(Antwerp 1688–1739 Paris)
Travellers resting by a river; and
Travellers resting by a tavern,
oil on panel, each 28.5 x 40.3 cm, framed, a pair (2)

Provenance:
Private collection, Belgium

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the authenticity of the present paintings. A written certificate is available (August 2017).

Ertz writes: “Having thoroughly examined these two excellently preserved pictures of outstanding quality, I am convinced that they were painted by the Flemish artist Josef van Bredael before he set off for Paris in 1736. Josef van Bredael can be regarded as one of the best followers of Jan Brueghel the Elder. Second to the latter’s son, Jan Brueghel the Younger, he was the artist who kept the pictorial legacy of the great inventor Jan Brueghel the Elder alive for the art world in numerous compositions after the latter’s death in January 1625. Until well into the eighteenth century, Josef van Bredael met a brisk demand for paintings in the manner of Brueghel that would also continue to prosper after the demise of Velvet Brueghel until well into the 1630s. It was only around 1635 that this Brueghel fashion gradually ebbed away, but was revived towards the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century through the art of Josef van Bredael.”