A winter landscape with sportsmen on a forest track near a village, peasants nearby

A characteristic work by the artist, in the graphic rendering of the trees with the snow-covered branches, closing off the composition on the left. Also characteristic is the mystic, hazy atmosphere of a winter's day, compare with the picture sold in these rooms, 7 May 1997, lot 52, ill.
P.F.J.J. Reelick was the first to tentatively identify the artist, 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, "Der Meister der Winterlandschaften, der Maler Gysbrecht Leytens" in Die Kunst, 1988, I, p.27.