Rating and value of paintings by Valerius de Saedeleer

 If you own a work by or based on the artist Valerius de Saedeleer and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will be happy to advise you.

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Artist's rating and value 

Thanks to his prolific artistic output, Valerius de Saedeleer is a common sight in auction rooms. A listed Belgian Expressionist artist, his works sell for significant sums on the auction market.

Today, the prices at which his works sell on the auction market range from €30 to €167,000, a considerable delta but one that speaks volumes about the value that can be attributed to Saedeleer's works.

Sought-after by collectors, works by Valerius de Saedeleer can fetch tens of thousands of euros at auction, as witnessed by his oil on canvas Winter Evening, dating from 1924, which sold for €150,000 in 2024.

Order of value from the most basic to the most prestigious

Style and technique of the artist Valerius de Saedeleer  

Valerius de Saedeleer, one of the most esteemed Flemish landscape artists, was born in Oudenaarde, Belgium, in 1867. From an early age, he showed a particular sensitivity to nature, encouraged by his mother, who supported him in his first artistic endeavors.

De Saedeleer finds his inspiration in the landscapes of his native Flanders, developing a unique style based on soft light and peaceful rural scenes.

It was at the dawn of the 20th century, after many years of personal research, that he devoted himself fully to painting, with a predilection for snowy landscapes and vast fields under a winter sky.

His works, marked by meticulous precision and a subtle color palette, capture the tranquility and atmosphere of the Flemish countryside.

De Saedeleer soon became a prominent artist, frequenting other painters of his time who, like him, sought to depict the timeless beauty of nature.

His oils on panel, often executed with great finesse, are the most sought-after works, fetching high prices at specialist auctions. His ink and pencil drawings, less well known but just as delicate, reveal another facet of his talent, and are just as prized by collectors.

His career, marked by a deep attachment to nature and an unquestionable mastery of light, made Valerius de Saedeleer a major figure in the Belgian landscape of the early 20th century.

Valerius de Schaedeleer

Valerius de Schaedeleer (1867-1941) was a Belgian Expressionist landscape painter. He grew up in Aalst and experienced tensions with his father, who categorically refused to allow his son to pursue a career in art.

To put an end to his artistic ambitions, Valerius' father forced him to work in a textile factory as soon as he finished elementary school.

But determined to follow his dreams, Valerius secretly enrolled at the Ghent School of Fine Arts and the Aalst School of Fine Arts, where he received a basic training that, although satisfactory at first, soon seemed insufficient.

It was this desire to improve that brought him to Brussels, where he joined the studio of Franz Courtens, an Impressionist painter known for his mastery of light and natural landscapes.

Under Courtens' tutelage, Valerius refined his brushwork and explored new techniques. Despite his father's opposition, he persevered and became an independent artist in 1887, finally distancing himself financially from his family.

During the early years of his career, Valerius traveled extensively throughout Belgium, visiting Bruges, Antwerp and Liège, in search of new artistic influences. These travels fueled his curiosity, but inspiration remained capricious.

In search of renewal, he travelled to Holland, attracted by the vast, flat landscapes and changing light of the northern skies. His works from this period reflect a desire to capture the tranquil beauty of fields and rivers.

Back in Belgium, he finally settled in Ghent, where he joined the Socialist Party. His ideas evolved, influenced by the political climate of the time and his interest in social movements. However, this period of commitment gave way to deeper introspection.

After flirting with anarchist ideas, Valerius found unexpected peace by returning to Catholicism, the religion of his childhood. This spiritual quest marks a turning point in his painting, which becomes more serene and gains in depth.

Focus on Winter in Sint-Martens-Latem, Valerius de Saedeleer, 1920

Take Winter at Laethem-Saint-Martin, an oil on canvas by Valerius de Saedeleer painted around 1920. This work perfectly embodies the peaceful, contemplative atmosphere of his Flemish landscapes.

It presents a vast expanse of snow, criss-crossed by a few paths that wind gently through the countryside, creating a natural network that subtly guides the viewer's eye.

