Abel Grimmer (Flemish c. 1570-1618/19)

Abel Grimmer (Flemish c. 1570-1618/19)
Landscape with peasants near a lakeside castle
Oil on canvas
31.2 x 43.9cm; 12¼ x 17¼in

Provenance:
Galerie Arthur de Heuvel Gallery, Brussels, 1930;
Pieter de Boer, Amsterdam, 1934;
Galerie Arthur de Heuvel, Brussels, where purchased by the previous private collector, 1935;
By family descent to the present owner

Exhibited:
Amsterdam, Pieter de Boer, Helsche en Fluweelen Brueghel, February-March 1934, no.120

Literature:
R. de Bertier de Sauvigny, Jacob et Abel Grimmer (Belgium 1991), p.288, no.8

This fine example of Abel Grimmer’s work is typical of his small scale landscapes populated with charming vignettes of rural life. Many of these works formed series, such as the Four Seasons, or the Twelve Months. Reine de Bertier de Sauvigny writes that our work was probably a pair with a depiction of Winter (op.cit. p.289, no.11). Grimmer’s work demonstrates the influence his father Jacob, and that of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. However, Abel’s work is highly personal and distinctive, showing a stylisation of nature and architecture, combined with a perceptive and individualised rendering of rural life.