ADRIEN FERDINAND DE BRAEKELEER

(Belgian, 1818-1904)

THE LOVER'S DUET

Oil on Panel

15 x 12¾ Inches

Signed Lower Right, 'De Braekeleer' and Dated 1854

 

Provenance: Austin Hills estate, San Francisco.

Framed dimensions: 20½ H x 3 D x 17¼ W inches

 

A finely-painted, mid-19th century, oil on cradled mahogany panel showing a young couple playing and singing a Bach duet and surrounded by objects of beauty and wealth including an inlaid Spanish guitar, an Oriental rug, a stoneware vase and a faience tray laden with fruits, and seen through the open window of their town house. Young unmarried couples would often meet in the parent's house to play religious music with the windows left open for modesty's sake.

 

This notable Dutch genre and still-life painter was the nephew of the notable artist Adrien de Braekeleer Sr. with whom he studied. Adrien Jr. was active in Holland from the 1820's. Between 1849 and 1891 he exhibited regularly at the Antwerp Salons.