A village competition - Barent Gael (Harlem 1630/1635 - Amsterdam 1698)

Oil on panel
Signed lower left.

Barent Gael was a Dutch Golden Age painter specializing in landscapes and scenes with peasants.

Gael was in the habit of keeping his own schedule at the risk of offending customers – Houbraken relates a moment when a patron came to his house for a viewing and he claimed he "wasn't at home". The patron was so insulted that when Gael came to him with the finished painting, he claimed he was now "not at home" and refused payment.