Jean Pierre François Lamorinière, Landscape in the vicinity of Schilde, 1871

by Atelier Liesjes

A narrow stream flows from the foreground into the woods, its dark, almost still water reflecting the tree trunks. Tall trees stand on either side: sturdy oaks with gnarled bark, interspersed with birches whose silver-white bark is streaked with black. On the left, a view opens up onto a sunny meadow with a low horizon and a row of trees in the distance. In the foreground on the right lies a broken branch in the grass, amongst ferns and small white flowers. The light is soft and cool, as if after a rain shower. The stream is narrow and shallow; the water is almost still and reflects the sky between the trunks. The painter has viewed the forest from within and built up the depth in layers: first the dark foliage in the foreground, then the light-coloured trunk of the birch, then the clearing and finally the misty distance. The green is not a single colour but a range: moss green, sage green, grey-green and almost black in the shade. Everything is rendered with a fine, almost photographic precision, without this making the scene feel cold. The forest floor is strewn with dry leaves and a fallen tree trunk. The atmosphere is that of a quiet afternoon in an old deciduous forest, where the sound of water and wind is all that can be heard. Schilde, north of Antwerp, was part of the landscape that Lamorinière (1828–1911) continued to paint throughout his life. He was trained at the Antwerp Academy and gained fame with this kind of meticulous forest scene, which he would sometimes sketch on location and finish at home. He was particularly drawn to the damp, dense forest, because the light never penetrates it directly and every colour naturally takes on greater depth. A green, moist painting that brings a sense of calm to a room.