Jacques Rosseels, Landscape near Dendermonde

by Atelier Liesjes

A narrow canal winds its way between two rows of tall trees; the water is dark and still. The foliage is in its autumnal splendour: golden-yellow, mustard-green and rust-brown, with the odd patch of green here and there. Leaves float on the water, reflecting the tree trunks, which disappear into the depths like grey stripes. On the right, a sandy towpath runs along the bank; there, a solitary figure walks with a white bundle slung over their shoulder, head bowed. Behind the trees, the sky is barely visible, merely a cool, pearly-grey expanse. The bank is indicated with a few brushstrokes, the mud along the edge with a dark touch. Rosseels paints with short, fluid brushstrokes and a wet-on-wet technique that makes the foliage tremble. The composition is simple: a central axis of water, two dark screens of trees and a light opening in the distance. The colours are warm and subdued, with a strong emphasis on the contrast between the dark water and the golden-yellow foliage. The trees are not individual species but a wall of colour, in which only the white trunks stand out as accents. It is a realistic landscape painting, akin to the School of Tervuren, in which the seasonal atmosphere is the actual subject. Jacques Rosseels (Antwerp 1828 – Antwerp 1912) preferred to work in the areas around Dendermonde, Waasmunster and the Scheldt polders. He painted en plein air, guided by the light and the changing seasons, rather than by anecdotal subjects. His work is considered part of nineteenth-century Belgian Realism. He found his subjects in the canals, dykes and small woods of the Scheldt region, which he captured in different seasons. A warm, intimate autumn landscape set against a classical interior.