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Description: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 92: 

Technical notes: The support consists of a copper
plate that has been grounded. The figures have been
painted opaquely with small sections of impasto in the
highlights. The foreground and background are thinly
painted. The rendering is not modulated but executed
stiffly. The facial features of the figures are portrayed
without finesse. Reserves seems to have been left in the
paint surface for the figures in the background to painted
into. The palette consists of earth colours and red, blue,
yellow and white. The painting underwent conservation
treatment in 1840, 1929 and 1942.

Provenance: KM 1816, no. 436; NM 1866, no. 457.

Bibliography: Sander IV, p. 92, no. 436; Göthe 1887,
pp. 104–105; Göthe 1893, p. 128; Granberg 1911, no.
403, p. 88; NM Cat. 1958, p. 90; NM Cat. 1990, p. 167.

This genre painting has been executed in a small scale
on copper. It is matched by a companion piece, no. 93,
which also depicts an interior with peasant festivities.
Both works are mentioned for the first time in an
inventory of the Nationalmuseum’s predecessor, the
Royal Museum, in 1816. In this painting of a village
feast a large number of figures are depicted in an interior.
The room itself is depicted by the indication of its
floor, an open door and a wall in the background on
which two landscapes are hanging horizontally with
figures placed next to them. The two paintings portrayed
in the background are companion pieces in
terms of motif. The motifs, the similarity of format
and the frames seem to be contemporary with the
painting by a follower of Van Helmont in which they
are included. There is nothing specific about these
landscapes that would enable their attribution to any
artist. The dark stained frames are typical of the period
and they are surmounted by ornaments.

On the left in the foreground of the painting, a
coup le are portrayed with the man raising a tankard in
what seems to be a spontaneous gesture. On the right,
several individuals of different kinds are depicted
embracing or conversing. The variety of poses and
gestures creates the dynamism in the work and
enhances its many anecdotal elements. The latter
include the white dog in the foreground playing with
the old man’s foot. In the middle ground a party of
country people are seated around a table eating ham
and drinking beer. In the background a rectangular
table is depicted with a large number of men and
women sitting round it eating and drinking. The
women in the open doorway in the background is
probably going to get more food and drink. Close to
her a young girl is running up with a plate of food.
Two musicians can be seen in a gallery above the door,
one of them playing a fiddle.

Several of the figures are executed stiffly and rendered
less elaborately than in other paintings by Van
Helmont and in the Nationalmuseum’s two other
works by Van Helmont and his circle (nos. 90 and 91).
For this reason as well as for more general stylistic and
technical reasons, it is likely that this painting and its
companion piece, no. 93, which come from the same
hand, were not painted by Van Helmont but some follower
inspired by his oeuvre.
KS
[End]

Catalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 92: 

Technical notes: The support consists of a copper
plate that has been grounded. The figures have been
painted opaquely with small sections of impasto in the
highlights. The foreground and background are thinly
painted. The rendering is not modulated but executed
stiffly. The facial features of the figures are portrayed
without finesse. Reserves seems to have been left in the
paint surface for the figures in the background to painted
into. The palette consists of earth colours and red, blue,
yellow and white. The painting underwent conservation
treatment in 1840, 1929 and 1942.

Provenance: KM 1816, no. 436; NM 1866, no. 457.

Bibliography: Sander IV, p. 92, no. 436; Göthe 1887,
pp. 104–105; Göthe 1893, p. 128; Granberg 1911, no.
403, p. 88; NM Cat. 1958, p. 90; NM Cat. 1990, p. 167.

This genre painting has been executed in a small scale
on copper. It is matched by a companion piece, no. 93,
which also depicts an interior with peasant festivities.
Both works are mentioned for the first time in an
inventory of the Nationalmuseum’s predecessor, the
Royal Museum, in 1816. In this painting of a village
feast a large number of figures are depicted in an interior.
The room itself is depicted by the indication of its
floor, an open door and a wall in the background on
which two landscapes are hanging horizontally with
figures placed next to them. The two paintings portrayed
in the background are companion pieces in
terms of motif. The motifs, the similarity of format
and the frames seem to be contemporary with the
painting by a follower of Van Helmont in which they
are included. There is nothing specific about these
landscapes that would enable their attribution to any
artist. The dark stained frames are typical of the period
and they are surmounted by ornaments.

On the left in the foreground of the painting, a
coup le are portrayed with the man raising a tankard in
what seems to be a spontaneous gesture. On the right,
several individuals of different kinds are depicted
embracing or conversing. The variety of poses and
gestures creates the dynamism in the work and
enhances its many anecdotal elements. The latter
include the white dog in the foreground playing with
the old man’s foot. In the middle ground a party of
country people are seated around a table eating ham
and drinking beer. In the background a rectangular
table is depicted with a large number of men and
women sitting round it eating and drinking. The
women in the open doorway in the background is
probably going to get more food and drink. Close to
her a young girl is running up with a plate of food.
Two musicians can be seen in a gallery above the door,
one of them playing a fiddle.

Several of the figures are executed stiffly and rendered
less elaborately than in other paintings by Van
Helmont and in the Nationalmuseum’s two other
works by Van Helmont and his circle (nos. 90 and 91).
For this reason as well as for more general stylistic and
technical reasons, it is likely that this painting and its
companion piece, no. 93, which come from the same
hand, were not painted by Van Helmont but some follower
inspired by his oeuvre.
KS
[End]

Bondgille