Rating and value of paintings by Alexander van Bredael

If you own a work by or after the artist Alexander van Bredael, and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will offer you their appraisal services.

Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with an accurate estimate of its value on the current market.

Then, should you wish to sell your work, we will direct you to the best possible arrangement to obtain the optimum price.

Rating and value of the artist Alexander van Bredael 

Alexander van Bredael was a Flemish painter of the 17th century. A discreet figure, there are relatively few works attributed to him on the art market, but these are extremely highly prized and well priced.

The bulk of his production revolves around painting, but a few drawings and engravings are also preserved.

Works by Alexander van Bredael are auctioned for between €830 and €59,200. In 2015, his oil on canvas The Ommegang at the Meir, Antwerp, dating from 1694 sold for €30,000, against an estimate of €20,000-30,000.

Order of value from a simple work to the most prestigious

Artist's style and technique

Alexander Van Bredael (1663 - 1720) was a Flemish Baroque painter active in Antwerp. He was trained by his father, Peeter van Bredael, who specialized in market scenes and village festivals. He would continue in this vein, adding his own sensibility.

He explored a variety of genres, working in particular on Italianate landscapes, market scenes, urban processions and popular festivals, reflecting the everyday life of his time.

His works show the influence of Flemish painters such as David Teniers the Younger, Pieter van Aelst and Erasmus de Bie, especially in the depiction of lively genre scenes.

He uses diagonal perspectives and masterful spatial organization to enliven his market and village scenes. He demonstrates great skill in drawing human and animal figures, capturing the details of daily life with great realism.

His palette is rich and colorful, with bright colors to accentuate the animation of festive scenes. His paintings capture the bustle of fairs, markets as well as processions, featuring a multitude of characters in detailed compositions.

The landscapes are Italianate, incorporating Italian-inspired architectural elements and ruins, creating idealized landscapes that serve as backdrops for his narrative scenes.

He also contributed to tapestry production, providing designs notably for the " Teniers tapestries ", which depict scenes of peasant life and festivals, thus encouraging the spread of Flemish art.

The life of Alexander van Breadel

Alexander van Bredael (1663 - 1720) was a Flemish painter, active in Antwerp. Born in the city, he was the son of Peeter van Bredael, who specialized in market and genre scenes. Born into a family of artists, he is also the brother of painters Jan Peeter and Joris van Bredael.

He was trained by his father and acquired early expertise in genre and landscape painting. In 1685, he became Master of the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp, a must for the city's professional painters.

He quickly specialized in lively scenes of daily life, which were highly prized by Flemish and Dutch collectors. He produced scenes of fairs, markets, carnivals, popular festivals, urban views and Italianate landscapes.

He supplied tapestry cartoons for the famous series of " Teniers tapestries ", notably for the Brussels workshops of the 17th century. He produced a large number of works for a bourgeois public fond of colorful, lively scenes.

He died in Antwerp in 1720, aged 57. His posterity is discreet but constant. Less well known than his contemporaries, he nevertheless remains appreciated for the vividness of his genre scenes and the quality of his compositions.

His paintings are preserved in several public and private collections in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and France, but most of his works are held in private collections.

His works are sought-after and quoted, like other artists such as Mathias Stomer or Valerius de Sadeleer.

Focus on Village fair scene, Alexander van Bredael, circa 1700

This work is a painting typical of Alexander van Bredael's narrative, festive style. He chose an outdoor scene in a bustling Flemish village. In the center, musicians, dancers, merchants, children and animals mingle in joyful agitation.

The narrative is multiple, as the work functions as an open-air theater, where each group forms a mini scene of its own (dance, play, argument, commerce ...). Perspective is conceived diagonally, with the space structured along a diagonal that guides the eye from the foreground to an architecture in the background.

This composition comprises a multitude of characters, with over thirty figures spread across the space, and depicted in expressive and varied attitudes. He demonstrates a keen observation of everyday life.

He carefully depicts clothing details, familiar gestures and social interactions. The scene bears witness to an ethnographic focus on village life. He also paints animals (dogs, horses, pigs), the domestic fauna being integrated into the composition and reinforcing the realism of the scene.

The colors are bright and contrasting, he makes generous use of red, blue, yellow and green, which lend the scene a festive, luminous character. Each figure is carefully modeled, and even the smallest faces are expressive.

The light is diffused but structuring, unifying the scene while hierarchizing the shots. Every detail tells something about 17th-century Flemish popular culture.

Alexander van Bredael follows in the footsteps of Brueghel and Teniers, and his work is part of a pictorial tradition of animated landscapes. However, the artist adds a more decorative and theatrical tone.  

Recognizing the artist's signature

Alexander van Bredael doesn't always sign his paintings and many on the market are attributed to his followers (this doesn't mean the paintings have no value). Whatever the case, for this artist, the intervention of a dedicated expert is mandatory.

Knowing the value of a work

If you happen to own a work by Alexander van Bredael, request a free appraisal without further delay via our form on our website.

A member of our team of experts and auctioneers will contact you promptly to provide you with an estimate of the value of your work, as well as ad hoc information about it.

If you are considering selling your work, you will also be accompanied by our specialists in order to benefit from alternatives for selling it at the best possible price.