January: signed and dated “ABEL GRIMER FECIT 1599”
May: signed and dated “GRIMER F./1599”
December: signed and dated “ABEL GRIMER FECIT 1599”
Provenance:
• collection A. Ehrman;
• sale Vienna 1941;
• sale Sotheby’s, London, 1960;
• private collection Belgium;
• private English collection;
• M. Seybel collection.
This unique set of twelve paintings featuring a complete series of the months of the year, allows art-lovers to admire, in all its integrity, the amazing talent of one of the great masters of Flemish landscape painting. Basing himself on a particularly refined painting by the famous miniaturist Hans Bol, Abel Grimmer reaches the summit of his talent here, and further reinforces his position as the worthy heir of the work of Pieter Brueghel.
Portrayals of the different seasons - whether in the form of paintings of the months of the year or the cycle of the four seasons - play an important role in Flemish painting. The pictorial tradition dates back to the books of hours from the end of the mediaeval period; that of the Duke of Berry, created by the Limbourg brothers, is one of the most accomplished examples.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder and Lucas van Valckenborch were, in turn, to adopt these traditional themes in order to glorify them and make them the main subject of vast compositions. Abel Grimmer also followed suit though he added his own particular stamp: the pursuit of a intentional naivety through stylised forms and the introduction of powerful colours. The strength of his work would allow him – over and above this sort of schematization - to create a work filled with poetry, knowing better than any other how to create a density full of humanity in the images of rural life in 16th century Flanders.
This particularly well-known series by Grimmer is dated 1599[1]. Drawing inspiration from a painting by Hans Bol (1534-1593)[2], this work combines the creative genius of Bol’s landscapes with the emotional power of Grimmer’s colours. These twelve panels combine the vision of two authentic artists who featured the whole range of pictorial possibilities offered by the change of season in the lives of their contemporaries.
According to tradition, every panel depicts one of the twelve months of the year by illustrating them through a highly characteristic human activity:
January plunges us into a townscape featuring the Grand-Place in Bergen-op-Zoom (the town where Hans Bol lived for a time after the sacking of Antwerp by the Spanish troops), where the typical crenellated roofs are covered in snow. The town is celebrating Epiphany: at the centre of the square, a small stallholder opens his stall while an elegant procession moves to the rhythm of the drum and the flute. Dressed as kings, children accompany them, their arms laden with sweetmeats. The winter light highlights the various brick tones of the facades and adds a particular sheen to the thick layer of snow.
The cold of February offers inhabitants the joy of skating on the frozen ditches. The ramparts in the town of Antwerp open onto a vast playground, where less skilful skaters are seen slipping and sliding on the ice. The panorama opens onto the Rode Poort and pushes the viewer’s gaze towards the church of Saint Jacob. Although the composition is very different, this scene nevertheless recalls the drawing of Skaters in front of St. George’s gate in Antwerp by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.
Once the snow has melted, the month of March turns to farm work and taking care of the shrubs in the villages. On the outskirts of a town crossed by a river and surrounded by hills, Abel Grimmer plunges his paintbrushes into a country landscape: our gaze leaves the hillsides of the foreground to escape beyond the town towards an interminable horizon.
We leave the world of farming for the well-organised garden of a castle awaiting the seed-sowing of April. The lord and his lady are visiting the garden and admiring the work of the gardeners. With rigour and perspective, the walled garden continues onto a field in the distance as well as a charming church.
After the borders, we come to the outbuildings of the prestigious residence to join the men of fashion who have come together around the foot of a tree to enjoy the mildness of May. Some relax to the sound of music, while others entertain themselves with various games.
June marks the return of farming activities, with sheep-shearing taking place in the castle’s farmyard. The wool is being washed, stretched and piled up. The pigeon loft, barns, castle and its drawbridge, further reinforce the bucolic, charming aspect of these farming activities.
After having taken care of the farm animals, July is the month for haymaking and storing fodder for the cattle. Large haystacks are dotted around the field where peasants dressed in bright red breeches are busy with their tasks.
Work on the land continues in August when the ripened wheat is harvested among the poppies and cornflowers. The deep gold in the foreground plunges the painting into a warm, summer atmosphere, making the reaper sitting on the sheaf feel thirsty.
In sharp contrast with the golden atmosphere of the fields, September plunges us into the heart of the orchards where juicy apples hang from the branches of the trees. The abundant harvests remind us of the warmth of the previous months. Brussels, which we can just make out thanks to the spire on the town hall, still shines under the last of the summer rays.
The villager’s activities turn from tasty apples to grapes; using their feet, they extract the precious nectar from the grapes, a symbol of the month of October.
The grape-picking has finished and the hillsides are bare once more. Attention has now turned to cutting wood for fuel in November to supply the villager’s homes.
The salted meats of December and the end-of-year festivities are a definite indication of winter. While the pigs are being carved up, the town adapts to the rhythm of winter: the sheep are led back to the cowshed, the carpenter cuts tree trunks into planks and the children have fun discovering the world…
Through the twelve themes that compose this vividly coloured series, Abel Grimmer demonstrates his talent as a painter of popular scenes of his time. Harmoniously composed, and filled with anecdotes and rich details, the scenes copy the formal and stylistic precepts of Hans Bol, while pushing them to the height of an effective simplification. The planes, painted in perspective, are filled with curved effects and trees subtly framing the scenes, making these circular panels fabulous
showpieces for life in Flanders at the beginning of the 17th century.
[1] The oldest series of the Twelve Months of the Year, painted by Abel Grimmer, is dated 1592. It is currently exhibited in the chapel of the church of Notre-Dame de Montfaucon en Velay, in the Haute Loire region.
[2] Abel Grimmer became familiar with these 12 painting thanks to the engravings of Adrian Collaert (1560 ?-1618), executed after the drawings of Hans Bol and published in 1585. The engravings are kept in the Engravings Collection at France’s Bibliothèque Nationale while Bol’s original drawings belong to a private collection (Old Master and Modern drawings and prints from the Franz Koenigs Collection, Sotheby’s New York, 23rd January 2001))
Circa 1570 - Antwerp - 1618
Abel Grimmer, a painter from Antwerp, was the son of the landscape-painter Jacob Grimmer, with whom he carried out an apprenticeship before acceptance as a Master of the Guild of the Painters of Saint Luke in 1592.
He was the specialist of series devoted to the Four Seasons and Twelve Months, which resemble panel transpositions of miniaturist calendars.
He was a contemporary of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and, like him, though in a highly personal fashion, interpreted certain engravings and models designed by Pieter Brueghel the Elder and Hans Bol. He thus remained deeply attached to the spirit and rather archaic conception of the XVI century.
He is characterized by strict, precise graphics, a synthetic vision of nature following in the foot-path of the primitives and miniature painters, a composition with schematic lines, and great subtility in the choice and juxtaposition of the tones.
If we hardly knew the extent of his work, it may be said of him that he “simplified nature with a charming, poetic naivity, together with a great mastery of workmanship”. His pictorial style, which combines a highly personal realism of the landscape with a stylisation of nature and architectures, today appears strangely modern to us.
