 19.29 In. - W 23.62 In.

Sizes with frame: H 25.59 In. - W 29.92 In.

Origine:

Private Swiss Collection, buy directly from the Roelofs Gallery in Amsterdam in the 1970s.

In 2006 January, a descendant, the great grand-daughter of the painter learned that we possibly could sell this painting and she got in touch with us.

Petrus Van Schendel (1806-1870) was a Dutch-Belgian genre painter in the Romantic style who specialized in nighttime scenes, lit by lamps or candles.

Biography:

On the advice of a family friend, who was a retired army officer, his father sent him to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He studied there from 1822 to 1828 with the history painter, Mattheus Ignatius van Bree, and received a gold medal for "Perspective" upon graduating.

He made a name as a portrait painter and frequently moved, living in Breda (1828-29), Amsterdam (1830-32) Rotterdam (1832-38) and The Hague (1838-45). He was a regular participant in the Exhibition of Living Masters and the various "Triennial Salons" of Antwerp, Brussels, and Ghent. In 1834, he was named a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam.

In 1845, he settled permanently in Brussels. His studio there was divided into a well-lighted space where he painted, and a darkened area where his models posed. He won several medals at expositions in Paris and London during the late 1840s. King Leopold I. bought some of his works He also published course books on perspective and facial expression.

He painted Biblical scenes and landscapes, lit by the moon, as well as his genre works and traditional portraits. Many of his paintings were also done as ink-wash drawings and made into woodcuts. In 1869, he created a few experimental paintings lit by electric arc lamps.

In addition to his art, he was interested in the mechanics of steam engines and, in 1841, patented a device for improving the blades on steamships. He also devised suggestions for improving the lateral stability of railroad cars and reclaiming the moorlands in De Kempen.

He was married three times and had fifteen children; thirteen by his first wife, Elisabeth, who died in 1850.

Further reading:

Jan M.M. de Meere, Petrus van Schendel (1807-1870). Een leven tussen licht en donker, Primavera Pers, 2012

Helma van der Holst, Petrus van Schendel, 1806-1870: meester van het avondlicht, Breda's Museum, 2012

Ref: QG9FBLFX43