A Brittany Spaniel putting up a Gadwall in a Marsh Landscape

Oil on panel, signed

34.8 x 26.3 cms
13 5/8 x 10 3/8 inches

Verlat was born in Antwerp on 24th November 1824 and spent most his life there until his death on 23rd October 1890. He received his initial artistic training from his mother, who was a sculptor of Dutch origin and then later as a pupil of de Whappers and the portraitist Nicaise de Keyser.

In 1849, he went to Paris where he lived and worked for the next eighteen years He worked at the studio of Ary Scheffer, worked with the major Belgian Impressionist painter Alfred Stevens and his brother Joseph who were also based there and also came to be influenced by Gustave Courbet.

His aspiration was to be a significant painter of wildlife and sporting scenes but due to financial constraints, he had initially to produce humorous works of actors to help pay his way. In 1866, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar appointed him as director of his Academy of Fine Arts and during his tenure there he painted several portraits and made a study of the German Primitives.

The next stage in his life saw him visit the Orient and Palestine where he remained for two years painting Biblical scenes before returning to Antwerp. Appointed Director of the Academy of Antwerp in 1885, he became renowned as a painter of animals, portraits and historical subjects as well as being an engraver. In many ways he is similar in style to his Belgian contemporaries but the influence of the French Realists is also apparent.

He exhibited two pictures at the Royal Academy in London: “Not Invited” in 1869 and “Flowers and Fruit” in 1886. He was made a member of the Legion of Honour in 1868 and received medals from Paris Salon in 1853, 1855 and 1878. Examples of his work can be seen in museums in Antwerp, Amsterdam, Brussels, Breme, Gratz, Le Havre and Liege.
.
Bibliography: Dictionnaire de Peintres – E Benezit
Dog Painting, The European Breeds – William Secord

The Brittany Spaniel originated in the village of Callac which is situated in the area of the same name in France. It came about because of the liaison of English setters and pointers with the local Frugeres Spaniel.

In the 19th century it was popular for the wealthy classes of England to go to France to shoot snipe and partridge. Many would take their favourite gundogs with them and would leave them on the estate that they had visited during the close season rather than bring them back. This union of the English and French dogs resulted in the Brittany and explains the typical variation in coat colours derived from the range of those seen on the pointers and setters.

It is a fine gundog with speed, an excellent nose, natural hunting ability and a sometime pointer.

The Gadwall is a member of the Duck family and is slightly smaller than a Mallard. The male is uniformly grey with a contrasting black rear but in flight there is apparent a square white patch on the trailing part of the wing. The female is very like a Mallard to look at with a predominantly speckled brown plumage except for a white patch on the wing and a bill with orange sides.

Its habitat is marshes, lakes, ponds and rivers and the nesting site is a depression in the ground among thick vegetation near water and it is lined with plants and down in which are laid between eight and twelve eggs.