PETRUS VAN SCHENDEL | The Candlelit Market

Sale: Sotheby's, New York, February 22, 1989, lot 14, illustrated
Private Collection, Japan
Acquired from the above circa 2012 

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work has probably not been recently restored, but it generally looks well. The canvas has a wax lining that can easily be reversed. The varnish may be slightly discolored. It can be seen that the paint layer has not been abraded, and the details remain well preserved. Retouches have been applied to fine cracking that has developed throughout the picture, particularly within the darker colors, including the figures and most of the buildings. The sky does not show many retouches, except for a vertical line of about 6 inches beneath the moonlit clouds in the center right. The retouches are well applied, and the work can be hung in its current state.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Painted in the early 1850s, the impressive scale, complexity of composition, and vigorous attention to detail qualifies this painting as a masterpiece within Petrus van Schendel’s oeuvre. Although van Schendel painted portraits, genre scenes, historical and biblical subjects, he earned fame from his evocative scenes of night markets, illuminated by a lamp or a candle and the moon.  Not only a painter but an engineer, the artist experimented with illumination and was intrigued by the possibilities of chemical light sources. His careful observation is evident in this depiction of The Hague’s Groenmarkt, where vegetable sellers, fishmongers, and other vendors have congregated since the Middle Ages. The diffused light of the fabric wrapped lantern at left casts an atmospheric glow for the four figures and their apples, pears, carrots, leeks and cabbages. As a merchant crouches beside his basket of fresh fish, he places his candle on the ground, its brilliant flame reflected on the wet cobblestones and the shadows in the foreground. The dimmer candles of the market beyond highlight the costumes and expressions of market-goers, while the cool, omnipresent radiance of an unseen moon reveals the distinctive architecture of the city’s central square, notably the spire of Saint Jacob’s church, at left.

Aside from the pipe-smoking vegetable seller, kneeling vendor and top-hatted figure in silhouette, the scene is primarily populated by women. Maids, cooks, and perhaps ladies of the house were the most frequent market visitors, and van Schendel takes great pleasure in painting their distinctive bonnets, skirts, shawls and baskets; the figure carrying a basket atop her head is characteristic of the women of Scheveningen, a fishing village in The Hague. Like all of van Schendel's masterpieces, the present work should not be viewed quickly, as the intimate scene slowly reveals itself from the dark backgrounds, turning a bustling market into an evocative narrative of Dutch life.  Such elaborate compositions were particularly appreciated by collectors throughout Europe and, by the end of the nineteenth century, American connoisseurs. 

Inspired by Dutch genre-painters of the Golden Age, notably Godfried Schalcken (1643-1706), Gerrit Dou (1613-1675), and the Utrecht Caravaggisti, van Schendel grew up in Breda and trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. By the early 1850s, when the present work was painted, Schendel was at the height of his artistic powers and had an international reputation. Queen Victoria acquired a work by van Schendel through the dealer C.J. Nieuwenhuijs as a birthday present for Prince Albert, and it remains in the British Royal Collection.



We would like to thank Dr. Jan de Meere for kindly confirming the authenticity of this lot.