Abel Grimmer

This painting by Flemish master Abel Grimmer (c. 1570-1620) was recently rediscovered when the family that owned it, but had no idea what it was, put it up for auction. It is being called Landscape with Peasants near a Lakeside Castle, but that's just a description. I had never heard of Abel Grimmer, but I liked this castle, so I looked him up. 

He was born and died in Antwerp, and also spent most the years in between there. He learned to paint from his father, who got his own career started by painting small panels in the style of Pieter Breughel the Elder and selling them from a marketplace stall. Abel Grimmer's most famous painting is probably this one, The Tower of Babel (1595), now in Abu Dhabi.

One of the things I love about painting of this era is the little wonders in the background. This is Christ Carrying the Cross.

And these are the buildings in the background. Perfect. These glimpses of background cities are like little hidden worlds, and they entice me like doors into Faerie.

But Grimmer is most famous as a painter of ordinary life. The body one is a nice reminder of how much labor was involved in creating those famous geometric gardens.

This one, The Marketplace of Bergen op Zoom, is "attributed to" Grimmer, but it certainly looks very much like the others. Anyway a pleasant discovery for a weekend when Spring is making hints but not yet ready to arrive.