VALERIUS DE SAEDELEER | Winter Landscape

Sold by the artist to the ancestors of the current owners;
Thence by descent to the present owners

The painting is in good overall condition. On its original canvas. In grazing light, the canvas is slightly winding, which created a number of vertical undulations and slight vertical craquelures where the canvas is not protected by the stretcher. Our restorer confirms that the painting is stable. It is slightly dirty. The varnish is dirty and yellowed. With the UV light, a small retouch appears in lower left part of the sky ; also, two small retouches due to rubbing with the frame on the left edge. The varnish seems uneven. In a modern gold frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Even if Valerius de Saedeleer's calling was early, it reached its most perfect artistic expression belatedly. Against his father will, who would have preferred he worked in the textile industry, he went to study art in Gand. Then he moved to Brussels, to attend Frans Courtens' classes, who introduced him to impressionist landscape painting. He followed this impressionist direction for several years although it did not fully satisfy him.

He lived in Laethem-Saint-Martin from 1898 to 1908, when he renewed his art in depth. Close to George Minne and Gustave van de Woestijne, and under the strong influence of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, his conception of landscapes evolved. He restrained his colour palette and his compositions got more abstract and simpler, far from the artificiality of his first style. He favoured winter landscapes above all, such as our painting. It was probably executed around the years 1920 and is undoubtedly representative, with its muffled tones and the superb Japanese-inspired arabesque of the bare tree in the foreground. This uninhabited landscape is full of an intense and timeless poetry.