Description
Johannes Jacobus Paling, Dutch 1844-1892- A father and child playing with a goldfinch; oil on panel, signed and dated 'Joh J. Paling 1870' (lower right), 39.1 x 29.7 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: The present scene is a typical example of Paling's work, which consists largely of atmospheric interior scenes, often occupied by figures looking after children, or engaged in domestic tasks such as sewing and spinning. Paling was clearly heavily influenced by 17th-century Dutch painters, such as Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684), whose interiors were characterised by highly detailed and richly rendered surfaces and textures, just like the pottery and delicate glass on the table in the present scene. Indeed, the goldfinch in the cage with which the child plays perhaps gestures towards Carel Fabritius's (1622-1654) famous painting of the same subject. A similar, sensitively rendered domestic scene depicting a young family is in the collection of the Sheffield Museums [VIS.1563].
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