Petrus van Schendel

Private Collection, United States
Thence by descent

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has been cleaned and restored recently. There is no visible abrasion to the paint layer, and the work generally feels healthy. When viewed under ultraviolet light, six restorations can be seen running horizontally across the center of the work, the largest of which are around the lamp on the far right and beneath the mast of the boat on the far left. There are also a couple of areas of retouching in the upper right, to the right of the mast in the upper left, and in the side of the wheel barrow in the lower center. Within the remainder of the picture, there are otherwise very few restorations. More retouches can be seen around the edges when the picture is removed from the frame, which extend into the picture in some areas as much as 1 ½ inches. The restorations are accurately and well applied, and the work should be hung in its current state.
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Soon after completing his studies at the Fine Arts Academy of Antwerp in 1828, van Schendel focused on genre paintings and began an investigation of nocturnes and the effects of moonlight and candlelight that would continue throughout his long career. The artist is most celebrated for works where light sources of various strengths, such as a crackling lantern, flickering candle, smoldering fire and a brilliant moon spotlight the scene. In night market scenes like the present work, this technique allows the distinct architecture of Antwerp, Rotterdam, the Hague and Amsterdam, where the present work was likely painted circa 1865, to emerge from the darkness.

The Night Market is a particularly active example with a variety of light sources and vignettes that give van Schendel an opportunity to show off his artistic and technical strength. At left, a large Mastiff watches over an exchange at a market woman’s stall with a bountiful display of fruit and vegetables, the nubby textures of carrots, and leafy greens, and smooth shiny apples reflecting the warm glow of the lantern. A boy sits at his wheelbarrow full of wares, and more stalls of the bustling market stretch far into the background. While a few male sellers are hidden in shadows, the scene is primarily populated by women, typically the most frequent market visitors, dressed in the costumes of maids, cooks, and other workers. The candlelight and moon glow spill over their focused expressions, which betray the weighty responsibility of choosing the most select, best-priced produce of the day, as well as catching up on any gossip or anecdotes.

It was not unusual for van Schendel to paint multiple versions of a scene when he, and likely his buyers, found that a composition was particularly successful. The present work is a variant of Avondmarket in Amsterdam (see: Jan M.M. de Meere, Petrus van Schendel, Rotterdam, 2012, p. 197), which depicts the same harbor view with a different figure group at left.