Antique Belgian oil painting of a peasant girl in a storm by Robert

Antique Belgian oil painting of a peasant girl in a storm by Robert
Belgian, 19th Century
Canvas: Height 21cm, width 17cm
Frame: Height 30cm, width 26cm, depth 6cm
 
This evocative portrait by Belgian artist Alexandre Nestor Nicolas Robert (1817–1890) captures a young peasant girl caught in the midst of a storm.
 
Clad in traditional rural dress, she clutches her headscarf against the wind with one hand while balancing a wicker basket overflowing with grapes and peaches in the other. Her expressive gaze and animated posture convey a vivid sense of motion and urgency, while the windswept trees and swirling drapery bring dynamism to the scene.
 
The backdrop reveals a sweeping landscape of hills, distant peaks, and a turbulent sea beneath a dramatic sky. Robert’s command of light and colour, combined with a Romantic sensibility, gives the work both energy and atmosphere.
 
Although celebrated for his religious and historical subjects, Robert was also a gifted portraitist and genre painter. A respected member of the Belgian Royal Academy, his work is noted for its narrative richness and emotional nuance.
 
Intimate in scale yet bold in execution, the painting is housed in an ornate giltwood frame bearing a name plaque inscribed ‘Alexandre Robert, EC. Belge, 1817–1890’. The canvas is signed ‘Robert’ at lower right.
 
A captivating example of 19th-century Belgian painting, this portrait is distinguished by its technical finesse and narrative charm.
 
Artist/Maker: Alexandre Nestor Nicolas Robert