(Ghent, 1851 - Antwerp, 1907)
Oil on canvas
During a trip to the Netherlands, Théodore Verstraete discovered the beauty of nature and the splendour of the Zeeland landscapes. Here he depicts a scene of everyday life in which women are picking flowers in an orchard. The little girl standing in the centre of the composition, bathed in light, catches the viewer's eye. She is wearing a blue dress, bonnet and clogs, placing the setting in Holland at the end of the nineteenth century. Although this scene is imbued with realism, the artist's touch, influenced by French Impressionism, takes on a lighter quality, making for particularly sensitive variations in the spring light.