Oil on Canvas Winter Landscape by Charles Leickert, 1862
Estimated value
$15,000 - $35,000Rarity
Scarce(6/10)Type
Museum ObjectCategory
PaintingsEra
1862Origin
🇳🇱 NetherlandsArtist / Creator
Charles LeickertAuthenticity
OIL ON CANVAS WINTER LANDSCAPE BY CHARLES LEICKERT, 1862: IDENTIFICATION
An oil on canvas winter landscape executed in 1862, signed 'Ch. Leickert f. 62' in the lower right quadrant. The composition features a frozen Dutch waterway populated by skaters and ice-workers, bordered by snow-covered brick architecture and a classic post mill structure under a heavy, atmospheric cloud break. The artist employs a refined technique with thick impasto touches isolating the snow on the bare tree branches and structure roofs, utilizing a palette dominated by steely greys, ice blues, and contrasting warm ochres.
Compare with other paintings in the archive: Surrealist Painting by William Vandenjoc, Abstract Expressionist Landscape Painting, Winterzon by Ansje Siel (2023).
CROSS-CULTURAL PARALLELS
Where This Object Echoes
The compositional framework directly mimics Hendrick Avercamp's seminal 1610s winter panoramas, adopting the frozen canal as a cross-section of society.
Ritual & Ceremonial Use
- •The 'Ijspret' (ice fun) phenomenon, a seasonal Dutch communal gathering on frozen waterways for skating, commerce, and socializing.
Meaning Through Time
Shifted from a contemporary 17th-century documentation of Little Ice Age survival to a purely nostalgic, romanticized emblem of national identity during industrialization.
PERIOD & ATTRIBUTION
COLLECTOR NOTES
Though celebrated for foundational Dutch motifs, Charles Leickert was born in Brussels in 1816 and only later assimilated entirely into the Hague and Amsterdam artistic circles.
The abbreviation 'f.' following the 1862 signature stands for 'fecit', Latin for 'he made it', a traditional signing convention tracing back to the Renaissance.
SCARCITY
Genuinely harder to find. Perhaps only dozens come to market annually. Collectors actively watch for these pieces.
Rarity 6/10. Curiosa currently catalogues 16 paintings items at rarity 6 or higher.
Typical Characteristics
- Dozens per year at market
- Documented provenance valued
- Active collector pursuit
Confidence Factors
- Signature fluidly integrated into wet impasto paint layer consistent with 1862 execution.
- Presence of age-correct structural craquelure across darker pigment fields.
- Institutional or high-end gallery presentation setting heavily implies vetted provenance.
THE ART SPECIALIST'S TAKE
Museum-Trained Art Historian
Visible signature, characteristic confident brushwork, period-appropriate aging evidence, and the apparent gallery presentation setting provide a strong basis for attribution, though absolute certainty of condition requires back-of-canvas and UV inspection.
KEY EVIDENCE
- 1Signature 'Ch. Leickert f. 62' matches known 1860s cursive exemplars in both placement and flow.
- 2Brush handling on bare branch clusters utilizing opaque white impasto is consistent with Schelfhout-school techniques.
- 3Micro-craquelure in darker icy foreground pigments aligns with 160-year-old oil on canvas aging characteristics.
UNCERTAINTIES
- •Heavy specular glare in the lower right detail indicates a dense modern varnish that may obscure historical overpainting or localized repairs.
WHAT WOULD IMPROVE CERTAINTY
- →Examine the canvas reverse to confirm original stretcher presence and identify any gallery labels or exhibition stamps.
- →Scan the surface with ultraviolet light to map the extent of modern retouching or in-painting beneath the varnish.
CONDITION & GRADE
Condition
The painted surface appears structurally sound with no immediately visible areas of active flaking or major in-painting visible to the naked eye. An area of specular highlight in the lower right detail indicates a heavy, reflective varnish layer applied during a previous restoration or cleaning cycle. The ornate gilded frame exhibits minor gesso losses along the outer projecting moldings.
ART MARKET VALUATION
Updated: May 10, 2026
Who buys this
Traditional Dutch Romanticism collectors, 19th-century European art specialists, and decorators sourcing substantial period landscapes.
What increases value
- •Execution date in the early 1860s during the artist's prime output period
- •Large scale and compositional complexity including a prominent windmill and multi-figure groupings
- •High contrast atmospheric lighting rather than flat overcast skies
What lowers value
- •Over-cleaning or heavy modern varnishing that alters the original matte/gloss relationship
- •Deteriorating canvas tension requiring aggressive lining procedures
What makes top-tier examples
- •Inclusion of dense, multi-figure narrative clusters
- •Flawless rendering of reflective, translucent ice surfaces without over-restoration
- •Retention of sharply peaked original impasto in the snow detailing
Grade & condition
Surface pigment integrity, absence of relining, UV-light confirmation of original signature, and retention of original impasto peaks.
Rarity & demand
For informational purposes only, not a formal appraisal.
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