Dutch Pastoral Landscape in the Manner of Paulus Potter (1625-1654)

A 17th century oil on canvas picture, framed, a scene of travelers / noblemen including horses after Philips Wouwerman ( Dutch, 1619-1668 ), noblemen on horseback are drinking ale / ...

"Ship Entering the Canal" / Boating on the Thames by Dutch painter Cossaar (1874-1966), signed lower left, in tones typical of a grey day, realistically depicted with an impressionis...

This beautiful oil on panel painting represents an ideal landscape: figures recline by a tree, cows and sheep laze in the late afternoon light, and the...

PIETER GERARDUS VAN OS Dutch, 1776-1839 Shepherd with Flock in a Pastoral Landscape (1821) Oil on canvas Signed lower left "PG Van Os f 1821" Item # 204GPP23A An extensive and brilliantly detailed scene, this fine woodland pastoral landscape highlights the ability of Pieter Gerardus van Os to manipulate light for dramatic and somewhat ecclesiastical effect. There is a certain other-worldly insinuation in the golden light as it pierces the dense cover of the leaves to highlight the shepherd and his flock as the focal point for the painting. Here we find the young boy entirely at peace on the bank surrounded by long golden grasses with his hat and staff tossed aside while watching the action of the small waterfall on the otherwise tranquil stream. His small dog stands beside him while the sheep graze carelessly, each showing total disregard for the two men and their dog hunting in shadows of the woods behind them. Across the bank a pair of unattended billy goats graze on the trees of the deeply shaded forest floor. There is a harmony and perfect sense of balance in this intricately detailed scene, an effective infusion of the transcendental into a quiet landscape scene. The work is signed lower left in his typical scrawling script "PG [intertwined] Van Os f 1821" and the back of the frame retains an early Christie's label. It is presented in a very fine carved giltwood frame. PIETER GERARDUS VAN OS Born in The Hague on October 8th of 1776 into the renowned Van Os family of painters, Pieter would spend his early years studying under his father Jan together with his brother Georgius Johannes Jacobus (Dutch, 1782-1861) in their father's studio. The three men had remarkable careers and would become some of the most influential painters in the Netherlands throughout the first half of the 19th century. Unlike his brother and father, Pieter moved away from still-life paintings and focused his work on rural landscapes of the Dutch countryside. He was self-taught in this pursuit, first as a copyist of the renowned Dutch "Golden Age" painters Karel Dujardin (Dutch, 1626-1678) and Paulus Potter (Dutch, 1625-1654) while also being heavily influenced by the landscape work of Jacob van Ruisdael and the allegorical landscapes of Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem. From his studio in Amsterdam, Pieter taught such notable pupils as Wouterus Verschuur...