« Winterlandscape », Henri-Adolphe SCHAEP (Mechelen 1826-Antwerp 1870)

Wonderful winter landscape with skaters on the frozen water, while the town is gathering in little groups in the whole composition. A large three-masters ship sits in the ice next to a large mansion along the water. The sunlight is shining through, forming shadows on the bright white snow. Buildings typical of the north of Belgium or Holland with the skyline of a town in the back. The blue sky is clouded with white and some darker clouds. Oil on canvas signed on the right side and dated 1855. The canvas has been cleaned and relined. The frame regilded. It is a rarity on the antiques market and the perfect cozy winter landscape perfectly representing the 19^th century romantic school of the North of Europe!

Size: H 54cm x W 79cm – H 64cm x W 90 cm

Belgian school, dated 1855.

This painting is illustrated in the book “Seascapes by Belgian painters born in between 1750 and 1875”, p 141, P. and V. Berko, 1984, Laconti Editions

Provenance: Berko Fine Arts Gallery – Private Holland collection

Lit: Henri Adolphe Schaep (Mechelen 1826 – Antwerp 1870) was a Belgian painter, draughtsman and military officer. He began his artistic studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1838, there he will study with Egide Linnig, another future marine painter who had begun his studies at the Academy in 1834. This professional military career took him to various places: he was a lieutenant in Ghent in 1840, based in Antwerp from 1846 to 1849, in Ostend in 1849, captain in Mechelen in 1855, based in Liège in 1857, back in Antwerp in 1861 and in Brussels in 1862. From 1848 onwards, Schaep exhibits regularly at the Brussels, Antwerps, Ghents Salons and the provincial capitals of Belgium. He is best known for his marines but also painted landscapes. Schaep was an important representative of the Romantic-Realist movement in Belgian marine painting.