Alexis Van Hamme

ALEXIS VAN HAMME (Brussels, 1818 - 1875).
"The reading of the letter".
Oil on panel.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 72.5 x 58 cm; 87 x 73 x 6.5 cm (frame).

The one we now bid is a characteristic work of Van Hamme's production because it is a genre scene represented in great detail. It shows a young woman reading a letter in a typically Dutch interior in the style of the Old Masters, especially those known as fijnschilders. The furniture decorating the room draws on the influence of Gerrit Dou. His interlocutor, an elderly lady with a calm gaze, listens to him as he weaves. Van Hamme creates a completely narrative scene with the help of the lute that rests in the lower left corner of the composition, as well as the ewer and other pots and pans that are presented on the checkered tiles (a pavement already introduced earlier by great masters such as Vermeer). It is worth mentioning the glazed window that opens to the outside and shows a completely Dutch building.

A painter specializing in the historical genre, Alexis Van Hamme studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp with Nicaise De Keyser and Henri Leys. His works are kept at the Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery and the New York Public Library.