Old Middeleer painting

Oil on ancient canvas, late 19th-debu 20th, signed by belgian painter joseph middeleer. The great name of belgian painting, trained at the brussels academy of fine arts, joseph middeleer is famous for his genre scenes, his landscapes but also for more mystical aspects of his painting, sometimes related to symbolism or even pre-raphaelism. With this canvas he moves away from academism to turn more on the study of the phenomena of light and atmosphere. At the same time borrows realism but of very free craftsmanship, executed by vibrating touches (for example in the foliage, the gnarled trunk, the roof...), it is a painting that reveals both a great technicality but also a work of pictorial research, like the french impressionist movement that emerged at the same time. There emanates a certain serenity of this scene: the presence of the majestic centenary tree, the building bathed in light and the windows from which we imagine busy people, the shady walk path that guides us to the background, the blue of the sky... Finally, the whole thing is both peaceful and comforting. The canvas is in fairly good condition, with no holes or restoration but has some gaps around the edge (visible in the photos).

Ref. : FR8JWWKJ