Lucas van Valckenborch

Exhibited by Kunsthandel Peter Mühlbauer

Material oil on wood

Dimensions 22.5 x 38.5 cm (8.9 x 15.1 in)

Place of Creation Frankfurt

Status Vetted

About the Work

The luminous and intricately-rendered Kermesse scene, dated and signed with initials ‘ 1595 L / VV ’ on the fountain in the middle, is characteristic of the brilliant technical mastery achieved by Lucas van Valckenborch during his stay in Frankfurt a. M. Born 1535 in Leuven, he became a famous Flemish painter, mainly known for his landscapes and market scenes.

On August 26th of 1560, he entered the painter’s guild of Mecheln. which was known at the time as a center for especially landscape painting.

Here, he also got to know the prominent painters Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1528-1569) and Hans Bol (1534-1593), who both influenced him in his work.

At the beginning of 1593, Lucas van Valkenborch joined his brother Marten in Frankfurt a. M. Here he became the teacher and collaborator of Georg Flegel and remained active in Frankfurt until his death in 1597.

The depiction of large public festivals, such as the Kermesse of Saint George’s Day, has found a permanent place in Dutch painting. The colorful hustle and bustle, funny scenes, which often also provide socially critical insights, were already of great interest at that time. Paintings from Lucas van Valckenborch can be found in several important museums, such as the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, The Princely collection of Liechtenstein in Vaduz, The Heremitage St. Petersburg, Städel Museum Frankfurt/M., Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid and further more.

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Provenance

- Munich Residence, Collection Carl Theodor Elector of Palatinate,
inventory label ‘No. 138’ with brown ink from 1799
- Collection Maximilian de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (1835-1852), fragmentary inventory label (confirmed in monography of the artist)
- Private Collection South Germany

Literature

- Pantheon, Sept. 1941, insert V with ill.
- W. Bernt, Die niederländischen Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts, Munich 1948, no. 865 (edition 1960, no. 1216).
- A. Wied, Lucas und Marten van Valckenborch (1535-1597 und 1534-1612): Freren, 1990, pp. 176/177, no. 81.