Lot 121: Jan Siberechts (Antwerp 1627-1703 London)

Jan Siberechts (Antwerp 1627-1703 London) Peasant women sorting vegetables and milking cattle by a horse and cart, a thatched house beyond signed and dated 'j· siberechts fecit / 1661·' (lower centre) oil on canvas 62 ¾ x 88 ½ in. (159.4 x 224.8 cm.)

159.4 x 224.8 cm.

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 21 April 2004, lot 27 (£21,510), when acquired by the present owner.

Siberechts's earliest dated works, such as his Italianate Landscape (1653; Berlin, Gemäldegalerie), reveal the influence of the Dutch Italianates, some of whose works he probably saw in Antwerp, rather than in Rome where they were active. Between 1661 - the year of the present picture - and 1672 he developed an individual style that took its inspiration from rustic life in Flanders. His works until 1665 display an obvious interest in light effects; thereafter, the representation of volume and shape became a predominant concern, expressed through, for example, more prominent figures, placed sparingly in the foreground. The present picture although early in this period, is very representative of Siberecht's style in the 1660s, comparable with the Market garden in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.