A bagpipe player and a mower - Thomas Apshoven

THOMAS VAN APSHOVEN
Antwerpen, 1610 - Brussel, 1690 / 1622 - 1664/7
“A bagpipe player and a mower”
Oil on panel
We’d like to thank dr. Joost vander Auwera for his advice.
Dimensions: 24,5 cm x 19 cm (framed)

THE ARTIST
Thomas van Apshoven (1622–c.1667) was a Flemish painter of landscapes and peasant genre scenes. His father was a painter who had studied with Adam van Noort and had become a master of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1596. His younger brother Ferdinand van Apshoven the Younger also became a successful painter. Thomas studied under his father and according to certain sources, van Apshoven is considered a pupil of Teniers and is even referred to as his favorite student. It is more likely, however, that he was an imitator of Teniers. His works depict village festivals, tavern interiors, and rural activities, often featuring peasants at work or play. These themes and styles are close to those of David Teniers the Younger.

Although less skilled in the rendering of figures than Teniers, van Apshoven’s paintings capture a similar warmth and humor, and many of his compositions have been mistaken for Teniers’ own. Some paintings attributed to Teniers may, in fact, come from van Apshoven’s hand or from his workshop circle.

THE ARTWORK

The two compositions, Bagpipe Player and Peasants in a Wheat Field, share notable stylistic similarities. In both works, the figures dominate the foreground, with a pastoral landscape pictured behind them.

In ‘Peasants in a Wheat Field’, laborers are shown harvesting grain. Some figures are holding a sickle. This is a crescent-shaped, curved blade used as a tool for harvesting, mowing, or cutting, and is also used to cut grass, reeds, or grain. There is also a woman depicted gathering the cut wheat. Their simple, practical clothing reflects the realities of rural labor.

In ‘Bagpipe Player’, a single male figure is shown before a rocky hillside, holding his bagpipes but not actively playing them. He wears a blue jacket and a striking red cap with a feather, details that draw the viewer’s attention. The landscape background and atmospheric light closely resemble those found in Teniers’ compositions. Both figures, peasant and musician, face one another in complementary fashion, and the shared painterly handling of sky and setting further supports their common origin.

Bagpipe Players in 17th-Century Flemish Art

In 17th century Flanders, bagpipe players were a popular subject in painting. The instrument was associated with rural life, shepherds and the pastoral tradition. It also carried both rustic and symbolic connotations.
While the bagpipe was often regarded as a folk instrument, it also appeared in allegories of pastoral harmony and scenes of peasant merrymaking. Artists such as Teniers used the figure of the bagpiper to express the idyllic pleasures of country life: music, leisure, and the rhythms of the rural world.
The instrument itself, made from animal hide, wood, and reeds, consists of a bag, one or more drones, and a chanter for melody. Its presence in painting reflects a widespread cultural fascination with the pastoral ideal, appealing to urban collectors who viewed rural scenes as charming and nostalgic reminders of simpler life.

The Peasant in Flemish Genre Painting
In seventeenth-century Flanders, the peasant became a central figure in art. Genre painters depicted scenes of everyday life, working in the fields, celebrating in taverns, or resting outdoors, with a mix of realism, humor, and empathy. Such images offered both a window into rural existence and a form of moral or social commentary. To the urban elite, these scenes could be read as either charmingly simple or subtly instructive. For Teniers and his followers, the peasant was not merely a type, but a symbol of honest labor and communal life, presented with dignity and warmth rather than derision.