Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated lower right. 76 x 93 cm (29,9 x 36,6 in).
With printed number and remains of an old seal on stretcher.

We are grateful to Marijke de Kinkelder, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Dokumentatie, The Hague, for her kind help in cataloguing this lot.

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's London, 14 November 1973, lot 6 (The Property of the late Mrs. Percyval Tudor-Hart).
Galerie Koller, Zurich, 61st auction, 21 November 1986, lot 5166 (plate 30).
Private collection Hesse.

Adrien de Braekeleer was born in Antwerp on 1 March 1818, throughout his life he was active in his hometown. After training to be a merchant, he became a student of the well-known genre painter Ferdinand de Braekeleer the Elder, who was his uncle. Works by de Braekeleer, which call reminiscence of 17th century genre painting in terms of their scenes, resemble the style of his contemporary Hendrik Leys. Between 1849 and 1891 de Braekeleer shows works at the Antwerp's Salon, in 1874 at the Gent Salon. He died in 1904 in Borgerhout near Antwerp.
His interior pieces of lively courtyards, living rooms and workshops convince with their elaborate execution as well as with their great love for the detail, which adds an almost still life -like character to the objects. His large-sized works, which are extremely rare on the international art market, belong to the masterpieces of 19th century Antwerp art. Works by the artist are in possession of numerous important national and international collections, for instance in Antwerp, Stuttgart and Hamburg. [CM].