Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven
(Warneton 1798 – Schaarbeek 1881)
A Barn with Sheep and Chickens
Signed and dated 1878 lower right
Signed, dated 1878, annotated Schaarbeek Bruxelles and authenticated on a label attached to the reverse
Oil on panel, 32.2 x 40 cm
Provenance:
– T. Richardson Fine Art Galleries, London
– Private collection, Scotland
Note:
Verboeckhoven was an excellent painter of animals. Together with his pupils, he appears to have been the last link to a secular tradition with its roots deep in the seventeenth century, which linked observation of nature, studied composition, and idealised reproduction of reality. Verboeckhoven mainly painted cattle in their natural environment, enlivened by an intense chiaroscuro. Like the Old Masters, Verboeckhoven obtained the colour blue for his skies by grinding down lapis lazuli. The prolific artist was very meticulous in his preparation: hundreds of sketches and studies were produced on the spot, assembling different elements like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.