Panel - 72 x 105 cmSnow landscapes, XVIIth Paintings
Provenance:
• anonymous sale;
• H.W. Lange, Berlin, 12 may 1942, lot 209 (sold as Pieter Stevens);
• private collection.
A veritable symphony of delicate hues, this magnificent finely and...
read moreProvenance:
• anonymous sale;
• H.W. Lange, Berlin, 12 may 1942, lot 209 (sold as Pieter Stevens);
• private collection.
A veritable symphony of delicate hues, this magnificent finely and meticulously executed winter landscape could be compared to lace. A master of frost, Gijsbrecht Leytens offers us dazzling proof of his talent. The artist manages to give his painting the brilliance of enamel by using gentle, seductive colours. The painting exudes a charming, delicate atmosphere that takes the painful edge off the icy cold. Typical of the artist's work, the majestic force of the extraordinary foliage dominates the small figures who animate the foreground of our painting with a discreet vivacity. To paraphrase Edith Greindl, a great specialist on the artist, it is as though “…a feeling of grandeur arises from the exceptional opulence of the trees; they powerfully rise into the space, their treetops seem to meet the sky, their gnarled trunks, the irregular forms of their branches and their tiny twigs seem to be a quirk of nature… A confident choice of hues helps to sustain the unity of the painting.”
A painter of precision and a creator of delicious harmonies, Gijsbrecht Leytens astonishes us with his ability to make the cold, ice, winter and frost the most important elements in a splendid painting that is a wonder to behold. Yvonne Thiery perfectly sums up in a few words, the significance of the artist in the history of landscape: “When you look at the paintings, the delicacy of Leytens’ colours, the skill he uses to harmonise the nuances, and the lightness he gives the twigs thanks to a very particular technique are features that defy imitation.”
Literature : E. Greindl, Contribution à la connaissance du style de Gysbrecht Leytens, Pantheon, XXXI, 1973, p. 262, n°12.
More informations
1586 – Antwerp – 1656
The work of Gijsbrecht Leytens was formerly attributed to an anonymous painter, the Master of Winter Landscapes.
We now know that the painter, identified thanks to a painting...
read more1586 – Antwerp – 1656
The work of Gijsbrecht Leytens was formerly attributed to an anonymous painter, the Master of Winter Landscapes.
We now know that the painter, identified thanks to a painting bearing his monogram and kept in a private Dutch collection, was baptised in Antwerp on 4th April 1586. He began his apprenticeship with Jacob Vrolijck, before becoming a master in Antwerp in 1611. Married to Maria van Omel, he was a member of the Olijftak between 1615 and 1625, and a captain in Antwerp’s Civic Guard between 1624 and 1628; all signs of a comfortable social position. Known for his collaborations with Frans Francken II and Sebastian Vrancx, his pupils included the young Roccotailliato who came from southern Europe to learn the art of Flemish landscape painting.
His entire oeuvre follows the trend of 16th and 17th century Flemish and Dutch landscape painting, which brought fame to such masters as Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Hendrick Avercamp, Gillis Van Coninxloo, Joost de Momper and Denijs Van Alsloot. It was Gijsbrecht Leytens’ resolutely personal style that brought him attention. More than any other painter, Gijsbrecht Leytens can be considered as the true bard of winter. Poet of the frost, he succeeds in expressing the cold nakedness of the sun on a countryside caught in the ice. No-one before him, nor after him, either in Flanders or elsewhere, expressed this with such intensity. The fundamental and unique quality of his art also resides in the extreme refinement of the subtle colour harmonies apparent in his paintings at all times.
With artists such as Brueghel and Grimmer, but also Denijs van Alsloot and van Heil, the winter landscape became one of the choice subjects of Flemish painting. This taste naturally passed into Dutch painting, as can be seen in the magnificent winter landscapes by Avercamp, van der Neer and Verstralen. However, Gijsbrecht Leytens occupies a unique place within this pantheon; the “Master of Winter Landscapes” succeeds in transcending this very particular season. We are a long way from those austere, dreary and unsettling landscapes that only come to life through the presence of figures. Leytens’ winter views exude their own particular poetry. They shimmer in the light of sunny January mornings, and we yearn to hear the cracking of the bare snow-laden branches… Leytens succeeds in recreating winter in his paintings while avoiding a simple academic rendering based on the trivial details of human activities.
