Roman landscape with washerwomen and apple seller

about 1660

Oil on panel,

35 x 47 cm., Framed 51 x 62 cm.

Provenance:

Bonhams Auction, London, Old Master Paintings 9.12.2015 (https://www.bonhams.com/auction/22645/lot/81/thomas-wyck-bewerwyck-1616-1677-haarlem-figures-cooking...)

Soraya Cartategui Fine Art Auction - Madrid / New York (see details)

The work is cataloged on the RKD archive (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie) at the following link:
https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/record?filters%5Bkunstenaar%5D=Wijck%2C+Thomas&query=&start...

It is a work of the painter Thomas Wyck (Bewerwyck 1616 - Haarlem 1677), an important Flemish artist of the Golden Age, originally from the city of Haarlem and specialized in the creation of splendid landscapes and genre scenes, often set outdoors and populated by figures of commoners, as in our case with a couple of washerwomen who get water from a well and a woman who sells apples to a traveler.

Active in Rome between 1640 and 1642 - known here with the nickname of 'Flemish Thomas' - his style was strongly influenced by this Italian stay, and in particular by the contact with that group of Nordic painters, almost all Dutch, working in Rome in the full seventeenth century, called Bamboccianti. The proposed canvas is in fact part of the typical “bambocciate” trend, in the execution of which the echoes of the representations by the school leader Pieter van Laer, point of reference for this sought-after current of landscape architects, are captured.

In our work we find all the skill of the master Thomas Wijck who, thanks to his compositional style, allows us to open 'a window on everyday life' where small and lively scenes of popular life, treated with realism, become the protagonists.

The landscape around Rome is the typical context of his paintings, with these scenes of rural life set in the vast picturesque expanses of the countryside, dotted as in our case by perched villages or ancient ruins, without the great classical monuments.

The picture in question, on an oak support, may even have been painted during his stay in Rome, but also a realization made after his return from Rome to his native Haarlem, where he continued to paint Italian subjects for the next three decades.

The table is in good conservation conditions.

Certificate of guarantee and authenticity in accordance with the law.

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