Frederik van Valckenborch

In the collection of the family of the present owner since at least 1925.

Berlin, Royal Akademie der Künste, Gemälde alter Meister aus Berliner Besitz, July-August 1925, no. 419 (as Flemish Master circa 1600 [Style of Valkenborch]).

Berlin, Royal Akademie der Künste, Gemälde alter Meister aus Berliner Besitz, July-August 1925, p. 63, cat.  no. 419.

Panel is cradled, flat and stable. there is excellent retention of the paint surface in the foliage, landscape and figures at left side and in right foreground. the sky and distant landscape at right are a bit thinner (though this is not too distracting) and an old discolored area of repaint can be seen in clouds at center. Under UV: retouching in sky as mentioned above; other much smaller ones here and there in sky, some in landscape at right in the middle distance; a few minor retouches here and there to foliage and landscape. painting is very attractive and could be further improved with readdressing of the old retouches in sky and distant landscape at right and a fresh varnish. In a brown wood frame.
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The present work reflects the influence of Patenir and Pieter Brueghel, which formed the next generation of artists in the Low Countries. It is a style that combines naturalism and fantasy, mainly panoramas, painted from a high point of view, but nonetheless with a remarkable attention to detail. An Extensive Wooded Landscape with Travelers on a Path clearly shows this influence in its dense juxtaposition of woods, rocky hills and meandering paths executed with a notable lightness of touch.  The artist's treatment of the foliage, built up in short strokes of brown, green and white, enlivens the surface and carries our eyes back along the wooded path to the church beyond. 

We are grateful to Alexander Wied for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.