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Lot Essay
The present lot is one of the finest paintings by Andreas Schelfhout to come to the market in recent years. Painted in 1854 when Schelfhout had already been awarded the highest possible distinction of a gold medal at the yearly Tentoonstelling van Leevende Meesters, the present lot is an outstanding example of his mature painterly style.
Similar to the masters of the 17th century, various elements from nature are selected and combined to create a new whole, allowing the artist to improve on nature itself. This concept, known as electio, was not widely used around the middle of the 19th century in the Netherlands and its re-introduction by Schelfhout was a significant contribution to the further development of Dutch Romantic art.
The careful balance of light and dark and the juxtaposition of horizontal and vertical constituents all point to a possible use of the golden section, a theory which is important to a thorough understanding of Schelfhout's work. It allowed him to create a rhythmic coherence and compositional dynamism in his paintings that is as attractive and popular today as it was in Schelfhout's time. In the present painting it is primarily the vertical movement of the house in the immediate foreground that provides a necessary contrast with the accumbent element formed by the horizon.
This important painting is characterized by a particularly varied palette with numerous pinks and blues and a large number of villagers portrayed with wonderful attention to detail in different poses on and around the glittering ice.
Similar to the masters of the 17th century, various elements from nature are selected and combined to create a new whole, allowing the artist to improve on nature itself. This concept, known as electio, was not widely used around the middle of the 19th century in the Netherlands and its re-introduction by Schelfhout was a significant contribution to the further development of Dutch Romantic art.
The careful balance of light and dark and the juxtaposition of horizontal and vertical constituents all point to a possible use of the golden section, a theory which is important to a thorough understanding of Schelfhout's work. It allowed him to create a rhythmic coherence and compositional dynamism in his paintings that is as attractive and popular today as it was in Schelfhout's time. In the present painting it is primarily the vertical movement of the house in the immediate foreground that provides a necessary contrast with the accumbent element formed by the horizon.
This important painting is characterized by a particularly varied palette with numerous pinks and blues and a large number of villagers portrayed with wonderful attention to detail in different poses on and around the glittering ice.