A coastal port and a Foritifed town - Pieter Bout & Adriaen Frans Boudewyns

A coastal port with villagers moving cargo and a Fortified town with travellers beyond the walls.

Oil on panel
Signed with monogram lower center: B.B.
Dimensions: 24 x 32 cm & 34 x 45 cm (framed)
THE ARTWORK

In the left scene we see a landscape with Italian or Mediterranean architecture. We recognize these by the towers, arcades and vegetation. The presence of arches in the stonework is also a reference to Mediterranean architecture. Bout has traveled to Italy in his life. This is perhaps where he might have found inspiration for this specific type of landscape. We also see a rider coming through the city gate and a group of dancing people in the middle of the composition. These hold hands and spin around in a circle. Two figures standing on the balcony watch the dancers below. Animals are also present in the scene. Next to the dancers we see a white dog sniffing in the grass.

The landscape has an exotic tint. We get this feeling from the different plants that hang down on the buildings. The color of the light also plays an influence. It gives off a kind of warmth and illuminates the figures with a yellow glow. We also see several birds flying next to the green flag.

The right scene has a different atmosphere. Again we see the same tree and vegetation type, but the figures are at work. We see two sailing boats sailing away and a rowing boat just arriving. Several people pick up the cargo and bring it ashore. Three figures on the shore are precisely inspecting the barrels. On the dock we see two people dragging cargo while a dog stands there watching.

The architecture is a little bit different. There are more sloping roofs and the buildings are precisely made of brick. The hanging plants are not present and the warm, yellow sun is nowhere to be found. Yet there are similar features. The landscape, for example, shows those same mountains and they are both locations with living nature.



THE ARTIST

Pieter Bout was a southern Dutch painter, draftsman and etcher born around 1640 and 1645. He died in June 1689. Not much is known about his life, although he left behind a large oeuvre. There is speculation that he comes from Brussels, but there is no certainty. It is also deduced, from his collaboration with Adriaen Frans Boudewyns, that he was active in Paris between 1675 and 1677. He was also active in Brussels and made trips to Italy and the Dutch Republic. His oeuvre included various genres. He mainly painted landscapes, including villages, harbours, beaches or rivers. It is striking that his landscapes are related to those of Adriaen Frans Boudewyns, Lucas Achtschellinck and Jacques d'Arthois.
Adriaen Frans Boudewyns was a southern Dutch painter and etcher born in Brussels on October 3, 1644. He died here on December 3, 1719. His oeuvre mainly consisted of landscapes. His landscape painting was most likely influenced by his master Ignatius van der Stock, who was also a landscape painter. In Brussels he later came into contact with Pieter Bout, with whom he later started working. In this period he mainly painted small, more detailed landscapes in the style of Jan Brueghel the Elder and Jan Frans van Bloemen