18th Century Flemish School - Animated Landscape With Bridge And Cottage

Flemish school of the 18th century Oil on panel Trace of signature at the bottom left 32 x 39 cm (46 x 56 cm with the frame) Beautiful old frame in gilded wood from the Empire period This landscape, very finely drawn, very bright, with beautiful colors reminiscent of the landscapes of the great Dutch masters of the 17th century. There is a painting by the Harlem painter Gillis Rombouts in the Strasbourg Museum of Fine Arts with a very close composition, a landscape with a bridge in the center with a river, a cottage on the right, passing figures and tall trees of on either side. But the workmanship of our painting, very luminous, with lively colors, seems to indicate a painter further south. This is reminiscent of 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 on the left and in the center) but a different feeling, a great calm, as well as a fine and soft light which recalls a little the 'Italy. The finesse of the almost naturalistic design of the foliage - without however resembling the trees of 19th century realist painters such as Barend Koekkoek - as well as the colors and the glazing technique used also show a painter who was undoubtedly Flemish and a little later. The painting was probably painted in the 18th century. The finesse of the drawing of the characters is also remarkable, which reminds us that there were often collaborations between Nordic painters. We know, for example, that Willem van Herp painted van Oosten's characters in many of his paintings, and Pieter van Avont as well. Jan van Kessel the Elder painted animals and still lifes. A trace of signature at the bottom left of our tabelau has unfortunately not been identified.