Lot 2157 Dα

Lot 2157 and 2158 will first be called individually in the auction and then again together.

Andreas Schelfhout was one of the most important Dutch landscape painters of the 19th century. The present painting “Skaters on a Frozen River” and the following painting “View from a hill with a castle into a wide, summery river valley” are excellent examples of his unsurpassed mastery. He excelled in the fine and detailed reproduction of the varied landscape of his homeland, whose light and weather effects he captured in all shades.
In 1845, when Schelfhout painted this winter picture, his work was shown in many exhibitions. The artist was not only praised for the craftsmanship with which he captured all characteristics of the Dutch landscape in his paintings. His contemporaries perceived the "simplicity" and "truth" of his paintings as the best possible representation and explanation of the nature of God. Andreas Schelfhout's depictions of skaters in winter are still admired today for their naturalness and quiet poetry, which prompted a critic to exclaim in 1852: "One could not paint more beautifully."

Andreas Schelfhout was the leading painter of the Dutch Romantic movement. His famous compatriot and fellow painter Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (1803-1862) recognized his talent as early as 1841 and referred to “the great Schelfhout” in his book “Herinneringen en Mededeelingen ven eenen Landschapschilds” (Kleve, 1841). Admiring the grace and truthful depiction of nature in Schelfhout's winter scenes, Koekkoek wrote: "Would you like to see how beautiful and charming a flat, simple rural scene can be when it bears the stamp of nature, the stamp of truth (. ..) then take a look at the works of our great Schelfhout."

A similar winter landscape is housed in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: “Ice Landscape with Windmill” (inv. no. SK-A-1127).

Works by Andreas Schelfhout can be found in many Dutch museums such as the Amsterdams Historisch Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, the Municipal Museum in The Hague, the Dordrechts Museum and the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen in Rotterdam.