Gijsbrecht Leytens (Antwerp 1586-c. 1657)
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Gijsbrecht Leytens (Antwerp 1586-c. 1657)

A winter landscape with a woodsman and travellers

Details
Gijsbrecht Leytens (Antwerp 1586-c. 1657)
A winter landscape with a woodsman and travellers
oil on panel, stamped on the reverse with the coat-of-arms of the City of Antwerp and the maker's mark 'A'
17 5/8 x 28 5/8 in. (44.8 x 72.8 cm.)
Special notice
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

P.F.J.J. Reelick was the first tentatively to identify Gysbrecht Leytens, then known as the Master of the Winter Landscapes, in 'Bijdrage tot Identificatie van den Meester der Winterlandschappen (G. Leytens?)', Oud Holland, 1942, LIX, pp. 74-9. His proposal was confirmed when a fully signed work was published by U. Härting in 'Der Meister der Winterlandschaften, der Maler Gysbrecht Leytens', Die Kunst, 1988, I, p. 27.

Gijsbrecht Leytens entered the workshop of the Antwerp artist Jacques Vrolyck at the age of twelve. By 1611, he was a member of the Saint Lucas Guild and by 1617, Leytens had a number of assistants working for him. According to 17th century inventories of collections in Antwerp, it is known that Leytens collaborated with artists such as Frans Francken II, Sebastiaen Vrancx and Vincent Malo, who would paint the figures in his compositions.

Leytens painted mainly landscapes although six marine paintings are recorded as by him (now lost). All known landscapes by him are winter landscapes except for one, A mountainous landscape with deer in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Brunswick.

The Antwerp maker's mark 'A' has been recorded by Jorgen Wadum (see J. Wadum, 'The Antwerp Brand on Paintings on Panel', in Erma Hermens, ed., Looking Through Paintings, Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, II, 1998, p. 185).

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