Hunter in a Landscape

David Bles (Dutch, 1821 – 1899)

Medium/TechniqueTransparent and opaque watercolor and black chalk on brown paper

DimensionsSheet: 45.3 × 29.1 cm (17 13/16 × 11 7/16 in.)
Framed: 54 × 38.5 cm (21 1/4 × 15 3/16 in.)

Credit LineThe Maida and George Abrams Collection—Gift in honor of Clifford S. Ackley, William W. Robinson, and in memory of Justice Ruth I. Abrams

Accession number2021.292

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsDrawings

Collections

Description

David Bles was accepted at the Academie Beeldende Kunst in The Hague at the age of thirteen. He studied with Cornelis Kruseman and his nephew, Jan Adam (both well-established artists), before traveling to Paris and entering the studio of Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury. He returned to The Hague in 1843. He is best known for his paintings of Dutch history (specifically art history) and genre scenes. This hunting scene, with its impressive scale and sensitive coloring, demonstrates Bles’s formidable talent.

Provenance2004, sold from a private collection, Boston to George S. Abrams, Newton, MA; 2021, gift of George S. Abrams to the MFA. (Accession Date: Arpil 14, 2021)