Carel van Falens (Antwerp, 1683 – Paris, 1733), Genre scene

Carel van Falens (Antwerp, 1683 – Paris, 1733)

Genre scene

Oil on copper, 48,5 x 63 cm

With frame, 62 x 78 cm

Characterized by an extraordinary freshness of execution, the painting is a clear example of Nordic genre painting, celebrating the harmonious blend of the elegance of courtly scenes and the descriptive accuracy reserved for nature and the animal world. The composition unfolds around a monumental Baroque fountain, bordered by a garden terrace with classical sculptures, where elegant ladies and gentlemen pause.

The attribution history of this painting is complex and fascinating, reflecting the evolution of art-historical studies on collecting and the dynamics of European workshops between the 17th and 18th centuries. The painting was originally attributed to Philips Wouwerman, the celebrated Haarlem master and undisputed reference for equestrian scenes and lively landscapes of the Dutch Golden Age. Indeed, the work displays such a close adherence to Wouwerman's models that it justified the initial critical success associated with his name, further fueled by the presence of scant remnants of a monogram at the lower left, intended to confirm the authorship of the Dutch master. Subsequently, archival documents recorded an attempt to reassign it to the Austrian painter August Querfurt, another artist strongly influenced by Wouwerman's style, before modern scholarship correctly and definitively identified the hand of the Flemish master Carel van Falen.

Born in Antwerp in 1683, Carel van Falens trained in the local Guild of Saint Luke under Constantijn Francken. His career developed primarily in France, where he moved to achieve extraordinary success. Under the Regency, the Duke of Orléans entrusted him with the restoration of important paintings from his collection, and in 1724, King Louis XV named him Peintre Ordinaire du Roi, cementing his prestige with his admission to the prestigious Académie Royale in 1726 and even granting him residence in the Louvre, where he died in 1733. Van Falens specialized in the revival and refined reinterpretation of hunting scenes, military encampments, and knights' halts in the highly popular style of Wouwerman. The stylistic similarity was such that, historically, many works by van Falens have been mistaken for autograph works by Wouwerman, or, conversely, paintings by less gifted imitators have been mistakenly attributed to the Flemish master. In the specific case of this copper, the technical skill and brilliance of execution place the work among the pinnacle of van Falens's output, capable of emulating the Haarlem master while infusing it with the typically eighteenth-century grace and lightness that made it so popular at the Parisian court.

The painting's exceptional historical and critical interest is solidly supported by bibliographical and archival records. Studies connect this work to a specific correspondence contained in Cornelis Hofstede de Groot's celebrated catalogue raisonné (Catalogue of the Works of the Most Reverend Dutch Painters of the 17th Century, Volume II, no. 713, page 475). This text lists a painting identical in composition, but executed on a panel support and measuring 47,5 x 65 cm, historically documented in 1834 as part of the prestigious collection of the Duchess of Berry. The close compositional similarity between the Berry panel and the present copperplate testifies to the high level of sophistication and success of the inventive formula orchestrated by van Falens. The archive card, now lost but registered with the RKD in The Hague, also bears the stamp of the 1963 bequest of Professor Dr. Gijsbert Jan Hoogewerff, a distinguished Dutch art historian and profound expert on the artistic relations between Northern Europe and Italy. The passage of the work or its study documentation through Hoogewerff's authoritative collection in Rome not only confirms its authenticity and high documentary value, but also places the painting in a critical context of the highest order in twentieth-century painting, confirming this copperplate as a fundamental piece in understanding the reception and diffusion of genre painting "à la Wouwerman" in major European collections.

For Italy only: with Ars Antiqua it is possible to pay in installments up to a maximum of €7.500 at ZERO INTEREST, for a total of 15 INSTALLMENTS

E.g. Total €4.500 = Monthly installment €300 for 15 months.

E.g. Total €3.600 = Monthly installment €720 for 5 months.

For amounts exceeding €7.500 or for a longer period of time (over 15 installments), we can provide a personalized payment.

Contact us directly to get the best quote.

LIVE

– SUNDAY 17.00pm – 21.00pm Dig.terr. 126 – Sky 809

– Streaming on our website www.arsantiquasrl.com and on our social networks Facebook and Youtube

All the works proposed by Ars Antiqua are sold accompanied by a certificate of authenticity in accordance with the law and an accurate information sheet.

It is possible to see the works directly at the showroom gallery in Milan, in via Pisacane 55 and 57.

We personally organize transport and deliveries of the works, both for Italy and abroad.