Bidspirit auction | GENRE SCENE ”ADVENTURE ON THE

GENRE SCENE ”ADVENTURE ON THE WAY FROM THE MARKET” - Central Europe (probably Austria or Bohemia), turn of the 18th and 19th century Oil on canvas, 34.5×49 cm (43×58 cm). Framed. A typical example of late Baroque genre realism, which at the end of the 18th century drew on the legacy of 17th-century Dutch masters (the so-called Bamboccianti). The composition is built on a dynamic figural scene in the foreground, where a group of villagers – a man and a woman – struggle with a resisting pig tied by its hind leg. This motif, introducing an element of folk humour and movement into the picture, is masterfully set within an idyllically conceived landscape. The left part of the painting is dominated by massive trees in deep shadow, serving as a compositional repoussoir and guiding the viewer`s eye into the bright background. In the distance, a vista opens into a valley dominated by a slender church tower, a feature typical of the works of Karel Dujardin or Jan Wildens. The work represents a so-called pasticcio – a painting created by combining several graphic models. The figural group derives from the circle of Adriaen van Ostade and his pupil Cornelis Dusart, whose etchings were massively disseminated in the 18th century and served as pattern books for painters of cabinet pictures. It is precisely in the graphic sheets of David Deuchar (published around 1803) that direct models for these types of figures can be found. The authorship can be sought in the circle of Austrian or South German historicising genre painting (e.g. the circle of Johann Christian Brand), where there was an unceasing demand for the ”Dutch style”. The painter demonstrates a confident command of atmospheric perspective and a fine sense for detailed staffage. Condition A.