Peasant rejoicing - signed Mattheus van Helmont (1623 - 1679)

Oil on copper. Signed lower right: M. V. Hellemont F
Our composition, unique to the art market, had been kept by the same family for over a century.

Van Helmont's favorite subject, these festivities (probably weddings) bring together a cheerful crowd in a barn of disproportionate proportions (this is often the case in his paintings). In a cleverly arranged mess, smokers, drinkers, dancers, playing children, laughing characters, pets, all contribute to the animation of the scene.
Van Helmont's special character is probably not unrelated to his taste for tavern scenes; he is said to be a follower of these places and quarrelsome.

Related works: "Peasants in a tavern", oil on copper, Sotheby's lot 43 on 05.10.2011 - "Interior scene with happy figures", oil on canvas Sotheby's lot 188 on 02.02.2018

This delightful painting is presented in an elegant blackened wooden casseta posterior frame.
Dimensions: 24.5 x 33.5 cm - 40 x 49 cm with the frame