Henri DE BRAEKELEER (1840-1888) Reading, interior view. Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. 58.5 x 48 cm. Note: From an illustrious family of Antwerp artists - son of Ferdinand De Braekeleer and nephew of Henri Leys - Henri De Braekeleer drew his inspiration from Dutch genre painting of the XVIIᵉ century, particularly Pieter de Hooch and Jan Vermeer. His silent interiors - seamstresses, artists or thinkers absorbed in their task - are distinguished by soft light and a remarkable sense of detail. Winner of several Salons, he established himself among the genre painters of the XIXᵉ century. Admired by Félicien Rops, recognised by the XX circle, and compared by Van Gogh to Édouard Manet, De Braekeleer remains one of the greatest Belgian realists of his time.