Ferdinand de Braekeleer the Elder

FERDINAND DE BRAEKELEER THE OLD (Belgium, 1792-1883).
"A well-deserved rest after a long day's work".
Oil on panel.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 56 x 65 cm; 78 x 87 x 9 cm (frame).

The impish subject that portrays this painting and the spontaneous treatment that is granted to him are characteristic of the painting that was developed in the Netherlands in the XVII and XVIII centuries. A young man tries to flirt with a girl wearing a bonnet, taking advantage of the fact that her father has fallen asleep. The freshness of the gestures and countenances is combined with an attentive description of each of the objects inside, paying attention to the food on the table. The scene takes place in the warmth of the fireplace, next to which the old man sleeps peacefully after a sumptuous meal. At his feet, the cat gazes in wonder at the glowing embers.
Ferdinand Henri Jean de Braekeleer is part of a family of Flemish painters from Antwerp that has many members, which can sometimes lead to confusion in attributions. In fact, he is the eldest son of Ferdinand de Braekeleer (known as the Old Man), the brother of Henri de Braekeleer (1840-1888), was the most prominent painter in the family. Following in the aesthetic wake of his family, The Younger, he produced genre scenes in the Flemish style of past centuries, such as the small canvas Family. He also painted 17th century interiors, portraits and views of the city. He participated in the Antwerp Salon of 1849. In 1852 he founded a gallery in New York where he sold the works of the Belgian school, the Belgian Painting and Statuary Gallery. In New York he exhibited in 1853 at the National Academy of Design a painting entitled Le plunder1. Ill, he returned to Antwerp to die there.