Petrus van Schendel

Sale: The Artist's Estate, J. & A. Le Roy, Frères, Brussels, September 4, 1871, lot 11

Although van Schendel painted portraits, genre scenes, historical and biblical subjects, he earned his nickname of "Mister Candle" from his evocative nocturnal scenes illuminated by a lamp or candle.  With "Feux de Bengale" Night in Vaux-Hall Park, Brussels, van Schendel extends his experimentation with illumination by studying a theatrical form of light. Not only a painter but an engineer interested in science, van Schendel was intrigued by the possibilities of chemical light sources, most notably the "Bengal light", the use of which was much in vogue in the early 1860s. The term referenced homemade fireworks that had their origin in Bengal, India. Unlike the blazing rockets launched into the sky, Bengal lights were intended for sustained, slow burning, mood illuminations; their chemical components would throw forth sparks of various hues.  Here, surrounding Brussels' Vaux-Hall kiosk (a venue for public theater and musical events) in the evening, the lights brighten an academic sculpture. More importantly the illumination transforms a group of pruned trees, benches, and paths into a mysterious and magical night realm of eerie greenish yellow, hot red-orange, and spectral blue glows and shadows.  As revealed by van Schendel, the intricate chemical make-up of the lights' potassium nitrate, sulfur and antimony provided a brilliant and long lasting flash, enthralling onlookers who shield their eyes from the glare as they whisper to one another.  The hazy affects of the lights' smoke—which was noxious (and indeed would prove highly toxic)--suggest why some figures cover their mouths and noses.  Ever the experimenter, van Schendel made several studies for "Feux de Bengal"; the present work is believed to be the final realization while a slightly larger version was exhibited a year before his death in 1869. The artist was so compelled by the mysterious light that he even includes himself in the left corner among the mesmerized crowd.