Card Players, attributed to Gerrit Lundens (1622 – 1686)

Oil on oak panel—three planks—Signed by a master panelist
Dimensions: 58 × 49 cm.
Beautiful Dutch-style frame

This charming genre scene depicts the interior of a Dutch inn where several figures are gathered around a table. At the center of the composition, a young maid, lost in thought, contrasts with the men surrounding her, while a figure wearing a tall conical hat seems to be catching her attention. Upstairs, a man leans out of an interior window, raising a glass, adding a theatrical and humorous touch to this scene of everyday life.

The work is painted on a remarkable oak panel consisting of three planks, assembled with exceptional care, which has remained perfectly flat over the centuries. The reverse bears the iron brand of a master panel maker, attesting to the quality of the support and its manufacture in a specialized workshop.

This composition shares many similarities with the work of Gerrit Lundens, a painter active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. He was renowned for his tavern scenes, gatherings of the common people, and lively interiors, in which he excelled at depicting the characters’ postures, their interactions, and the small episodes of daily life.
His art follows in the tradition of Jan Miense Molenaer and Adriaen van Ostade, while developing a personal style characterized by lively storytelling, a warm color palette, and an intimate atmosphere.

The rustic interior architecture—with its high, exposed beams, deep spaces, and play of light and shadow—effectively structures the composition. The light, applied in successive strokes, highlights the main figures, while the figure emerging from upstairs, glass raised, adds a theatrical liveliness characteristic of 17th-century Dutch painting.

Gerrit Lundens is also known for his scenes of popular festivities, peasant weddings, and inn interiors, now held in numerous public and private collections. His work remains highly sought after for its narrative quality, his observation of Dutch society, and the quality of his execution.

This painting was acquired at public auction with the attribution “Attributed to Gerrit Lundens ”. It is a fine example of 17th-century Dutch genre painting and skillfully captures the warm and lively atmosphere of working-class interiors during the Dutch Golden Age.

Stylistic ComparisonA comparison of our painting with one of the photos presented here (Artprice, Christie’s auction) proves particularly interesting. Beyond the similarity in subject matter—a lively inn interior—several elements of composition and execution correspond with remarkable consistency. Both paintings feature a spacious interior with exposed beams, a scene centered around a table (with dice and cards) where several figures are gathered, and a young woman occupying the psychological center of the composition. In both cases, she is distinguished by a delicately modeled face (perhaps the same model?), a white bonnet, a dark bodice, a light-colored apron, and a blue skirt with folds rendered in the same manner, while the male figures enliven the scene around her.
A work on panel, in an almost identical format, *The Palette*, dominated by warm browns, grays, and ochres, punctuated by accents of white, blue, and red, as well as the highly controlled distribution of light, contributes to this same intimate atmosphere characteristic of 17th-century Dutch genre scenes.
The combination of these similarities in composition, color palette, character types, and staging constitutes a set of clues that is particularly consistent with Gerrit Lundens’s pictorial language and reinforces the attribution established at the public auction of our painting.

Comparable works at public auctions:
Attributed to Gerrit LUNDENS (1622–1683)
Interior,
17th Century
Lot No. 435 Painting Oil on panel 60 x 84 cm
Hammer price: 3,400 € Estimate: 4,000 €
May 24, 2014 Hagelstam Helsinki, Finland

Attributed to Gerrit LUNDENS (1622–1683)
Peasants Making Music in a Tavern
Lot No. 141 Painting Oil on panel 47 x 68 cm
Hammer price: 9,120 € (6,000 £) Price including fees: 10,488 € (6,900 £)
Estimate: 9,120 € - 12,160 € (6,000 £ - 8,000 £)
IMPORTANT OLD MASTER PICTURES 12/03/1997
Christie’s London, United Kingdom
Details: Monograph. Reproduced on page 182 of the catalog