Lot 31 Dα

After initially studying painting and drawing in The Hague, the Belgian Charles Leickert found Andreas Schelfhout to be the best teacher available at the time for his favourite subject. The centrepiece of his landscapes is often a frozen body of water populated by wintery figures. This motif was so successful that it can almost be regarded as a genre in its own right.

‘Skaters on a Frozen Canal’ is a particularly atmospheric example of Leickert's favourite subject. Under a sky that grows increasingly cloudy in the distance, we see people at work and others taking a leisurely stroll on the ice. The brick building on the left not only provides a stage for further figures, but also emphasises the mood of a winter's day in the Netherlands with its lightly snow-covered roofs.