Frederik Marinus Kruseman Dutch, 1816-1882

By the mid-1850's Frederik Cornelis Kruseman had developed his own distinct, full-fledged style. During that time he lived in Brussels, which was the centre of artistic creativity in the 19th century and attracted many Dutch painters. Here he painted his most important pictures: highly finished, fairy-like Arcadian landscapes, populated with many figures. The current lot has all the elements of a classic Kruseman composition: the dark, glassy ice, the delicately painted trees with their coral shaped branches and the soft pink glow of a wintry sun. It is paintings like these that earned the artist his greatest fame.