Dated 1891
60 x 44 cm, 5 x 85 cm including frame
Original Animalier oil painting on canvas depicting two kittens playing in a flowering iris garden. The work is dated and signed lower left. The general state of conservation is good with some slight restoration. The golden tablet frame is contemporary.
The subject is unusual, the cats were in fact often placed indoors, in static poses and less naturalistic contexts, here we see the attention to the vegetation and the study of the animals in their habitat.
Animalist painter of Belgian origin, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown, obtained a professorship, initially as a landscape painter, then dedicated himself exclusively to animals. His favorite subjects are dog-themed ones but he also focuses on the representation of felines, particularly cats that he paints in curious and funny attitudes. He is a great botany enthusiast who presents his works as a backdrop in his works, with great imagination, using a palette of bright, lively and intense colours. Toeffaert's interpretative ability reaches an interesting level as regards the behavioral aspect of the subjects, rather than taking care of the anatomical reality, he prefers to bring to canvas situations in which some character details emerge, in this case the exploratory motivation of the kittens immersed in the lush vegetation of a garden. He achieves success in France, participates in personal and collective exhibitions, several works are exhibited in the Ghent Museum.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dictionnaire des Peintres d'Animaux Belges et Hollandais – BERKO, Dictionnaire E.Benezit.

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