Gérard Jozef Portielje (Belgian, 1856-1929)Le commencement de la fin
signed and inscribed 'Gerard Portielje Antwerpen' (lower right)
oil on canvas
57.5 x 74.5cm (22 5/8 x 29 5/16in).注脚Provenance
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 22 June 1988, lot 374.
MacConnal-Mason & Son Ltd., London.
Private collection, UK.

Despite his artistic lineage, and his own skill and enthusiasm for drawing, the young Gérard Portielje was encouraged to become a priest and began lessons at Saint Ignace's Commercial School in Antwerp. However he was soon expelled, allegedly for decorating a sculpture of the Blessed Virgin with a moustache. Portielje then followed in the footsteps of his artistic father, becoming a successful painter of interior and genre scenes. During his lifetime Portielje had an international reputation, and between 1897 and 1910 his paintings were mostly sold abroad; for example, in 1907, only four small paintings of twenty-seven were sold locally.

For a similar composition, see Ineke Bruynooghe The works of Portielje, Jan-Gerard-Edward, Antwerp, 2002, p. 223, no. 203.