Andreas Schelfhout1787–1870Skating in Holland
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Andreas Schelfhout (1787-1870) was apprenticed in The Hague to the decorative painter Joannes Henricus Albertus Antonius Breckenheijmer (1772-1856) and soon specialised in landscape painting but also narrative genre scenes. He became best known for his representations of the Dutch winter landscape. He was a prolific draughtsman and produced many watercolours. Schelfhout achieved a great success during his lifetime and had many pupils including members of the later Hague school such as Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819-1891) and Johannes Franciscus Hoppenbrouwers (1819-1866).
Read on
This work is a good example of Schelfhout's late production in which he executed several winter compositions reminiscent of the 17th century genre tradition. The highly detailed brushwork and jewel-like quality of the painting also recall the technique of the watercolour, an activity for which Schelfhout was famous and highly appreciated. The blue and pink hues in the dominating sky enhance the sense of coldness due to the winter conditions and witness the persistent interest of Dutch artists in nature and its atmospheric effects in Holland. Essential characteristic of the Dutch countryside is the windmill represented on the right while the figures do not look particularly from the 19th century but could also belong to a most remote past. This painting witnesses therefore in many ways the long lasting influence of the seventeenth century Dutch tradition of genre and landscape painting.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1530-1869
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
