4269 - Cornelis Cels, Portrait of a Gentleman

Cornelis Cels, Portrait of a Gentleman a seated gentleman, holding a document in his hand, his arm bent against the back of the chair and looking at the viewer; on the right-hand side of the picture, a red curtain fills the frame, to the left, part of a frame protrudes into the painting; the word ‘Hobbema’ is legible on the document, which presumably indicates that the subject is an artist whose style draws on that of the Dutch painter Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709), oil on canvas, signed and dated 1837 at the centre below, signs of wear, restored, unframed, inner dimensions 83 x 68 cm. Artist information: Belgian painter and draughtsman (1778 in Lier - 1859 in Brussels), pupil of Pierre Deis and Andries Cornelis Lens in Brussels; in Rome from 1801, where he was a professor at the Accademia di San Luca; resident in Antwerp and The Hague from 1808 to 1827; returned to Brussels towards the end of his life, known primarily as a history and genre painter, but also sought after for his portraits; in Antwerp, he focused particularly on religious subjects; during his time in The Hague, he worked predominantly as a portrait painter; his style was initially strongly influenced by Classicism, whilst his later works drew increasingly on Romanticism. Source: General Artists’ Encyclopaedia Online and the Internet.