Adriaen Frans Boudewijns

ADRIAEN FRANS BOUDEWIJNS (Brussels, 1644–1711).
“Market Day.”
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Shows slight repainting.
Measurements: 68 x 83.5 cm; 85 x 102 cm (frame).
An outdoor scene, presented to the viewer in an idyllic manner through a romantic depiction of peasant life. It avoids showing signs of hardship and instead portrays a joyful society, dressed in richly colored costumes that stand out against the dark tones dominating part of the scene. The artist presents a classical perspective, with a vanishing point located at the center of the scene, defined by a mountain in the distance. Similarly, the sides of the painting also feature elements that, in a sense, frame the composition, gradually leaving more space as they approach the foregrounds. This type of genre scene was very common in the Dutch school, as was the aesthetic treatment, dominated by the presence of a naturalistic landscape with an atmospheric quality whose presence overshadows the figures, which are depicted on a small scale.
Aesthetically, the work shares characteristics with the style of Adriaen Fransz Boudewijns, a Flemish landscape painter, draftsman, and engraver. He was known primarily for his landscapes with trees, Italian landscapes featuring architecture, rivers, and villages, views of the city, the coast, and the countryside, and architectural scenes. In 1665, he was registered simultaneously as both a student and a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in Brussels. He was a student of the landscape painter and engraver Ignatius van der Stock. While in Paris (1666), Boudewijns engraved many of van der Meulen’s compositions. He also produced engravings based on the work of Genoels, the Dutch artist Jan van Hughtenburgh, and his own designs. He had a studio in Brussels, where he took on Andreas Meulebeek as a student in 1682 and Mathys Schoevaerdts the following year.