“the nap”, GEINAERT Jozef Louis (Eeklo 1790-Ghent 1859)

A touching and humorous genre scene depicting a sleepy old lady at an outdoor table being robbed of apples by children playing next door. Beautiful expressions and architectural details. Oil on panel, signed and dated 1848. Nice condition. Antique frame.

Dim : H 56cm x W 45cm – H 78cm x W 67cm

Belgian school.

Lit: Geirnaert is an interior painter of genre scenes, religious scenes and portraits with a neo-classical tendency, and is therefore considered one of the last disciples of Jacques-Louis David.

Geirnaert was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. (1806-1814, pupil of Pieter Van Huffel).  While still studying in Ghent, he made his debut in the local art salon in 1814 with a “Head of the Holy Virgin”. After the school year 1813-1814, Geirnaert became a pupil of G.H. Herreyns in Antwerp. After his studies in Antwerp, he returned to Ghent and worked there in the studio of Joseph Paelinck.

He frequented Paris and worked for a few years in The Hague (1830-36). Although neo-classical at the beginning, he evolved towards Romanticism. Works in the Royal Palace, in the Royal Museums of Belgium in Brussels, in the museum of Ghent (superb “Sale after judicial seizure”, dated 1835) and in Kortrijk, in the churches of St. Nicholas in Ghent and St. Saviour in Eeklo.