Adriaen de Gryef (Leiden 1657 - Brussels 1722)
Signed 'A Gryeff f'(ecit) - center left
Farmer in the courtyard with still life of animals and fruit
Oil on canvas (Dimensions (cm): 45 x 60 - In antique frame 74 x 88)
Work published in the RKD archive (Netherlands Institute for Art History): https://rkd.nl/images/6309
A farmer immortalized in the courtyard of his rural home, playing a flute while leading the goats back to the farm; around him a rich piece of still life with freshly picked vegetables, some placed on a cart, two pheasants hanging and ready to be cooked, and various kitchen utensils scattered around.
The painting is signed, on a barrel in the lower left, by the well-regarded Flemish painter Adriaen De Gryeff, active as a painting merchant in Ghent and Antwerp in 1687, a member of the painters' guild in 1699, and later in Brussels, famous for this type of scenes related to the 17th-century Flemish rural countryside.
The work is published in the RKD archive, along with others by the author, the comparison with which makes it easy to identify the characteristics that unite his production. In fact, there are many works that follow, although each different, our composition.
Among these:
- Peasant woman with a rooster in her hand https://rkd.nl/images/19676 Imm.1
- Courtyard with peasant woman and a cat in a still life https://rkd.nl/images/3318 Imm.2
- Farm still life with a man smoking a pipe on the left https://rkd.nl/images/19576 Imm.3
- A man and a woman picking a chicken in the courtyard https://rkd.nl/images/19682 Imm.4
- Farmer's courtyard with wheelbarrow full of vegetables, ceramics and hunting spoils https://rkd.nl/images/20055 Imm.5
- Farmyard with maid and donkey https://rkd.nl/images/19712 Imm.6
The subject falls within the most typical choice of de Gryeff, who specialized in small-format paintings, with picturesque subjects often depicting animals outdoors, often set in rural landscapes; the painter shows us here his technical mastery and his daring ease in the representation of animals, but also his skill as a still life artist.
These works were usually collected by royalty and aristocrats, who loved to decorate country houses.
Even now they can be found in many illustrious collections, such as Schloss Schleissheim (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), the Kunstmuseum in Basel, the Musée des Beaux Arts in Marseille and the Royal Museums of Brussels. Other good examples in museum collections are the works by Grijef at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The work sold is completed by a gilded frame that shows signs of restoration and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and guarantee.
We take care of and organize the transport of the works purchased, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.
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