(Antwerp 1586–1653)
A pair of extensive landscapes with travellers, riders and huntsmen,
oil on canvas, 94 x 140.6 cm and 95.6 x 140.2 cm, framed, a pair (2)

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for having identified these paintings as works by Wildens. A written certificate is available.

Jan Wildens was a student of Pieter van der Hulst. In the period preceding Wildens’ Italian journey (before 1614) the painter was influenced on a compositional level by a variety of masters such as Gillis van Coninxloo III (1544–1606), Jan Brueghel I (1568–1627), Joos de Momper II (1564–1635) and Adriaen van Stalbemt (1580–1662). While these earliest known works are somewhat archaic, following his trip to Italy in 1614 his style underwent an evolution towards greater spontaneity and realism from his knowledge of the work of Paul Bril. Once in Italy, Wildens became inspired by the realism and the eye for detail in the art of Bril (1553/54–1626). During his whole career he would remain indebted to these earliest influences. The aspect of the dynamic High Baroque of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) is something he, however, never really adapted. Symmetrically constructed compositions, a soft palette and a serene character are characteristics of Wildens’ balanced art. A compelling example of his idyllic landscapes with monumentally large trees is Wildens’ painting Landscape with Dancing Shepherds (KMSKA, Antwerp), which is very close to the present pair. After 1640, Wildens began using the rather sketchy method and the vibrating, atmospheric light that Rubens himself used in some of his landscapes, and also enhanced the dramatic element.

The respect of his contemporaries for Wildens’ craft is seen by the many cases of collaboration. Wildens provided landscape backgrounds in the works of artists such as Abraham Janssens (circa 1575–1632), Rubens, Frans Snyders (1579–1657), Gerard Seghers (1591–1651), Jacob Jordaens I (1593–1678), Paul de Vos (1595–1678), Theodoor Rombouts (1597–1637), Cornelis Schut (1597–1655), and Jan Boeckhorst (circa 1604–1668).

Klaus Ertz writes: “The paintings to be assessed (pendants), Mountain landscape with horsemen and river landscape with horsemen and cattle, both oil on canvas, 94 x 140.6 and 95.6 x 140.2 cm, are known to me in the original. After thorough examination of these compositions I am convinced that they were executed by the Flemish painter Jan Wildens (Antwerp 1585/86–1653) in the 1630s in Antwerp. The condition of the two large-sized canvases can be described as excellent.

As is frequently the case in the work of Wildens, the individual landscape planes in both paintings are shown in different light conditions: dark, shadowy zones of trees populated by figures and animals in the foreground, followed by a mountain range bathed in a soft light in the first painting and by a cluster of trees beyond which extends a vast landscape, with church slightly towards the right, in the second. Although in both compositions the small figures are subordinate to the landscape, they are crucial and felicitously blend in with the scenery. A collaborator of Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Wildens was a painter specialised in landscapes. Different from the dramatic and dynamic landscapes of his master, Jan Wildens approach to nature made reference to the everyday and ‘ordinary’ life of his native country.”