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Lot description
The Antwerp painter Abraham Govaerts, who died young at the age of 37, left behind an œuvre that apparently consists exclusively of forest landscapes. These paintings are characterised by closely spaced deciduous trees, meticulously painted foliage and an overall calm and harmonious atmosphere. The viewer often looks out across a river into the depths of the landscape. All of these characteristics can also be seen in the present painting, the colouring of which is dominated by intense green and blue tones. From a gnarled tree on the left edge of the picture, the viewer's gaze sweeps across a river in which an empty barge lies close to the bank in the foreground, while a church tower is reflected on the water in the background. Several precisely rendered figures enliven the scenery. The present painting is unmistakably modelled on Jan Brueghel the Elder, whom Abraham Govaerts was one of the first artists to follow and whose pupil he may also have been. Govaerts seems to have been quite successful in his rather short career as a painter, as he was considered a wealthy artist who owned several houses and was both dean of the Guild of St Luke and a captain of the citizen's guard.