The village is nestled in the background of the composition, with its snow-white roofs and bare trees standing, almost frozen, beneath a pearl-gray sky. The whole scene is bathed in a soft, diffused light, typical of winter days, when the air seems both icy and pure.

The artist chose a cold palette, dominated by shades of white, pale blues and silvery greys, which underline the wintry tranquility of the setting.

The contrasts are subtle: the use of delicate, light brushstrokes suggests the softness of a blanket of snow enveloping the Flemish countryside, while the precision of details, such as the fine silhouettes of trees and roofs, reflects a meticulous approach to the landscape.

Each tree appears to have been painstakingly painted, its bare branches silhouetted against the sky with a finesse that recalls the precision of an ink drawing.

In this painting, we feel the desire to capture not only a moment of silence, but also the crystalline, wintry light of these cold Flanders mornings. Each element is imbued with an almost mystical serenity, evoking the tranquility of rural landscapes isolated from the world.

The eye is irresistibly drawn to the winding paths that lead the viewer across the canvas, inviting us to take a leisurely stroll through the heart of a frozen winter. This choice of composition gives the work a particular depth, while reinforcing the impression of isolation and calm that is characteristic of Saedeleer's style.

The village buildings, barely sketched, testify to Saedeleer's ability to capture the essence of the place without overloading it with detail. His brush lingers more on the play of light than on architectural precision, preferring to evoke the sensation of an enveloping winter chill.

The ubiquitous snow is not simply white; it is streaked with subtle reflections that recall the changing light of northern skies.

This painting is a celebration of silence and nature, where every element seems frozen in contemplative immobility, reinforcing the atmosphere of timelessness that emanates from the work.

Valerius de Saedeleer captures the austere, tranquil beauty of Flanders with rare sensitivity, transforming a familiar landscape into an almost spiritual place, imbued with nostalgia and contemplation.

V. De Saedeleer's imprint on modern European art

Valerius de Saedeleer's imprint on French modern art is a fascinating testimony to the richness of rural landscapes at the beginning of the 20th century. Born in Aalst in 1867, de Saedeleer established himself as a key figure, midway between the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements.

His works, imbued with an intimate, contemplative atmosphere, are echoed by French artists such as Maurice Denis and Henri Le Sidanerwhose gentle, luminous landscapes exalt a quiet, contemplative beauty.

De Saedeleer developed a style characterized by a delicate palette and great precision of detail, capturing the subtle light of the Flemish countryside.

As did Camille Pissarro and Henri Martin before him, he lingers on the play of light and changing atmospheres, capturing fleeting moments of everyday rural life.

Like these French masters, he favors an approach where time seems suspended, far from the hustle and bustle of cities, focusing his gaze on nature and its unchanging cycles.

His landscapes, imbued with a meditative serenity, are also reminiscent of the poetic universe of Charles-François Daubigny, who knew how to sensitively capture the light of riversides and the tranquility of forests.

The way de Saedeleer treats his rural scenes, with a touch of intimacy and meticulous attention to nuance, also evokes the compositions of Jean-François Millet, who sublimated the simplicity of peasant life by giving it an almost spiritual dimension.

De Saedeleer, like Eugène Carrière, succeeds in creating enveloping atmospheres, where diffused light bathes the landscape in an almost unreal softness.

Its snow-covered fields, sleepy villages and shady paths are imbued with a melancholy tranquillity reminiscent of the works of Gustave Loiseauanother painter and lover of rural landscapes, known for his winter scenes and snow-covered villages.

Today, Valerius de Saedeleer remains an essential figure in landscape art. His legacy is that of an artist who was able to combine the intimacy of a Maurice Utrillo with the poetry of a Henri Le Sidaner, while imposing a personal vision, where each landscape becomes a silent hymn to nature.

His works continue to move us with their simplicity and depth, bearing witness to a time when nature, magnified and soothing, was a refuge from burgeoning modernity.

His signature

Valerius de Saedeleer's works are not all signed.

Although there are variations, here's a first example of his signature:

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