Travellers and peasants on a sandy track at the edge of a wood, a valley beyond

L.J. Bol has described Van Geel's fascination for the jungle-like, sometimes ghostly depiction of trees, that seem to play the role of protaganists in his landscapes. Since it is known from archival sources that Van Geel lived a rather troubled life, for Bol, Van Geel's trees were was "tormented trees of a tormented painter". Bol dates the present lot circa 1634 when Van Geel had just moved to Dordrecht.

See colour illustration